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The Death of Adolf Hitler
1968 book by Lev Bezymenski / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Death of Adolf Hitler: Unknown Documents from Soviet Archives[lower-alpha 1] is a 1968 book by Soviet journalist Lev Bezymenski, who served as an interpreter in the Battle of Berlin. The book gives details of the purported Soviet autopsies of Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Joseph and Magda Goebbels, their children, and General Hans Krebs. Each of these individuals are recorded as having died by cyanide poisoning; contrary to the Western conclusion (and the accepted view of historians) that Hitler died by a suicide gunshot to the right temple.
![]() Cover of the first edition | |
Author | Lev Bezymenski |
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Original title | Der Tod des Adolf Hitler: Unbekannte Dokumente aus Moskauer Archiven[lower-alpha 1] |
Language | German |
Publisher | Wegner |
Publication date | 1968 |
Publication place | Germany |
Published in English | 1968 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | c. 134 |
The book's release was preceded by various contrary reports about Hitler's death, including from commonly self-contradictory (and tortured) eyewitnesses. The Soviets variously implied that the body of an apparent double belonged to Hitler, that a charred corpse (with the dictator's dental remains) died by cyanide, and that Hitler actually escaped. Much of the information presented in the book about Hitler's cause of death (namely, poisoning or a coup de grâce) has been discredited, including by the author, as propaganda. Some sources have argued that Hitler's body was burned almost completely to ashes, leaving nothing to conduct an autopsy upon.[lower-alpha 2] Only the Soviet description of Hitler's dental remains, consisting of a golden bridge and a mandibular fragment with teeth, is considered reliable. The book also includes previously unreleased photographs.