Research Proposal and Bibliography:

The Undisclosed Truth about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun’s Suicide

Jessica Tingley
Mailbox #511

HI3013—Probing the Past: Nature of History I (Take Home Exam) Cecil Chabot

December 15, 2015

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Research Topic: The Death of Adolf Hitler

Proposed Title: The Undisclosed Truth about Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun’s Suicide

Research Question: Was Adolf Hitler able to fake his own death and get away with it?

Purpose Statement: My paper will examine how it is possible that many people have speculated

wrongly about the death of Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.

Thesis Statement: It will be shown how he and his new bride escaped Berlin and made way to

South America where they lived out the rest of their lives in protected seclusion.

A Foreword to My Paper:

Are conspiracy theories true? Or are they simply hocus pocus, unworthy of the time and

effort. Sure, every once and a while, you hear that Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson were seen at

Walmart the other day. However, when a 70 year old cold case implements more evidence than

what we know to do with, one must draw their own speculation and conclusion of the facts

provided.

One fall evening, while I was watching television, I noticed an advertisement for a new

television show entitled “Hunting Hitler.” Intrigued, I set my digital video recorder (DVR) to record

the show. Little did I know what I was getting myself in to! When I sat down to watch the first

episode in the eight part series, I had no idea what to expect. However, I have always been intrigued

by the events of World War Two, and thought this show might educate me more on the subject.

After I watched the first episode, my mind was blown! I was astonished that so many people

believed Adolf Hitler faked his own suicide and escaped to live out the rest of his life on the run

until his real death. While many people my age would argue who cares when he died, as long as he

did, I find it rather interesting the amount of research and effort made by historians and government

officials in attempts to prove this theory correct. There seems to be endless amounts of research on

the topic. Even Joseph Stalin believed Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide in the Fürherbunker.
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Conspiracy theories have been around since the beginning of time. How do you know if one

is true? Many details surrounding the alleged suicide of Adolf Hitler have been misconstrued and

misleading. It is shocking that no one thought to correctly identify the bodies in the bunker. This is

the main criteria that authors use in their research—the fact that there is no legitimate proof of

death. Yet, many people were still content to believe that Hitler and Braun committed suicide until

DNA results, clarified in 2008, that Hitler’s supposed remains, found by the Russians, actually

belonged to a middle aged woman, who was neither Eva Braun or Adolf Hitler. The fire was further

fueled when over 700 declassified FBI documents were publicly released shortly after, exclaiming

that the United States government believed the fugitive to be alive and living in South America well

after the war ended. They spent time, money and effort to investigate the possibility of Hitler’s

escape to Argentina through Spain.

Essentially, it is believed that Adolf Hitler escaped Berlin through an underground tunnel

system leading directly to Tempelhof Airport. From the airport, it is said that they flew to Spain.

Hitler allegedly catches a U-boat submarine from Spain to Argentina. One FBI document reports

that a woman reportedly declares seeing Hitler and his entourage get off a submarine on the coast of

Argentina weeks after the war ended. Reports sporadically surfaced after this time placing Hitler in

a variety of locations across South America and the United States years after the war. Some people

claim Hitler wanted a way to live the rest of his life in peace, and made a plea deal to be protected

by certain governments. Others claim that he was hiding out in order to begin creating the rise of a

Fourth Reich. Nonetheless, investigations began when a man requested contact with the Los

Angeles Bureau of the FBI to report how he and several other men helped Hitler hide in Argentina

upon his landing by submarine. There is no doubt that Argentina had a strong Nazi support presence

during and after the war. Many other high ranking Nazi officials such as Adolf Eichmann and Josef

Mengele managed to escape there and live undercover. They did it, why would not Hitler do it too?
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References

Primary Sources:

“FBI — Adolf Hitler Part 01 of 04 - File No 105-410." Vault.fbi.gov. Retrieved 3 December 2015.

A collection of over 700 declassified documents citing information about the potential
whereabouts of Adolf Hitler after the Second World War as explored by the US government
and Federal Investigation Bureau.

Basti, Abel. Hitler’s Exile: Proof of the Escape of the Fuehrer to Argentina. English Translation ed.
Argentina: Random House, 2010.

This is one of the first books to be published about Hitler’s escape and life in Argentina,
done with the help of interviews and investigative research by the author.

Cooper, Harry. Hitler in Argentina: The Documented Truth of Hitler's Escape from Berlin. 5th
Revision ed. Florida: Sharkhunters International, 2014.

