How Did Adolf Hitler Die?
On April 30, 1945, with the war lost and Soviet troops advancing, Adolf Hitler fatally shot himself in his underground bunker in Berlin. Some sources claim that he also bit into a cyanide capsule as he pulled the trigger. Eva Braun, whom he had married the previous day, also took cyanide and died by his side. According to Hitler’s wishes, both bodies were burned and buried in the garden of the Reich Chancellery.
Almost immediately, however, conspiracy theories arose, fueled in part by the Soviets. They initially claimed that they were unable to confirm that Hitler was dead and then stated that he had died by cyanide. The Soviets later spread rumors that he was alive and being protected by the West. When pressed by U.S. Pres. Harry Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin stated that he did not know Hitler’s fate. According to later reports, however, the Soviets recovered his burnt remains, which were identified through dental records. Hitler’s body was secretly buried before being exhumed and cremated, with the ashes scattered into the Ehle river in East Germany in 1970.
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