The Death of Adolf Hitler

Bezymenski opens his book with a reflection on the weight given to Hitler's death, acknowledging that accounts written by those who lacked access to the autopsy reports "have confused the issue rather than clarifying it."[5] He cites The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1960), in which William L. Shirer claims that:

The bones were never found, and this gave rise to rumors after the war that Hitler had survived. But the separate interrogation of several eyewitnesses by British and American intelligence officers leaves no doubt about the matter. Kempka has given a plausible explanation as to why the charred remains were never found. "The traces were wiped out," he told his interrogators, "by the uninterrupted Russian artillery fire."[6]

Bezymenski goes on to cite Hitler: A Study in Tyranny (1962 edition), in which Alan Bullock says:

What happened to the ashes of the two burned bodies left in the Chancellery Garden has never been discovered. ... Trevor-Roper, who carried out a thorough investigation in 1945 of the circumstances surrounding Hitler's death, inclines to the view that the ashes were collected into a box and handed to Artur Axmann, the leader of the Hitler Youth. ... It is, of course, true that no final incontrovertible evidence in the form of Hitler's dead body has been produced.[7]

Bezymenski then gives an account of the battle of Berlin, the subsequent investigation by SMERSH, supplemented by later statements of pertinent Nazi officers. Bezymenski quotes SMERSH commander Ivan Klimenko's account, which states that on the night of 3 May 1945, he witnessed Vizeadmiral Hans-Erich Voss seem to recognize a corpse as Hitler's in a dry water tank filled with other corpses outside the Führerbunker, before recanting this identification.[8][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] Klimenko then relates that on 4 May, Soviet Private Ivan Churakov found legs sticking out of the ground in a crater outside the Reich Chancellery. Two corpses were exhumed, but Klimenko had these reburied, thinking that the doppelgänger would be identified as Hitler. Only that day did several witnesses say it was definitely not Hitler's body, and a Soviet diplomat released it for reburial. On the morning of 5 May, Klimenko had the other two bodies reexhumed.[11] On 13 May, SMERSH produced a report of the initial disposal of the corpses based on the testimony of an SS guard.[12]

A report on the purported forensic examination of Hitler's body states that the "remains of a male corpse disfigured by fire were delivered in a wooden box[lower-alpha 4] ... On the body was found a piece of yellow jersey ... charred around the edges, resembling a knitted undervest."[14] It notes that the corpse was "severely charred"[lower-alpha 5] and that "part of the cranium [was] missing." The height of the body was judged to be about 165 centimetres (5 ft 5 in).[15][lower-alpha 6] Both the left foot and testicle were missing.[17][lower-alpha 7] In the corpse's upper jawbone were nine upper teeth, mostly gold, with dental work connected by a gold bridge.[lower-alpha 8] The lower jawbone had 15 teeth, 10 of them artificial; it was found loose in the oral cavity,[lower-alpha 9] its alveolar processes "broken in the back" with "ragged edges".[15] Splinters of glass and a "thin-walled ampule" were found in the mouth (as from a cyanide capsule),[19] which was ruled to be the cause of death.[20][lower-alpha 10]

Bezymenski also gives an account of discrepancies of certain reports. For instance, after being published in Der Spiegel, Heinz Linge changed his account of Hitler's suicide gunshot from being to the left temple to being to the right—Bezymenski points out that the former is unlikely as Hitler was right-handed.[22] Between 1950 and 1960, Otto Günsche changed his account of the position of Hitler and Braun's bodies from being on the couch to being in chairs.[22] Soviet forensic expert Faust Shkaravsky concludes from the examination held on 8 May that "No matter what is asserted ... our Commission could not detect any traces of a gun shot ... Hitler poisoned himself."[23] Bezymenski posits that Hitler may have died by the combination of cyanide poisoning and a coup de grâce by citing the little black dog found nearby, which was killed in a similar fashion.[23]

The appendix includes the purported Soviet forensic reports on the bodies of Braun, the Goebbels family, General Krebs, Hitler's dog Blondi, and another small dog.

The body presumed to be Braun's is noted as being "impossible to describe the features of", owing to its extensive charring. Almost the entire upper skull was missing. The occipital and temporal bones were fragmentary, as was the lower left of the face. Three molars and one detached root were found in the upper jaw, as well as a loose canine; the others were missing, as were the alveolar processes. Six of the lower jaw's left teeth were preserved, while those of the right side were missing. A gold bridge with two false molars was found, detached, under the tongue. The woman was judged to be no more than middle-aged due to her teeth being only slightly worn; her height was approximately 150 centimetres (4 ft 11 in). There was a splinter injury to the chest resulting in hemothorax, injuries to one lung and the pericardium—accompanied by six small metal fragments.[lower-alpha 11] Pieces of a glass ampule were found in the mouth cavity, and the smell of bitter almonds which accompanies death from cyanide poisoning was present; this was ruled to be the cause of death.[25]

The remains of Joseph and Magda Goebbels were discovered near the bunker door by Ivan Klimenko on 2 May 1945.[lower-alpha 12] The next day, Senior Lieutenant Ilyin found the bodies of the Goebbels children in one of the rooms of the bunker. The bodies were identified by Vizeadmiral Voss, cook Wilhelm Lange, and garage mechanic Karl Friedrich Wilhelm Schneider, "all of whom knew [the Goebbels family] well."[27]

Joseph Goebbels' body was "heavily scorched", but was identified by his size, estimated age, shortened right leg and related orthopedic appliance, as well as his head characteristics and dental remains, which included many fillings. His genitals were "greatly reduced in size, shrunken, dry." Chemical testing revealed cyanide compounds in the internal organs and blood; cyanide poisoning was judged to be the cause of death.[28]

Voss identified two items found on Magda's corpse as having been in her possession: a cigarette case inscribed "Adolf Hitler—29.X.34", which she had used for the last three weeks of her life, and Hitler's Golden Party Badge, which the dictator had given her three days before his suicide.[29][30] Additionally, a reddish-blond hairpiece was identified as matching the color of one Magda wore. Her dental remains were found loose on the corpse along with splinters from a thin-walled ampule; the cause of death was ruled to be cyanide poisoning.[29]

General Krebs is erroneously listed in the autopsy report as "Major General Krips".[lower-alpha 13] Cyanide compounds were detected in the internal organs and the smell of bitter almonds was recorded, leading the commission to conclude that Krebs' death was "obviously caused by poisoning with cyanide compounds." Three light head wounds are presumed to have been obtained from his death fall onto a protruding object.[31]

A large German Shepherd matching Hitler's dog Blondi's description appears to have died from cyanide poisoning.[32]

A small black bitch, about 60 centimetres (2 ft) long and 28 centimetres (1 ft) tall, was poisoned by cyanide before being shot in the head.[33]

The 16 pages of photographs include those of Ivan Klimenko, head of autopsy commission Faust Shkaravsky, the locations of Hitler's burning and burying site outside the Führerbunker's emergency exit, SMERSH agents exhuming Hitler and Braun's remains, a diagram of where the corpses of Hitler, Braun, Joseph and Magda Goebbels were burned, Hitler and Braun's corpses in boxes,[lower-alpha 4] Hitler's dental remains and a sketch drawn by Hitler's dentist's assistant Käthe Heusermann on 11 May 1945 to identify them, Braun's dental bridge, the first and last page of Hitler's autopsy report, the Soviet autopsy commission with both Kreb's and Joseph Goebbels' corpses, the bodies of the Goebbels family, the bodies of Krebs and the Goebbels children at Plötzensee Prison,[34] and Blondi's corpse.[35]