The front cover of Time magazine, May 7, 1945. Although he had committed suicide on April 30 and German radio reported Hitler had died in battle on May 1, his death was widely presumed but not yet confirmed.

For fiction about Hitler's death see Hitler in popular culture

The generally accepted cause of the death of Adolf Hitler on April 30, 1945 is suicide by gunshot and cyanide poisoning. The dual method and other circumstances surrounding the event encouraged rumours that Adolf Hitler may have survived the end of World War II along with speculation about what happened to his remains; however, the 1993 opening of records kept by the Russian KGB and FSB confirmed the widely-accepted version of the death of Hitler as described by Hugh Trevor-Roper in his book The Last Days of Hitler published in 1947. The Russian archives did however shed new light on what happened to the remains of the cadaver. Image File history File links Hitlertime. ... Image File history File links Hitlertime. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889–30 April 1945) was the Führer of the National Socialist German Workers Party and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... A space-filling model of the cyanide ion A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group -C≡N, with the carbon atom triple-bonded to the nitrogen atom. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee, (Russian: ; Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ... The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Росси́йской Федера́ции or ФСБ, Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii, FSB) is a state security organisation in Russia, the successor to the KGB by way of the FSK (Federalnaya Sluzhba Kontrrazvedki (Федера́льная Слу́жба Контрразве́дки), Federal Counterintelligence Service). ... Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (January 15, 1914 - January 26, 2003) was a notable historian of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany, who became infamous for authenticating the Hitler Diaries, which were later proved to be a hoax. ...

Standard account of Hitler's death

This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. It is believed that Hitler and Eva Braun were found in the room marked "Hitler's Sitting Room".

This map shows the approximate location of the two bunkers (Führerbunker and Vorbunker) in Berlin 1945.

Hitler relocated to the Führerbunker on January 16, 1945, where he presided over the rapid disintegration of his Third Reich as the Allies advanced from both east and west. By late April, Soviet forces had entered Berlin itself and were battling their way to the center of the city where the Chancellery was located. Realizing that defeat was imminent, Hitler began making preparations for his suicide. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2409x3390, 892 KB) Licensing I hereby release this image with the following declaration: Description This is a map of the Fuehrerbunker which I created in 2004. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2409x3390, 892 KB) Licensing I hereby release this image with the following declaration: Description This is a map of the Fuehrerbunker which I created in 2004. ... This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (720x946, 361 KB) Licensing I hereby release this image with the following declaration: Description This is a map of the location of the Fuehrerbunker and Vorbunker which I created in 2004. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (720x946, 361 KB) Licensing I hereby release this image with the following declaration: Description This is a map of the location of the Fuehrerbunker and Vorbunker which I created in 2004. ... This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. ... This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. ... Do not change January 16 it preserves the date correctly formatted and stops robots from delinking it. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... When spelt with a capital A, Allies usually denotes the countries supporting the Triple Entente who fought together against the Central Powers in World War I and against the Axis Powers in World War II. For more information, see the related articles: Allies of World War I and Allies of... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Model of the new Reich Chancellory. ...

Hitler, having dictated his last will and testament to secretary Traudl Junge, signed them at 04:00 on April 29. Shortly after midnight on April 30, 1945, Hitler married Eva Braun in a small civil ceremony in a map room within the bunker complex, before finally retiring to bed at around 04:00. The last will and testament of Adolf Hitler was dictated by Hitler to his secretary Traudl Junge in his Berlin Führerbunker on April 29, 1945, the day he and Eva Braun married. ... Traudl Junge just after World War II. Traudl Junge (born Gertrude Humps, 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) was Adolf Hitlers last personal private secretary, from 1942 to 1945. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Eva Braun and Adolf Hitler Eva Anna Paula Braun (February 6, 1912 – April 30, 1945) was the longtime companion and, briefly, wife of Adolf Hitler. ...

