1955. A CIA agent, his hands shaking,
picks up a photograph. A tiny bead of sweat drips off his chin. He carefully
turns it over to see it’s marked “1954.” Next to the date, the words “Adolf Schüttelmayor”
are written. The other man in the photo, Phillip Citroen, who says he’s a former German SS
trooper, has told the CIA agent that he and Adolf Hitler had that photograph taken in Argentina.
Could that be true? You tell us after you finish watching this show.
Day O: April 30, 1945. Hitler and his new wife, Eva
Braun, are sitting in the Führerbunker in Berlin, listening to the sounds of Soviet
shells exploding in the distance. Allied air forces have bombed the
hell out of Berlin. Much of the city is filled with acrid smoke, and the
smell of death and decay is everywhere. Hitler has known for a while that the gig is
up, but one thing that scares him more than death is his body being paraded around
like a prize pig. That’s what mobs in Italy just did to Benito Mussolini after
they executed him at the Piazzale Loreto. Crowds spat and kicked the corpse,
tore at the skin of his face, and strung him up like cattle at a slaughterhouse. There is no way Hitler will allow
himself to be treated like that. At approximately 2:30 a.m., Hitler said his
farewells to the people still in the bunker, about 20 in total, many of them women. Every so
often, he flinched when he heard an explosion, the Soviets now being about half a kilometer away.
At some point that day, Hitler’s private pilot, Hans Baur, told his boss that he had a plane
ready and it could take him anywhere he wanted, to Argentina, Japan, Greenland, or
Manchuria, but Hitler said no. He was not up for a life on the run.
In the afternoon, outside Hitler’s sleeping quarters, the smell of
burned almonds filled the air. Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, entered the
room. He saw Adolf and Eva slumped on the couch. When SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche
entered, blood dripped down Adolf’s arm, forming a pool in the rug below. This scene
will be the subject of debate for years to come. Günsche broke the news to the others,
although everyone knew this would happen. Both Hitlers were rolled into rugs,
taken upstairs through an emergency exit, and placed in the Reich Chancellery Garden. It
was a painful time for Linge, whose eyes filled with tears when his Fuhrer’s face stuck out of
the rug and seemed to look at him. How had this happened to his great leader, to Germany?
A few people were there to watch the ensuing spectacle, including Hitler’s
propaganda merchant, Joseph Goebbels, who just a couple of months before was screaming
down the German radio for young folks to fight: “We Werewolves consider it our supreme
duty to kill, to kill and to kill, employing every cunning and wile in
the darkness of the night, crawling, groping through towns and villages,
like wolves, noiselessly, mysteriously.” He’d lost the plot, and now his
madness was about to hit a crescendo. Setting the Fuhrer’s body on fire was
something he’d never imagined could happen. He was distraught, a beaten man.
He and the others in attendance, mostly SS, doused the Hitlers’ bodies in gasoline.
Guensche threw a burning rag on the bodies, but it was soon evident that more gasoline would
be needed. Thankfully, a car nearby provided it. Martin Bormann, head of the Nazi Party
Chancellery, piled on extra paper and wood. The flames rose into the air as the smell of
burning flesh and rug filled the nostrils of the eight or nine men in attendance, each giving
their boss one last salute. The question is, how many will live to tell the tale about
what happened in that garden? Sometime later, that bloodied rug in Hitler’s quarters
was also burned in the garden. It, too, will be speculated over for decades to come.
As the Red Army drew closer to the bunker, the remaining Nazi officers did everything they could
to ensure nothing was left of Hitler. From around 4 to 6.30 pm, they poured more and more gasoline
on the remains. To properly cremate bodies, you generally need very high temperatures,
but this incessant returning to the bodies reduced Adolf and Eva to a pile of bones and
ashes. It was a job well done. Or, at least, that’s what some people think.
Day 1 At about 9.30 in the morning, the German
people heard something disturbing on a radio station based in Hamburg. They
were forewarned that “a grave and important announcement” would soon be made.