This book distributes everything you need to know about the conspiracy theory including:
photographs, links to the FBI files and a detailed letter from Nazi spy Don Angel Alcazar de
Velasco to Harry Cooper, the author, about the escape of Adolf Hitler and Martin Bormann
from the Führerbunker.

Corsi, Jerome R. Hunting Hitler: New Scientific Evidence That Hitler Escaped Nazi Germany. New
York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2014.

This book explores the possibility that Hitler and his bride escaped Germany and lived out
the rest of their lives in peace; many people, including high ranking government officials
like Joseph Stalin believed this.

Dunstan, Simon and Gerrard Williams. Grey Wolf: The Escape of Hitler. Sterling Publishing, New
York, 2011.

A military historian and investigative journalist spend five years researching this topic, and
release their findings in a book that attempts to prove how Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun
escaped Germany and lived the rest of their lives in South America.

Secondary Sources:

"The Many Deaths of Adolf Hitler." Time 45, no. 20 (1945): 23. Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed November 21, 2015)

This source is helpful because it explains some of the conspiracy theories released about
Adolf Hitler’s death released days after the event, proving at the time that nobody seemed
one hundred percent sure if Hitler was even dead, or how he died.
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British Broadcasting Corporation. "Russia displays 'Hitler skull fragment'." BBC.com. news.bbc.
co.uk/2/hi/europe/725537.stm (accessed December, 11, 2015).

This source is helpful because it discusses Russia’s involvement in obtaining Adolf Hitler’s
alleged remains and whether they are real or false.

Cable News Network. "Official: KGB chief ordered Hitler's remains destroyed." CNN.com. http://
www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/russia.hitler.remains/ (accessed December 10,
2015).

This source is helpful because it depicts what supposedly happened to the bodies from the
bunker as ordered by the Russian government.

Fest, Joachim. Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich. New York: Farrar, Straus
and Giroux, 2004.

This book provides a detailed account on what life was like during the last weeks of Hitler’s
life, and how his allies covered up his death providing the traditional story that we all know.

Fotis Kapnistos, Peter. Hitler's Doubles: Fully-Illustrated. 2015.

The author reviews several published works that claim Hitler fled to South America and
discusses their viability along with detailed information on all of Adolf Hitler’s body
doubles around the world.

Giblin, James Cross. "What Sort of Man?" Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for
Library Service to Children 1, no. 2 (2003): 16. Academic Search Premier,
EBSCOhost (accessed November 21, 2015).

This journal excerpt is a questionnaire with a children’s author who wrote a successful
biography on Adolf Hitler’s life educating children on “What Sort of Man” could do what
Hitler did.

Goñi, Uki. "Tests on skull fragment cast doubt on Adolf Hitler suicide story." The Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/sep/27/adolf-hitler-suicide-skull-fragment
(accessed December 1, 2015).

Just when people thought the matter was settled, news is released that the skull fragment was
not Adolf Hitler’s or Eva Braun’s leading many people to speculate that Hitler could have
escaped and survived.

Isachenkov, Vladimir. "Russians say they have bones from Hitler's skull." Gadsen Times, February
20, 1993.

This is a newspaper article from Moscow Russia in 1993 discussing how the Russians
acquired what they thought to be Adolf Hitler’s remains in order to disprove Joseph Stalin’s
thoughts that Hitler was still alive.
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Ivinheim, Michael. Hitler and the Secret Alliance: How and Why Tens of Thousands of Germans,
including Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun, Were Able, and Allowed, to Escape to Argentina after
the War. Edited by Harry Cooper. Florida: Sharkhunters International, 2014.

This book attempts to discern how it was possible for many Nazis, including Adolf Hitler
and Eva Braun, to escape to Argentina after the war by exploiting the amount of Nazi
supporters within Argentina.

Joachimsthaler, Anton. The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth. London:
Brockhampton Press. 1995.

This source attempts to re-evaluate the evidence of Hitler’s suicide, through interviews with
witnesses still living and examining top secret records held by the Russians.

Lambert, Angela. The Lost Life of Eva Braun. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2007.

This book provides information about who Eva Braun was, and potentially provides insight
into why she would have agreed to follow Hitler’s plans, be it suicide or exile.

Levenda, Peter. Ratline: Soviet Spies, Nazi Priests, and the Disappearance of Adolf Hitler. Florida:
Ibis Press, 2012.

The author of this book has spent many years investigating the claim of Hitler’s
disappearance, attempting to prove that Hitler did not commit suicide in his bunker.

Levenda, Peter. The Hitler Legacy: The Nazi Cult in Diaspora: How it was Organized, How it was
Funded, and Why it Remains a Threat to Global Security in the Age of Terrorism. Florida:
Ibis Press, 2014.