Shortly after noon on April 30, Hitler had a short meeting with Party Secretary Bormann before eating a small lunch consisting of spaghetti with a light sauce. Hitler and Eva Braun then said their personal farewells to members of the Führerbunker staff and fellow occupants, including the Goebbels family, Bormann, the secretaries, and several military officers. At around 14:30, as Soviet forces raised their banner over the neighboring Reichstag, Adolf and Eva Hitler went into Hitler's personal study. April 30 is the 120th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (121st in leap years), with 245 days remaining. ... Hitler and Bormann in the early 1940s Martin Bormann (June 17, 1900 – May 2, 1945) was a prominent German National Socialist (Nazi) official who became head of the Party Chancellery (Parteikanzlei) and Private Secretary to Adolf Hitler, gaining his trust and deriving immense power within the Third Reich by controlling... Joseph Goebbels Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ... the Reichstag building (June 2003) A Red Army soldier flies the Soviet flag over the Reichstag The Reichstag building in Berlin was constructed as the place where the Reichstag, the parliament of the German Empire, would convene. ...

Some witnesses later reported hearing a loud gunshot at around 15:30 (the Goebbels' young son is said to have declared, "A direct hit!" thinking it was a bomb overhead). After waiting a few minutes, Hitler's valet, Heinz Linge, with Bormann at his side, opened the door to the study. Linge later stated he immediately noted a scent of burned almonds in the small study, a common observation made in the presence of prussic acid, a form of cyanide. The Hitlers were both sitting on a small sofa, Eva on the left, Adolf to the right. Eva's body slumped away from Adolf's. Hitler appeared to have shot himself in the right temple with a 7.65 mm pistol which lay at his feet. Blood was dripping from the wound to his right temple and had made a large stain on the right arm of the sofa. Eva had no visible physical wounds and Linge assumed she had poisoned herself. Heinz Linge (1913-1980) was one of Adolf Hitlers servants at his headquarters. ... Flash point −17. ... A space-filling model of the cyanide ion A cyanide is any chemical compound that contains the cyano group -C≡N, with the carbon atom triple-bonded to the nitrogen atom. ...

Several witnesses stated the two bodies were carried to a small, bombed-out garden outside the bunker complex, where they were doused with petrol and set alight by Linge and members of Hitler's personal SS bodyguard. The SS guards and Linge later noted the fire did not completely destroy the corpses, but Soviet shelling of the bunker compound made further cremation attempts impossible and the remains were later covered up in a shallow bomb crater. Gasoline, as it is known in North America, or petrol, in many Commonwealth countries (sometimes also called motor spirit) is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture consisting primarily of hydrocarbons, used as fuel in internal combustion engines. ... The infamous double-sig rune SS insignia. ...

Soviet troops stormed the Chancellory at approximately 23:00 . The remains of Hitler, Braun and two dogs (thought to be Blondi and her offspring Wulf) were discovered in a shell crater by Ivan Churakov of the 79th Rifle Corps (Commonly referred to as 79th SMERSH). Blondi (d. ... SMERSH (short for SMERt SHpionam (СМЕРть Шпионам), or Death to Spies) was the name of counterintelligence departments in the Soviet Union formed during the Great Patriotic War, to secure the rear of the active Red Army, on the front to arrest traitors, deserters, spies, and criminal elements. // History The organization was created...

Later Russian disclosures

A book by Soviet journalist Lev Bezymensky on the SMERSH autopsy report was published in the west in 1968 but was associated with other disinformation attempts and considered untrustworthy. An autopsy, also known as a post-mortem examination or an obduction, is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of a persons death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present. ... Disinformation, in the context of espionage, military intelligence, and propaganda, is the spreading of deliberately false information to mislead an enemy as to ones position or course of action. ...

The KGB/FSB opened a store to the public in 1993, releasing records and statements by former KGB members. Drawing from these, historians reached a general consensus about what happened to the bodies of Hitler and Braun. The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee, (Russian: ; Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ... The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Федера́льная слу́жба безопа́сности Росси́йской Федера́ции or ФСБ, Federalnaya Sluzhba Bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii, FSB) is a state security organisation in Russia, the successor to the KGB by way of the FSK (Federalnaya Sluzhba Kontrrazvedki (Федера́льная Слу́жба Контрразве́дки), Federal Counterintelligence Service). ...

