Anyone else hear anything about this? I just ran across this story on my FB feed. While I believe that the corpse the Soviets found may not have actually been Hitlers for political or propoganda purposes, is this scientific investigation real?
Don’t know about the Hitler story specifically, but just skimming the page, it’s clear that conspiracy theories and extra-terrestrial alien stories are certainly well-represented on that site.
I had heard about the Connecticut scientist on a PBS doc about the end of Hitler. I suppose if the conclusions of the linked article were true then it would have been the story de jour in the media.
well that “grainy picture” is certainly convincing… um, not.
What happened to the Jesuit buried treasure this woman was searching when she found Hitler?
Hitler left instructions to have his body burned after he committed suicide.
When the Russians took the bunker they don’t seem to have did any special efforts to verify that the cremated corpse was definitely Hitler.
So really there is no actual hard proof that the cremated body was in fact Hitler. So we can’t know for any degree of certainty that Hitler did not escape.
As a long time WWII history buff I would say that Hitler escaping to save his own life would be out of character for the man.
I don’t actually know what they did with Hitler’s corpse. What did the Russians do with it?
The most likely story seems to be that all of the burned remains (which would have included Goebbels and his wife as well as Braun) were buried in a Red Army compound in Magdesburg. When the Soviets were about to turn the base over to the East Germans, the remains were exhumed, destroyed, and scattered.
I can see the possibility that the skull fragment the Soviets claimed was Hitler’s was in fact, not Hitler’s, but I see absolutely zero possibility that Hitler survived the war. After reading “The Mind of Adolf Hitler” by Langer, the most likely scenario is that he committed suicide. Hitler didn’t want to be displayed in a cage, nor did he want to be strung up like Mussolini.
Sure, we’ll never have proof one way or the other, but I believe that, psychologically, Hitler wouldn’t have allowed himself to survive. The only other reasonable possibility I see is that he could’ve made himself out to be a martyr, and led (what was left of) his troops into battle against the Soviets, but ultimately, he was too cowardly to do even that. So suicide it is, as far as I’m concerned.
Here’s an article NOT from a site for nutters about the story in question. The bone fragment, according to the archaeologist’s analysis, was not Hitler’s, but he does not believe Hitler survived.
From Forgotten Graves to Foreign Dictators (and Vampires, Too) - UConn Today
Hitler shot himself, after shooting Eva Braun (they had just been married). The bodies were dragged up the stairs and placed in a shell crater, doused with gasoline, and set on fire. From what i understand, the remains were not found until weeks after the end of hostilities.
I think that these stories came about because Stalin had the remains locked up, and did not release any information until 1949? or so-why he did this is a mystery.
How was DNA testing conducted on the skull fragment? Does Hitler have any living relatives?
I’ve never read anything saying he shot Eva. Cite?
I think Konrad Heiden (“Der Fuhrer”) stated it.
There are two important points to bear in mind.
The first is that the Russians discovered what they believed was Hitler’s body in May 1945, but the skull fragment wasn’t discovered until the following year. So there were doubts as to whether they were from the same person even before the DNA tests. We have only the Russians’ word that they came from the same body.
The other point is that the standard Western version of what happened to Hitler’s body, which is still mostly that proposed by Hugh Trevor Roper, was set out before it was known that the Russians had recovered any remains. Trevor Roper’s argument was that, even without a body, the eyewitness accounts were sufficient to prove that Hitler had committed suicide and that an attempt had then been made to cremate the body. Most other historians have agreed. That argument remains just as strong even if none of the remains the Russians found were actually Hitler’s.
IIRC at some point post WWII he did. And the person/guy?/gal? that did made a calculated decision to NOT procreate, for understandable reasons.
Hitler doesn’t appear to have any known descendants but he did have relatives who did survive the war. As I understand they have all changed their last names and would rather not be associated in any way with Hitler.
One lived on Long Island according to a History Channel doc.
Adolf had siblings and half-siblings who survived the war.
Couldn’t get a date?
from SD Who maintains the grave of Hitler’s parents?
Another CNN ref there. But mine, being mine, is the awesomest.