Paulo borrachinha Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas with a photo of Adolf Hitler. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram
Paulo borrachinha He also appeared on social media at Christmas. However, in addition to the 'Merry Christmas' message in English, the 13th-ranked UFC middleweight (up to 83,9 kg) fighter shared a historical photo of Adolf Hitler as a baby.
Paulo borrachinha He did not explain why he published a photo of Adolf Hitler, the historical leader of the Nazi movement, along with the Merry Christmas message. The photo of baby Adolf, without precise date information, is often considered to be from 1889, when Hitler was still a few months old in his native Austria.
Merry Christmas 🙏 pic.twitter.com/z0BslW74UA
— Paulo Costa (@BorrachinhaMMA) December 25, 2025
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Understand the story behind the photo of baby Adolf Hitler.
According to the American website 'Atlas Obscura', the photo of baby Adolf Hitler has a story behind it. The photo of the supposed Hitler began circulating in international media in the mid-1930s, amidst the rise of Nazism and the propaganda war that formed around the figure of Adolf. What few knew is that the image had no relation whatsoever to the German leader.
Little Johnny in 1931, before being unscrupulously used to portray "Baby Hitler." Photo: Reproduction/ 'Atlas Obscura' / Courtesy of the Warren family collection
In fact, the original photo was taken in 1931 in Westport, Connecticut, when Harriet May Warren photographed her two-year-old son, Johnny, during a typical family photoshoot. Years later, while living in Ohio, Harriet came across the image in a magazine and recognized her son, but deeply altered by retouching that made him grotesque and menacing.
The fabrication was the work of an anonymous forger, apparently motivated by anti-Hitler sentiment. The idea was to ridicule and enrage the dictator by spreading a fake image of him as a baby, portrayed in a sinister way. The strategy worked, and the photo spread rapidly.
The altered photo, as it appeared in various media outlets in 1931. Photo: Reproduction/ 'Atlas Obscura' / Courtesy of the Warren family collection
The image crossed the Atlantic, was published by European newspapers and subsequently distributed by news agencies in the United States, even appearing in the 'Chicago Tribune'. Upon learning of the hoax, Hitler reportedly reacted furiously, ordering his subordinates to try to contain the rumor.
Adolf Hitler, who saw the photo and reacted with "uncontrolled fury," according to reports in the American press in 1938, ordered his subordinates to put an end to the rumor. The Nazi government even sent newspapers an authentic photo of Hitler as a baby, demanding retractions and trying to prove that the published image was fake.
The real baby Adolf Hitler. Photo: Reproduction/ 'Atlas Obscura' / Public domain
Even so, the image continued to circulate and gained even more exaggerated and caricatured versions over time. To combat this type of propaganda, the Nazis published illustrated books attempting to humanize Hitler and expose the "coup" of their enemies.
Despite published corrections, the forger was never identified, and the fake image of baby Adolf remains one of the earliest examples of viral misinformation in the history of modern media.
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