After the autopsy their remains were frequently buried and exhumed by SMERSH during the unit's relocation from Berlin to a new facility at 30-32 Klausnerstrasse in Magdeburg where they (along with the charred remains of propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, his wife Magda and their six children) were permanently buried in an unmarked grave beneath a paved section of the front courtyard and the location was kept highly secret. View of Magdeburg with the cathedral, from the tower of the Johanniskirche. ...

By 1970 the SMERSH facility (now controlled by the KGB) was scheduled to be handed over to the East German government. Keen to destroy any possibility Hitler's burial site might become a Neo-Nazi shrine, KGB director Yuri Andropov authorised a special operation to destroy the remains. On April 4, 1970 a Soviet KGB team (who had been given detailed burial charts) secretly exhumed the bodies and thoroughly burned them before dumping the ashes in the Elbe river. GDR redirects here. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (Russian: Ю́рий Влади́мирович Андро́пов; 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1914 – February 9, 1984) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU from November 12, 1982 until his death just sixteen months later. ... April 4 is the 94th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (95th in leap years). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... The River Elbe (Czech Labe , Sorbian/Lusatian Łobjo, German Elbe) is one of the major waterways of Central Europe. ...

Miscellania

• In July 1943 Pierre J. Huss, chief correspondent in Berlin for the International News Service who had interviewed Hitler several times during the 1930s and 1940s, filed a report which concluded, "But Hitler, unlike Il Duce, probably will ride the storm to the bitter end, wildly spilling oceans of blood in occupied countries and even in the Reich itself, and kill himself rather than follow Mussolini's example and resign." That same year a classified psychological report by the Office of Strategic Services came to the same conclusion.

• During Hitler's last lunch of spaghetti with a "light sauce," according to the secretaries who ate with him, conversation revolved around dog breeding and how lipstick was made from sewer grease. Both were topics Hitler had brought up on numerous past mealtime occasions.

• There was an anecdote, likely an urban legend, that the fragment of Hitler's skull from the Archives was presented as a gift to Stalin, who then used it as an ashtray. This story may have emerged from a more prosaic tale however, since the fragments were kept for a time in a wooden cigar box by a member of 79th SMERSH.

Pierre John Huss (1903-?) was a journalist and author, best known as a war correspondent during World War II. Huss was for many years chief International News Service (INS) correspondent in Berlin. ... International News Service (INS) was a news agency founded by William Randolph Hearst in 1909. ... Duce was an Italian word meaning leader, derived from Latin word dux of the same meaning. ... Werwolf was a Nazi plan at the end of World War II for a force which would aid the Wehrmacht by means of guerrilla attacks against the Allies in the Allied-occupied regions of Germany. ... Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini The European Theatre was an area of heavy fighting from 1939 to 1945 during World War II. // Preceding events Main articles: Events preceding World War II in Europe, Causes of World War II After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Treaty of Versailles... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime (but not direct) precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog is a mammal in the order Carnivora. ... Breeding has several meanings related to procreation: In animal husbandry and in horticulture the selection of stock for propagation and the act of insemination by natural or artificial means is called breeding. ... Lipstick Lipstick is a cosmetic product for the lips that is richer in color and texture than lip gloss, pirmarily used to apply color to the lips. ... Sewers transport wastewater from buildings to treatment facilities. ... Look up grease in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Urban legends are a kind of folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them (see rumor). ... SMERSH (short for SMERt SHpionam (СМЕРть Шпионам), or Death to Spies) was the name of counterintelligence departments in the Soviet Union formed during the Great Patriotic War, to secure the rear of the active Red Army, on the front to arrest traitors, deserters, spies, and criminal elements. // History The organization was created...

See also

• Führerbunker
• List of suicides

This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. ... A list of famous people who have committed suicide. ...

