What Really Happened To Adolf Hitler? by Kaja Brooks

What really happened on April 30, 1945 (Mills 5)? The mysterious death of Adolf Hitler was said to have taken place on this date. The deranged dictator who dominated the Nazi Party of Germany from 1933 to 1945, suddenly and shockingly disappeared with little evidence of his true death (“Nazi Party” 1). During the years following Hitler’s death, two conspiracy theories surfaced:

1.      Did Hitler manage to escape with his wife Eva?

2.      Did Hitler commit suicide?

Let’s dive into the conspiracies outlining the death of Adolf Hitler, with the most reasonable explanation being a suicide.

Who exactly was Adolf Hitler? Try thinking Nazi Germany and concentration camps. Explore the descriptions of evil and cruel. Hitler will match each of these topics and descriptions perfectly. Adolf Hitler was a demanding, careless dominator who very well carried out the exact definition of holocaust and genocide.

Because of this downfall of employment and economic stability, the support towards the Nazi Party grew tremendously leading to the support of Hitler (“Hitler Comes to Power” 1). The loss of confidence towards the German government left the citizens to be hopeful in any leader who was promising economic success and Hitler saw this as an opportunity to rise as an authority, controlling the government all himself. Perhaps the most infamous thing Adolf Hitler is known for is his demand to kill off an entire race of individuals: the Jewish people. This started with Hitler holding the entire Jewish race responsible for losing the first World War (“Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?” 10).  From then, he became angry and cruel minded towards their population and made the Jewish people out to be creators of the loss. As far as Hitler was concerned, the Jews were the reason as to why Germany was at a decline. He was concerned that they were after dominance and world control and they would not stop until they had accomplished this goal (13). Hitler was cruel minded towards this entire population and created concentration camps; “To eliminate individuals and small, targeted groups of individuals by murder, away from the public and judicial review” (“Concentration Camps, 1933-39” 8). Hitler was trying to eliminate the entire Jewish race and he did it in the very cruel way. These concentration camps were torture and nightmares for these individuals. They were treated as animals, forced to do labor, fed little, and beat around. These people were ripped from their identity as human and as Jewish people.

Hitler made these camps to where these people were only forced to die and complete hard work. They were beaten at every chance and killed without warning; they would lose their life over not working hard enough or talking back. They were given little food, often just a small piece of bread (Chatel 6). The individuals here often had long work hours and some of which they had to work with their hands. Because of the cold climate, many of the Jewish people would die from sickness or infection.

            Hitler may have also been angry and spite-filled because of the death of his brother Edmund Hitler and pervious abuse by their father. It was determined that his death was caused from measles (“The Rise of Adolf Hitler” 18). It is rumored that this was the first death that Adolf had to be confronted with head on and it had seemed to take a large toll on him for the worse. Edmund was buried in a cemetery very close to their house which forced Adolf to not have an escape from grief and sadness. It was reported, “Years later…young Adolf was sometimes seen at night sitting on the wall of the cemetery gazing up at the stars” (20). There are also reports of Hitler and his sibling being abused severely by their father Alois Senior. Alois was an angry and resentful man who often beat his children and his animals without care. (Hehe 2). Many believe that these dramatic events are the reason why Adolf Hitler became who he was; an evil and careless individual. After Hitler’s father passed in 1903, Adolf took over as the man of the house and the traits of his father started to shine through him, “So, in taking after his father and trying to emulate what he had done all those years, Adolf constantly bullied his little sister Paula, often beating her in the process (7).” He began to view Paula as an “embarrassment” and a weakling to the family. (7)

Soon after Hitler started acting on violent impulses, his mother, Klara Hitler, died of cancer. Many believe that this began his hatred and anger for Jewish individuals-because his mother was treated by a Jewish doctor Edward Bloch. Adolf was reported accusing this doctor of poisoning his mother during surgery after finding that she has advanced breast cancer (“The Rise of Adolf Hitler” 1). After the surgery, Hitler was the main caregiver for his mother because of the extensive damage the cancer had done to her. Klara was too weak to move and take care of herself, so Adolf had to keep her in the kitchen of his small apartment and care for her each day. Klara’s death in 1907 was perhaps the more devastating thing Hitler had gone through because of their close relationship. His mother had always supported his dreams studying arts and attending school (6).  Klara loved him more than anyone else had and their bond was something extremely important to him. Her death took a great toll on his character and what was to become of him.

If Hitler had been affected and pointed towards an evil life, and his life was entirely documented, why is his death—an enormous event in an individual’s life— such a mystery? Most importantly, why can’t one, trusted theory be laid out? Following the April date of Adolf Hitler’s alleged death, there were two conspiracy theories that surfaced. Each of the two theories were completely unique: escape or suicide. Let’s take a deeper look into how each of these conspiracies and why they emerged.

In the first conspiracy, Hitler was said to have escaped with his wife Eva Braun (Mills 1). The conspiracy outlines the details stating that Hitler, and Nazi officials, escaped to South America to avoid execution (1). Hitler shaved his facial hair to disguise himself in order to escape on a German U-Boat to Argentina with the help of government officials (Hoare 1). The party did not only include himself but included his intimate insiders like his personal doctor. Not only was this escape conspired between German government officials, but also Argentinian officials to ensure Hitler’s immaculate escape to land safe and sound (1).