The radio station proceeded to play Wagner's operas, Hitler’s music of choice, especially
when he was raging with power lust. At 10.20 pm, the commander-in-chief for the north
of Germany, Grand-Admiral Karl Donitz, told listeners that Hitler had died a brave man,
fighting “at the head of his troops.” … Being cooked like a goose in the garden was
hardly in line with Germany’s propaganda. Talking about propaganda, after Hitler’s body had
been nuked, Goebbels wandered around the bunker, going into the garden hoping a Red Army
soldier would shoot him. He’d tried to arrange a ceasefire, but the Russians were
having none of it. Goebells was done. He saw no point in living any longer.
One of the last people to see Goebbels was Hans-Erich Voss, who asked
him why he hadn’t fled like the others. Goebbels, looking utterly downcast, told him,
“The captain must not leave his sinking ship. I have thought about it all and decided to stay
here. I have nowhere to go because, with little children, I will not be able to make it.”
He was at least true to his word. He knew other high-ranking Nazis would likely escape
Germany, but he wasn’t going anywhere. That day Goebbels got an SS dentist to give
a big shot of morphine to his six kids. He and his wife, Magda, like Hitler and Eva,
ended up in the Chancellery garden, except the cremation job on them was shoddy. The Russians
later got their hands on the bits that were left. Word spread around the world about Hitler,
but not everyone was convinced he was dead, notably the tyrant at the head of the Soviet
Union, Joseph “Man of Steel” Stalin. You’ll hear more from him soon.
Day 2 In light of what Hitler had done, in view of the
war and him massacring millions of Jews and others that he deemed biologically inferior, you’d think
the obituaries that were published after his death would not exactly have been complimentary.
Think again. Knut Hamsun, who was a Norwegian Nobel
Prize-winning novelist, showered the dead Fuhrer in post-mortem adoration.
He wrote, “Hitler was a warrior, a warrior for humankind, and a preacher of
the gospel of justice for all nations. He was a reforming character of the highest order.”
Well, we guess Hitler did literally RE-form the world, but in an entirely negative
way. Hamsun was out of his mind, but not everyone rejoiced about Hitler’s passing.
In a long obituary in the New York Times, Hitler was condemned for his views on the Aryan
race. The obituary talked about his frustration of not becoming a working artist and said Hitler
was evil for his “secret murder of opponents and those suspected of opposition” and “the ruthless
destruction of the Jews.” The article mentioned he was vegetarian, that he hardly ever slept, had few
women friends, and “had a passion for neatness.” The writer was probably not aware of
Hitler’s addictions and what high doses of methamphetamine can do to a person.
The Daily Express in England wrote, “Germans put out the news everyone
hopes is true.” Boston's Daily Record, printed in bold, “Will Rant No More.”
Another US paper said, “American troops speeding across Austria…Peace by
week's end hinted by Churchill.” The Salt Lake Tribune was
one of the newspapers that expressed what was on a lot of people’s minds:
“Hitler couldn't afford to accept unconditional surrender, so what may prove to be the legend
of his meeting a hero's death had to be staged. I still cannot escape the feeling that Hitler
is some place where nobody expects him to be.” But people felt more assured when they saw the
front cover of Time magazine and its big X. On this day, it’s believed Martin Bormann
died, likely killed by the Red Army, but this was only confirmed in 1973, and his
body wasn’t positively identified until 1998. He didn’t get away, that’s for sure, like some
of the other Nazi criminals we’ll discuss soon. Day 3
Stalin, a murderer of millions himself, was in no mood to celebrate. Just after he’d heard
the news, unlike others who’d jumped for joy, he was somber. All he said was, “So, the bastard’s
dead, too bad we didn’t catch him alive.” Day 4
Even though Hitler was dead and the Germans had certainly lost the war, fighting
carried on. There was still much work to do. In his will, Hitler named Admiral Karl
Dönitz as the heir and president of Germany. Talk about a poop sandwich of a job.
Dönitz was really surprised he’d been named, as were some other Nazis, who said, “Who the
hell is this Dönitz guy?” He later said the likely reason he’d been chosen was that Hitler
had believed “only a reasonable man with an honest reputation as a sailor could make a decent peace.”