Dramatizations

• Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973) is a movie depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitler's death, starring Sir Alec Guinness.
• The Bunker (1978) by James O'Donnell, describing the last days in the Führerbunker from 1945-01-17 to 1945-05-02. Made into the TV movie The Bunker (1981), starring Anthony Hopkins.
• 100 Jahre Adolf Hitler - Die letzte Stunde im Führerbunker (100 years of Adolf Hitler - the last hour in the Führerbunker) (1989) is a German movie by provocateur Christoph Schlingensief filmed in realtime on location in the remains of the Führerbunker depicting the events in an absurd way as in a madhouse.
• Der Untergang (2004) is a German movie about the last days of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. It also features interviews with Traudl Junge.

Hitler: The Last Ten Days is a 1973 film depicting the days leading up to Adolf Hitlers suicide. ... Publicity shot from 1960. ... The Bunker is an account, written by American journalist James ODonnell, of the history of the Fuehrerbunker in early 1945, as well as the last days of Adolf Hitler. ... This is a reconstruction of the layout of the Führerbunker. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... The Bunker is an account, written by American journalist James ODonnell, of the history of the Fuehrerbunker in early 1945, as well as the last days of Adolf Hitler. ... Christoph Schlingensief (born October 24, 1960 in Oberhausen) is a German film director, theatre director, actor, author, artist, and talkshow host. ... Der Untergang (2004; international English title Downfall) is a German film depicting the final days of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in 1945. ... Traudl Junge just after World War II. Traudl Junge (born Gertrude Humps, 16 March 1920 – 10 February 2002) was Adolf Hitlers last personal private secretary, from 1942 to 1945. ...

Bibliography

• The Last Days of Hitler, by Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper 1947. University Of Chicago Press; Reprint (1992). ISBN 0226812243
• Inside Hitler's Bunker : The Last Days of the Third Reich by Joachim Fest, ISBN 0374135770

Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (January 15, 1914 - January 26, 2003) was a notable historian of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany. ... Joachim C. Fest (born December 8, 1926 in Berlin) is a German journalist and author, best known in English-speaking countries for his biography of Adolf Hitler. ...

References

• O'Donnell, James - The Bunker. - New York: Da Capo Press; Reprint(2001). - ISBN 0306809583.
• Waite, Robert G.L. - The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler. - New York: First DaCapo Press Edition, 1993 (orig. pub. 1977). - ISBN 0306805146.
• Ada Petrova - The Death of Hitler: The Full Story With New Evidence from Secret Russian Archives - W W Norton & Co Inc (May 1, 1995) - ISBN 0393039145
• Gardner, Dave - The Last of the Hitlers, BMM, Worcester, UK, 2001. ISBN 0954154401
• Beevor, Antony, Berlin - The Downfall 1945, Penguin Books, 2004
• Ryan, Cornelius, The Last Battle, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1966
• After the Battle, No.61 Special Edition, Battle of Britain International Ltd, 1988, London

The Bunker is an account, written by American journalist James ODonnell, of the history of the Fuehrerbunker in early 1945, as well as the last days of Adolf Hitler. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Antony Beevor (born on December 14, 1946) is a British historian, educated at Winchester College and Sandhurst. ... Cornelius Ryan (5 June 1920 – 23 November 1974) was an Irish-American journalist and author mainly known for his writings on popular military history, especially World War II. His two best-known books are The Longest Day (1959), which tells the story of the D-Day (day one of the...

Further reading

• The Death of Hitler
• Der Untergang at The Internet Movie Database
• Article on the KGB destruction of Hitler's remains (link broken)
• BBC article on the public display of Hitler's skull fragment
• Washington Post article on the death of Hitler
• The World was Lied to about Hitler's Death (note: Revisionist)
• The OMEGA File - HITLER ESCAPED! (note: Revisionist)
• Ron T. Hansig Hitler's Escape ISBN 1932077820 (an uncritical review or Hansig's book)

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ...