# Russians dismiss 'myth' that Hitler died a soldier's death



## Colin1 (May 8, 2010)

_The Daily Telegraph_ 8 May 2010

*By Andrew Osborn
in Moscow*

Adolf Hitler poisoned himself rather than committing suicide with a gun in the manner of a soldier, according to Russia's top security service archivist.

Lt Gen Vasily Khristoforov said Soviet military medical staff at the time were able to determine only that the Nazi leader and his mistress, Eva Braun, had died after ingesting cyanide on April 30 1945.

He said the 'myth' that Hitler died an honourable death by shooting himself in the head at the time he took a cyanide capsule appeared wide of the mark. "The presence of the remains of crushed glass capsules in the mouth and the sharp odour of bitter almonds from the corpses, and the results of an internal post mortem led the [Soviet] commission to conclude that it was death by cyanide poisoning" he said.

"Thus the myth put about by those Nazis left in Berlin that 'the Fuhrer died like a soldier having shot himself in his bunker' was shattered. Soviet medical staff found no serious wounds on Hitler's heavily burned body either, he added.

If accurate, Lt Gen Khristoforov's account casts doubts on the widely accepted version of how Hitler died. It also raises questions over the authenticity of a skull fragment kept in Russia's state archive that purportedly came from Hitler. The fragment has a bullet hole in it yet American researchers claim that DNA testing of the skull has shown it belonged to a woman aged between 20 and 40 and could not be Hitler's.

The Russians have defended the skull's authenticity but have not offered their own DNA proof. The Soviets, who were paranoid about anyone finding Hitler's resting place, lest it became a place of pilgrimage for Nazis, dug up what they said were Hitler's remains as late as 1970 and burned them before scattering the ashes in a river.

Conspiracy theorists have claimed that the Nazi leader escaped to South America and even Stalin was thought to have gone to his grave thinking that his nemesis had survived the war.


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## wilbur1 (May 8, 2010)

Interesting........


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## RabidAlien (May 8, 2010)

More Hitler mysteries. Cyanide, suicide....as long as he's dead, it doesn't matter.


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## vikingBerserker (May 8, 2010)

Yea, is suicide really a soldier's death though?


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## parsifal (May 8, 2010)

Hitler died by shooting himself, but it was no soldiers death. A coward to the end, he preferred to kill himself rather than face justice on behalf of his people.


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## wheelsup_cavu (May 8, 2010)

Hitler became an actor after the war.
This video proves it... 

_View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3SzmfZ6F24_


Wheels


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## Ferdinand Foch (May 9, 2010)

wheelsup_cavu said:


> Hitler became an actor after the war.
> This video proves it...
> 
> _View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3SzmfZ6F24_
> ...


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## davebender (May 9, 2010)

> Adolf Hitler poisoned himself rather than committing suicide with a gun in the manner of a soldier


Neither action has anything to do with dying in combat like a soldier. 

He should have attacked Russian tanks with Panzerfaust, like he demanded of the local 14 year old Hitler Youth. Then he would get a chance to die like a soldier.


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## DerAdlerIstGelandet (May 9, 2010)

Who cares how he killed himself. He did not die a soldiers death no matter which way.


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## CharlesBronson (May 9, 2010)

> Neither action has anything to do with dying in combat like a soldier.
> 
> He should have attacked Russian tanks with Panzerfaust, like he demanded of the local 14 year old Hitler Youth. Then he would get a chance to die like a soldier.



Fully agree with mr Dave here.


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## Vincenzo (May 9, 2010)

davebender said:


> Neither action has anything to do with dying in combat like a soldier.
> 
> He should have attacked Russian tanks with Panzerfaust, like he demanded of the local 14 year old Hitler Youth. Then he would get a chance to die like a soldier.



too me agree with you


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## Messy1 (May 10, 2010)

Agree with all here. Doesn't matter how he killed himself. He cowered away in his bunker while the German population dealt with the attacking Soviets. Sending teenage boys to their certain death rather than surrender even when there was no hope left for victory, he died a cowards death.


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