Born to a Jewish family in Gelsenkirchen, he earned a PhD in 1978 and became a university professor in 1989.

For close to 30 years, Dr. Machtan has researched German history, politics, and socioeconomics. His writings have been featured in newspapers and magazines such as Der Spiegel as well as radio broadcasts.

He has been a guest lecturer at international conferences and symposia and a consultant for German feature films such as Varzin - Warcino - An Uncomfortable Legacy. In the United States, he was a featured guest on NBC's The Today Show and The Early Show on CBS.

The author of several books and numerous publications on the social and political history of the 19th and 20th centuries, in 1998 Professor Machtan published the acclaimed Bismarcks Tod und Deutschlands Tränen (Bismarck's Death and Germany's Tears).

Hitler biography

In 2001, he published Hitler's Geheimnis: Das Doppelleben eines Diktators (Hitler's Secret: The double life of a dictator) with an English translation by John Brownjohn entitled The Hidden Hitler. In it, Professor Machtan presents a documented study which he claims establishes Adolf Hitler's homosexuality (see Hitler's sexuality) and the impact of this upon his life and career.

In discussing his book in the Washington Post, Professor Machtan told their interviewer that his research showed that some of Hitler's homosexual friends in Munich were the ones who opened many important doors for him, especially Ernst Röhm, Dietrich Eckart, and Ernst Hanfstaengl. Machtan told the newspaper that "without their help he [Hitler] would not have had the support that he got from bourgeois circles and even from intellectuals and artists.

In 2004, a documentary film was made based on The Hidden Hitler. Aired by HBO's CINEMAX Reel Life, it follows Machtan as he travels around Germany to the places of Hitler's youth and explains his thesis and evidence.

Professor Machtan's book, Der Kaisersohn bei Hitler, was released in March 2006.

His latest book is Die Abdankung: Wie Deutschlands gekrönte Häupter aus der Geschichte fielen (The Abdication - How Germany's crowned heads of history fell) which was published in October 2008.