Historian: Nazi leader Hitler once had Jewish landlord

BERLIN (AP) - A German historian says Nazi leader Adolf Hitler lived for almost a decade in a house that belonged to a Jewish merchant.

Paul Hoser says Hitler lived at Thierschstrasse 41 in Munich's Lehel district from 1920 till 1929, interrupted by a year spent at Landsberg prison for staging a failed coup in Bavaria.

Writing in the quarterly VfZ, Hoser says house was bought in 1921 by Hugo Erlanger. He lost the house in 1934, after falling behind on mortgage payments.

According to the research, Hitler treated his Jewish landlord "with courtesy" despite harboring strong anti-Semitism that would later contribute to the Nazi's murderous policy toward Jews.

Erlanger survived the war and was able to get his house back in 1949.

The research was first reported Saturday by Der Spiegel magazine.