But how exactly does this conspiracy make sense? Argentina was an obvious choice for Adolf Hitler and his group because the country was already involved in having a “safe haven” for German immigrants (Klein 2). This country has a mix of descents from multiple countries including Germany and Spain, so they were extremely tolerant of these German citizens (Minister 3). Argentine president Juan Domingo Perón was in favor of how Nazi Germany conducted their uniformed mannerism and physical looks: “Perón's government was a big fan of the fascist trappings of Nazi Germany: spiffy uniforms, parades, rallies, and vicious anti-Semitism” (4). Perón was in favor of the Nazi’s so he had no problem allowing them so seek shelter there to avoid murder. The escape would have been top secret and one that was well thought out and planned. The German U-Boat was a large part of the mission, “Submarine U-3523 had been one of a new generation of type XXI U-boats that were able to run more silently and stay submerged for longer than any of their predecessors” (Lusher 2). This U-Boat was later thought to be discovered, sunk at the bottom of the North Sea (1). The conspiracy is still in question, despite the guesses of why this boat was discovered. For the German boat to have been recovered, the escapees could have made it safely to Argentina (4). To add more suspicion, there is obvious documentation providing names of Nazi officials involved and Hitler living up to three generations after his alleged death (Hoare 3). These files were discovered in the German national archive and provided sensibility to the entire conspiracy (5).

The second conspiracy of Adolf Hitler’s death is a suicide with his wife Eva. This conspiracy takes place in Hitler’s bunker in Berlin in 1945. Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler swallowed a cyanide pill often called a “suicide pill”. This pill works by inhibiting the body to use oxygen and cutting off all air flow (Cunha 1). Hitler decided to shoot himself in the head just to make sure he completely ended his life (“Why Did Hitler Kill Himself?” 1).

This suicide was much more planned out despite what many would believe. The cyanide pill would have killed Hitler and his wife regardless of their efforts by he had to take the extra step just to make sure, but why?  Hitler knew that he would have to escape, or he would be killed by troops who were planning to attack Germany (“Why Did Hitler Kill Himself?” 2). Suicide seemed better to Hitler because of his large ego and pride; his thought process outlined killing himself was better than being defeated and “dishonored” (3). Hitler left hints of his last days on earth by delivering a few words that would leave a lasting effect: “I die with a happy heart, aware of the immeasurable deeds and achievements of our soldiers at the front, our women at home, the achievements of our farmers and workers and the work, unique in history, of our youth who bear my name” (Rosenberg 10). Hitler seemed proud of what he has “accomplished” and delivered to the German country which explains his dire need to die only from his actions instead of being captured and killed by someone else.

A survey of twenty people resulted in sixty percent believing that Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his Berlin bunker. Not only do most individuals believe this conspiracy, but researchers and historians have found evidence which they believe belong to Hitler himself. The remains had been kept since 1945 by a group called the Red Army—the Russian Soviet force (Daley 1). The alleged remains were kept and only rediscovered decades later providing pieces to the unsolved puzzle of Hitler’s real death. Skull fragments depicted that there was a gunshot wound thought the left side of the skull, backing up the claim that Hitler, in fact, would have shot himself after taking the cyanide pill (Killgrove 3). The fragments of his teeth and jaw were shown to have matched the description of Hitler’s unusually bad teeth and dental habits. This evidence is hard to not believe because of accuracy and exact results it shows. There was also no evidence of meat particles within the teeth found. Hitler was a vegetarian and only consumed a plant-based diet: “They found numerous plant-based food particles in the plaque, but “no muscular segment compatible with meat was identified after careful examination of the whole surfaces and sections” (6).

The suicide conspiracy is perhaps the most reasonable because of the amount of biological evidence that was discovered. This evidence is fact-based instead of the guessing games that the escape conspiracy brought on.

Adolf Hitler was an infamous, evil dictator who controlled Germany and attempted to remove an entire race of individuals. On April 30, 1945 his death was said to have taken place, but there is no one said cause of death (Mills 5).

·         Did Hitler manage to escape with his wife Eva?

·         Did Hitler commit suicide?

After researching each of these conspiracies, the evidence points to Hitler committing suicide in 1945.

           

Works Cited

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Cunha, John P. “Cyanide Poisoning Treatment, Symptoms & Effects.” EMedicineHealth, EMedicineHealth, 23 Sept. 2019, www.emedicinehealth.com/cyanide_poisoning/article_em.htm.

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Klein, Christopher. “The 7 Most Notorious Nazis Who Escaped to South America.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 Sept. 2018, www.history.com/news/the-7-most-notorious-nazis-who-escaped-to-south-america.

Lusher, Adam. “Submarine Rumoured to Have Helped Nazis Escape to Argentina Is Discovered.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 19 Apr. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hitler-nazis-u-boat-escape-argentina-u3523-found-wreck-denmark-south-america-mengele-eichmann-a8312581.html.

Mills, Curt. “Could Hitler Have Survived World War II? Just Ask the CIA.” The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest, 7 Sept. 2019, nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/could-hitler-have-survived-world-war-ii-just-ask-cia-78286.

Minster, Christopher. “Why Argentina's Government Welcomed Nazis After WWII.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 25 May 2019, www.thoughtco.com/why-did-argentina-accept-nazi-criminals-2136579.

Mulholland, Rory. “Hitler Definitely Died in 1945, According to New Study of His Teeth.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 19 May 2018, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/19/hitler-definitely-died-1945-according-new-study-teeth/.

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Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Read Hitler's Political Statement Before His Suicide.” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 24 July 2019, www.thoughtco.com/hitlers-political-statement-1779643.

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