Did Hitler Escape?

Hitler and his wife Eva Braun killed themselves in the Fuhrerbunker as the Soviet army approached on April 30, 1945. Or did they? It's commonly accepted that this is historical fact. The Russians captured the bunker soon after and within days Admiral Donitz, Hitler's successor, surrendered the remnants of the Third Reich to the allied forces ending World War II. As a student of history I've had a long morbid fascination with the nazis. It's kind of like watching a disgusting evil train very slowly crashing, you just have to watch. So of course when I found some articles lately hinting at Hitler's survival I was nevertheless, intrigued. Bear with me here, I'll lay it out, and let you decide. This gets interesting real fast.

Note: I began linking research but stopped. There’s tons online if you choose to read more. If I linked everything, this entire article would be blue underlines.

Accepted History

On April 29, 1945 with the Soviets approaching, Hitler and Braun were married in the bunker in a civil service. His witnesses were his top nazi henchmen, Himmler, Bormann, Goebbels, and other top men. The next day, Hitler shot himself and Braun took a cyanide capsule. Their bodies were taken outside, coated in petrol and burned as per the Fuhrer's orders. The bodies were not to be recovered and put on display as Mussolini's was in 1943. When the Soviets captured the bunker they found the bodies and identified them as Hitler and Braun. The remains disappeared. The Soviets also found another body identified as Hitler, not burned, but with a bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. Inside the bunker they found the remains of the entire Goebbels family, all poisoned. Himmler escaped and was captured by the British on May 3, but he too, took cyanide. Bormann was reportedly killed in the street fighting as he tried to escape. His body was not found where the witness to his death indicated. There were others, but they were not key players. American intelligence officer Hugh Trevor Roper was tasked with laying out the final days in the bunker. He ended up writing the definitive book on the subject, which is still used today.

Accepted Truths About The Time

1. After the war an organization known as "ODESSA" was established to assist former SS men escaping the crumbling Reich. Thousands of men escaped. Of the million SS members during the war only about 15,000 were ever captured and even fewer tried. ODESSA (Organization Der Ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen) or in English, The Organization of Former SS Members, was a secret group, and only a handful of documents relating to their existence has ever been found. ODESSA was outed by famous nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. ODESSA helped men escape to Spain, South America and other places through establish smuggling routes through Italy.

2. The most notorious of these escapees were Adolph Eichmann, who was captured by Israeli agents in 1960 in Buenes Aires, and Josef Mengele - the so called “Angel of Death”. Mengele was never captured, but lived his life in peace in Paraguay and Brazil until his death in 1979. 

3. Argentina had a huge German population, with many settlements based on German cities, such as New Berlin. Ironically enough, it was also home to around 45,000 German jews who escaped the nazis.

4. Hitler had friends at a place called “Hotel Eden” in La Falda Argentina. the Eichorns. They often travelled to Germany during the war and met with Hitler. Hitler gifted them a Mercedes, the first of it’s kind in Argentina. Eden hosted many notable people in it’s heyday, even Einstein. And it’s well known that the owners were nazi sympathizers.

5. German U boats, U-977 and U-530 surrendered to the Argentine navy in July and August 1945. Of the 470 boats remaining at the end of the war, 218 were scuttled, 154 surrendered. These figures are still debated today. Regardless of who counted, many are unaccounted for.

6. Paraguay’s dictator during the war, Morinigo, was a strong nazi sympathizer.

Potential History

Hitler's double, shot in the forehead, Berlin, 1945

Let’s put two and two together. First of all, the Soviets never released any evidence of Hitler’s body. They said they found it, but that’s all. In 2009 American researchers performed DNA tests on skull fragments the Soviets claimed were Hitler, but the tests indicated the fragment was that of a 40-year old women. The Soviets also claimed to have had a picture of Hitler’s body, not burned, with a bullet in the forehead. It turns out that was one of Hitler’s doubles killed to push people off the trail. If it was Hitler, why was the wound in the middle of the forehead? An odd place to shoot yourself. This double was murdered. The Soviets locked up the bunker shortly after that and refused allied entry. All other evidence was taken. At the Yalta Conference of 1945, Stalin told Roosevelt and Churchill that Hitler probably disappeared to Argentina.

Next, there’s the ODESSA connection. It’s entirely conceivable that Hitler and Braun were spirited away by this secretive group. Evidence proves they had already done so with many others. The generally accepted claim is that he was taken to Trondheim Norway and from there escaped on a U Boat, maybe, U-530 or U-977, both of which ended up in Argentina.

In 1945 witnesses in Buenes Aires saw a group of about 50 people disembark from a german submarine in the harbour and board buses. A second submarine apparently held Hitler and Braun, who according to them were “unmistakable”. These buses left with their passengers and the subs were turned over to the Argentine navy.

Hitler apparently photographed in 1947

Then there’s the Hotel Eden link. Hitler was friends with the owners, Ida and Walter Eichhorn. They already hosted top nazis during the war and it’s not inconceivable that they hosted Hitler after. Workers at the hotel testified to seeing him there in 1947, but were sworn to secrecy. He apparently appeared clean shaven and with whitish hair. He was residing in a house called “Residencia Inalco”, near a little town called Villa La Angostura, a secluded house only visible by the nearby lake, otherwise shrouded in trees. The house was apparently built in 1943 by architect Alejandro Bustillo, who also built houses for other nazi refugees who were later apprehended in the area. He is said to have lived there until his death in the mid 1960s, under heavy security.

The FBI have even said, in unclassified documents, that Hitler escaped to Argentina. Google it, there’s many sources online. 

Finally, only slightly related is the case of Martin Bormann. A witness indicated he was shot during his escape in Berlin after he left the bunker. His body was never found. Years later workers excavated the area where Bormann was said to have been killed and unearthed his skeleton, DNA confirmed it. However, his bones had clay residue stuck to it that was no native to the area, or anywhere in Germany for that matter, the clay was native to Paraguay. The story is that he escaped to South America via ODESSA and settled down, passing away in 1959 of cancer. His old buddy Mengele was called to treat him, but there was nothing they could do. He was buried in a local cemetery and his grave is still known to locals. But tests last year by someone doubting the story had the grave scanned with ground penetrating radar and found it empty. Were Bormann’s bones reburied in Berlin? Or was the original claim true. Nobody really knows.

Hitler in old age? Photo is unattributed and unproven,
but reportedly taken in the 1960s

Why is this important? Because the case of Martin Bormann can easily prove there are many sides to the story. When you add it up, Bormann, Eichmann, Melgele were all in South America. Why then does the story of Hitler have to end in Berlin on April 30, 1945? It doesn’t. The evidence is there to speculate on his living a quiet unassuming life in a small Argentine town.

While I’d like to think that Hitler got what he deserved, there’s a part of me that thinks he got what he wanted, escape. For Hitler and Braun to live out they’re days in peace while planning the Fourth Reich is a nightmare, but there’s strong evidence that he actually did that. To this day there is no further evidence of his death. The bunker has been destroyed, his bones were refuted, and anything further has been covered up by the Soviet and East German regimes during the cold war. Even now with Germany reunited there is no evidence. Not for lack of searching, which is why the bones weren’t tested until 2009. Solid evidence exists for the rest of his cronies, I fail to understand why Hitler’s fate would be so different. He was a paranoid insane man bent on world domination. He wasn’t one to go quietly, and I don’t think he did until old age caught up with him.