Adolf Hitler's 'skull bone' revealed as woman's
Did German Nazi leader really did shoot himself in his Berlin bunker?
By TED THORNHILL - Monday, September 28, 2009
Find shrouds fate of Adolf Hitler in mystery
An archaeologist given access to Adolf Hitler's skull has declared that the bone is actually from a young woman.
The amazing discovery casts doubt on whether the Nazi tyrant really did shoot himself in his Berlin bunker in April 1945.
For decades history books have written that the 56-year-old dictator committed suicide with Eva Braun. Experts say that he took a cyanide pill and shot himself in the head as Russian troops overran the German capital.
Soon after the end of the war the Russians took a fragment of skull with a bullet hole in it from the bunker and declared that it belonged to Hitler's corpse. Unknown to the wider world, they secretly transported the body to Magdeburg in East Germany.
In 1970 the KGB cremated the corpse and threw the ashes in a river. But they kept the jawbone and a skull fragment along with bits from a blood-stained sofa found in the Fuhrer's Berlin bunker.
US archaeologist Nick Bellatoni was given access to these remains for one hour in Moscow's state archive.
He performed a DNA test and dramatically concluded that the fragments actually belong to a young woman. It means that the story of what happened to Hitler will have to be re-written.
'The bone seemed very thin. Male bone tends to be more robust,' he said. 'And the sutures where the skull plates come together seemed to correspond to someone under 40.'
However, he ruled out the possibility that the skull fragment belonged to Eva Braun.
'We know the skull corresponds to a woman between the ages of 20 and 40,' said Bellantoni. 'There is no report of Eva Braun having shot herself or having been shot afterwards. It could be anyone. Many people were killed around the bunker area.'
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Did German Nazi leader really did shoot himself in his Berlin bunker?
By TED THORNHILL - Monday, September 28, 2009
Find shrouds fate of Adolf Hitler in mystery
An archaeologist given access to Adolf Hitler's skull has declared that the bone is actually from a young woman.
The amazing discovery casts doubt on whether the Nazi tyrant really did shoot himself in his Berlin bunker in April 1945.
For decades history books have written that the 56-year-old dictator committed suicide with Eva Braun. Experts say that he took a cyanide pill and shot himself in the head as Russian troops overran the German capital.
Soon after the end of the war the Russians took a fragment of skull with a bullet hole in it from the bunker and declared that it belonged to Hitler's corpse. Unknown to the wider world, they secretly transported the body to Magdeburg in East Germany.
In 1970 the KGB cremated the corpse and threw the ashes in a river. But they kept the jawbone and a skull fragment along with bits from a blood-stained sofa found in the Fuhrer's Berlin bunker.
US archaeologist Nick Bellatoni was given access to these remains for one hour in Moscow's state archive.
He performed a DNA test and dramatically concluded that the fragments actually belong to a young woman. It means that the story of what happened to Hitler will have to be re-written.
'The bone seemed very thin. Male bone tends to be more robust,' he said. 'And the sutures where the skull plates come together seemed to correspond to someone under 40.'
However, he ruled out the possibility that the skull fragment belonged to Eva Braun.
'We know the skull corresponds to a woman between the ages of 20 and 40,' said Bellantoni. 'There is no report of Eva Braun having shot herself or having been shot afterwards. It could be anyone. Many people were killed around the bunker area.'
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