Dönitz tried negotiating peace with the US and UK, but he was under no illusion that the
Soviets would be making any deals. They wanted blood and the spoils of Germany, which
is not surprising given that the Soviet Union had seen about 24 million civilian
and military deaths during the war. Stalin was still furious and very skeptical about
Hitler’s death. He was also naturally suspicious about the intentions of the US and the UK. When he
does find out more about Hitler’s death, he won't be in the mood to share that information.
Day 5 American General Dwight Eisenhower and British
Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery were not in agreement with the kind of surrender that
Dönitz wanted. They wanted unconditional surrender from Germany, all its forces,
everywhere, and they wanted to ensure that the country would be demilitarized.
They had good reason not to trust Germany. So, the German forces kept on fighting.
Dönitz also told his men to do what Hitler had written and destroy as much
German infrastructure as possible. Meanwhile, Soviet soldiers looted German
houses and killed civilians. US, UK, and French forces won’t reach Berlin until
July. They will also let loose years of anger. It was around this time that one of
the most infamous Nazis surrendered, the one-time flying ace and one of Hitler’s most
treasured men, Hermann Wilhelm Göring. We’ll come back to his fate later.
Day 8 Only now did Dönitz agree to a German surrender
on all fronts. It was better to do that than leave Germany’s soldiers to face the music
in Soviet captivity. Stalin asked for another signing ceremony, and that came a day after.
WWII wasn’t over, but the Germans were now completely finished. Dönitz didn’t take the easy
way out. He spent about ten years in prison and went on to live until he was 89.
Day 10 Stalin was paranoid. He knew that some of the
Nazis were escaping from Germany. Like the UK and the US, Stalin wanted the Nazis for himself. He
wanted their intelligence. He wanted to hurt them, torture them. He wanted their scientific
data, but most of all, he wanted Hitler. The thought of Hitler living it up in South
America, trying to create a Fourth Reich and come back at Russia, kept Stalin awake at night. He was
determined to find out the truth. He was also wary of the British and Americans, telling his inner
circle, “The capitalist encirclement continues.” Day 23
In the meantime, Heinrich Himmler, Hitler's Chief of the German police and one of the most powerful
Nazis of them all, was captured by the British. Nazis were scarpering like mice from a
housefire when, at a checkpoint in Bremervörde, northern Germany, two men wearing long
green overcoats and another man wandered by, one of them wearing an eye patch. This man
said he was a low-ranking soldier named Heinrich Hizinger. It was too bad for him that
the Brits had seen fake papers like this before. The guy argued for a bit, and when he realized
the game was up, he took off the eye catch to reveal his normal-looking eye. He then said
his name was Heinrich Himmler, and it didn’t take long for the Brits to understand the man in
their custody was important. He was, after all, the architect of the Holocaust. Since Goebbels was
gone and Hermann Göring was already in custody, this guy in British hands was a coup. He was
arguably the most wanted Nazi of them all. The celebrations didn’t last long. Himmler died
soon after, swallowing a secret cyanide pill. Month 1
Around this time, Stalin was asked if Hitler was alive, to which
he announced that the German leader was likely living in Spain or Argentina. He was adamant.
Every time he said anything about the very much alive Hitler, American newspapers picked
it up, and the public lapped it up. Soon, 70 percent of Americans said they thought
the Furher’s heart was still beating and he was sunning it up in South America. The British
public, for the most part, was also suspicious. Month 2
With Stalin still so unsure that Hitler was dead, he’d had his men search high and low
for Hitler’s dentist. The problem for Stalin was that Hitler’s main dentist, the man who’d helped
send Goebel’s kids deep into the arms of Morpheus, Hugo Blaschke, had done what any endodontist
for war criminals would do and tried to escape. He didn’t get far. The Americans
arrested him in Austria, after which he spent a few years in prison.