This author’s second book on the subject taking place thirty years after his first investigation
into the subject, now adds new material linking this problem to more modern day events.

Lowry, Brian. "TV Review: 'Hunting Hitler'" Variety. http://variety.com/2015/tv/reviews/ hunting-

hitler-review-history-channel-1201632629/ (accessed December 11, 2015).

This is a review of the recent television series that explores how Hitler could have escaped to
Argentina; it provides a strong critique about the show’s wild claims and how they present
their findings.

McKale, Donald M. Hitler: The Survival Myth. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2001.

Although this book was written before the elusive DNA results were ensured, it examines all
the potential theories thought up until 2001 about Hitler surviving and how this makes
society look at history.

Osbourn, Andrew. "Adolf Hitler Suicide Story Questioned after Tests Reveal Skull Is a Woman's."
The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-two/6237028/Adolf-Hitler-
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suicide-story-questioned-after-tests-reveal-skull-is-a-womans.html (accessed December 10,

2015).

A journalist from Moscow explains how the theories about Hitler’s possible escape are
plausible because American scientists performed DNA tests proving that the skull claimed to
be Adolf Hitler’s was not his.

Petrova, Ada and Peter Watson. "The Death of Hitler: The Full Story with New Evidence from
Secret Russian Archives.” The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/deathofhitler.htm (accessed December 10, 2015).

This book provides a very traditional and detailed account of what happened to the bodies
and why the Russians were secretive about their discoveries and actions.

Ryan, Cornelius. The Last Battle. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1966.

This book depicts how the allies defeated the Third Reich; it is helpful as it contributes
important information on how Hitler was defeated.

Sahin, Emre, Sarah Wetherbee, Kelly McPherson, and Jason Wolf, prods. "Hunting Hitler." History.
Series. November 1, 2015.

This is an eight part series shown on the History Channel depicting the search to prove Adolf
Hitler escaped and fled to South America. The search is led by Bob Baer and John Cencich,
and follows leads found within the FBI declassified documents.

Shirer, William. The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler. New York: RosettaBooks, LLC., 2012.

This book is relevant as it chronicles the success and demise of Adolf Hitler’s personal life
and career providing insight into what kind of person he truly was.

Steinacher, Gerald. Nazis on the Run: How Hitler's Henchmen Fled Justice. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2011.

This source is helpful because it details the support network that was available to assist Nazi
war criminals in easily escaping to South America.

Strochlic, Nina. "The People Who Swear Hitler Is Alive." The Daily Beast. http://www.thedaily
beast.com/articles/2015/04/30/the-people-who-swear-hitler-is-alive.html (accessed
December 14, 2015).

Nina Strochlic attempts to clarify her opinion on whether you should fall prey to all the
insane conspiracy theories surrounding Adolf Hitler’s death.

Thomas, Hugh. Doppelgängers: The Truth about the Bodies in the Bunker. London: Fourth Estate,
1995.
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This book investigates what happened with the bodies in the bunker, were they legitimate?
The author proves they were not who we thought they were.

Trevor-Roper, H. R. Hitler’s Secret Conversations 1941-1944. New York: Farrar, Straus and
Young, Inc., 1953.

This book provides insight into the character of Adolf Hitler allowing us to see what kind of
person he was.

Trevor-Roper, H. R. The Last Days of Hitler. New York: Macmillan Company, 2002.

This book provides insight into the last few days of Hitler’s life and how we should not
question whether he committed suicide in his bunker or not.

Vinogradov, V. K., J.F. Pogonyi, and N.V. Teptzov. Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from
the Files of the KGB. London: Chaucer Press. 2005.

This book takes information that Trevor-Roper used in his book The Last Days of Hitler and
it expands on it adding new insight into the death of Adolf Hitler.

Waite, Robert G. L. The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler. New York: Da Capo Press, 1993.

This source is relevant as it conveys what Adolf Hitler was like, detailing his behavior,
beliefs, tastes, fears and compulsions. Thereby, allowing us to see how he could pull of the
biggest scheme ever—his escape from Berlin.

Walters, Guy. "Did Hitler Flee Bunker with Eva to Argentina, Have Two Daughters and Live to 73?
The Bizarre Theory That's Landed Two British Authors in a Bitter War." Mail Online.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2478100/Theory-Adolf-Hitler-fled-Argentina-
lived-age-73.html (accessed December 10, 2015).

Historian and famous author Guy Walters provides his insight on the bizarre theory that
claims Adolf Hitler did not commit suicide by critiquing the work of several other books on
the matter.