Stalin was miffed about this, but his men investigated further and discovered that
Blaschke had an assistant named Käthe Heusermann. They were told she was currently in her
Berlin apartment, living as if nothing had happened. They were told she had ample
experience treating the Fuhrer’s choppers, and no sooner than you could say gulag, Stalin’s
men were dragging this woman from her apartment. She was immediately taken to a place where
someone showed her a bunch of teeth. These were the remains that the Soviets had been told
were Hitler’s. Many years later, Heusermann wrote in a book, “I took the dental bridge in my hand
and looked for an unmistakable sign. I found it immediately, took a deep breath, and blurted
out, ‘These are the teeth of Adolf Hitler!’ I was showered with expressions of gratitude!”
Yay!..or… not yay. This was Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union;
sincere gratitude was about as rare as Coca-Cola. She was thrown into solitary confident and, in
1951, sent to a Siberian gulag. The reason why is that Stalin didn’t want the Americans or British
to know that someone had positively identified Hitler’s remains. Having this information gave
him leverage. The teeth would become very useful, but not until long after Stalin had died.
Emaciated and sick, Heusermann almost died in the gulag, but in 1955 she was released when a deal
was done with West Germany. She went home thinking people would be over the moon, only to find out
her family had declared her dead and her husband had a new wife. All that pain, just because
she’d worked on Hitler’s notoriously bad teeth. Month 6
Earlier, we mentioned that Hermann Göring, commander of the Luftwaffe, was arrested. He
was convicted at the Nuremberg Trials and would have died by hanging, but about six months after
Hitler checked out with Eva, Goring was found dead in his prison cell. This happened on the night
of the day that he’d been sentenced to death. Other Nazis were hunted down for many years,
and some of them became old men on the run, notably the Angel of Death, Joseph Mengele.
Many lower-ranking Nazis were imprisoned, such as Otto Guensche, who, you’ll remember, was there
when Hitler’s body was burned. He died in 2003, aged 86, and he always said that the cremation of
Hitler did happen in that garden. He said he was the one that threw on the first flaming rag.
Some folks just didn’t buy that. They still don’t, now.
Month 7 – Present Day Stalin, despite what he knew about the teeth, was
still saying Hitler was alive, which many people still believed. Even the future US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower repeated Stalin’s words, although he later retracted them. Why Stalin
kept saying this is not certain. Maybe he didn’t believe the dentist; after all, she could have
been lying, thinking a positive identity would help her. Or, maybe Stalin was just stirring up
trouble, confusing things, or maybe by saying that, his control over his people was enhanced.
He wasn’t making matters any easier when he refused to share his forensic evidence with the
West. So, about this time, a British historian named Hugh Trevor-Roper was sent to investigate
everything that happened in that bunker around the time of Hitler’s supposed death. He compiled
a dossier, and that’s why we have the bonfire in the garden story that we are told today.
It partly comes from this investigation. Even so, rumors persisted for decades. Writers
later said such things as “hundreds of FBI documents place Hitler in Argentina.” It is also
true the CIA had great big files regarding the hunt for Hitler. The agency later said it
was more interested in who was interested in these stories rather than it thought Hitler
was alive and well in Argentina and enjoying a daily fix of empanadas. The agency said it
was merely surveilling people fond of Hitler. Only recently, forensic scientists went over to
Russia and asked to look at those homeless teeth. They wrote in the European Journal of
Internal Medicine that the gnashers of the nasty Nazi are real, writing, “The teeth
are authentic, there is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945.”
Nonetheless, when other scientists recently inspected the separate skull the Russians
had in a museum that was said to be Hitler’s, they said it actually belonged to a
woman, likely in her 40s when she died. As for that photo we told you about at the start,
the CIA said it just wasn’t worth looking into, stating that “enormous efforts could be expended
on this matter with remote possibilities of establishing anything concrete.”
So, almost 80 years after his death, we can say Hitler very likely, almost definitely,
bit the dust in the bunker and subsequently got grilled in the garden, but the fact is,
we can never be 100 percent sure. He’d be 134 years old today, so we reckon we’re
not going to hear from him anytime soon. Now you need to watch this amazing tale
about Hitler’s nephew, “Why Hitler's Nephew Was His Worst Enemy.” Or, have a look
at “Hitler's Plans for the World if He Won.”
