Scientists have finally laid to rest conspiracy theories about the death of Adolf Hitler. He definitely died in 1945, from taking a bullet to the head and of cyanide poisoning. Stories of him escaping and allowing a double to be killed in his place have all been finally proven wrong.
Researchers from France used fragments of Hitler's teeth, which have been preserved in Moscow, reports Phys.org. "The teeth are authentic, there is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945," said professor Philippe Charlier, who co-authored the study with four other researchers.
The study sheds new light on the exact cause of the Führer's death. The widely-accepted story is that his wife Eva Braun took cyanide and Hitler shot himself, but, "We didn't know if he had used an ampule of cyanide to kill himself or whether it was a bullet in the head. It's in all probability both," said Charlier.
"We can stop all the conspiracy theories about Hitler. He did not flee to Argentina in a submarine, he is not in a hidden base in Antarctica or on the dark side of the moon," Charlier said. Researchers also found that Hitler had bad teeth. White tartar deposits were also found on his teeth, but no meat fibres were traceable, notes the report, mostly because Hitler was vegetarian.
Blue deposits found on Hitler's false teeth could indicate a "chemical reaction between the cyanide and the metal of the dentures," the researcher said.
The study began in July 2017 when Russian secret service and the FSB along with the Russian State Archives allowed researchers to examine the remains of Hitler for the first time since 1946. The original story is that Adolf Hitler shot himself in the head on 30 April 1945 as the Soviet forces moved into Berlin and surrounded the Reich Chancellery. His body was then doused in petrol and then set on fire in a bomb crater as the shelling continued.
Historians have detailed that by the time the invading Red army reached the Reich Chancellery, both bodies of Hitler and Eva Braun were completely burnt and destroyed in the fire. Only a few bones like his lower jaw and a few dentures were left. No other remains were recovered. This could be one of the reasons why this dictator's death made way to so many conspiracy theories.
Earlier this year another theory that involved escape of the Nazi high commission via submarine to South America was laid to rest as wreckage of the submarine was found just off the Danish coast.
In the current study, researchers were reportedly given rare access to a fragment of the Führer's skull which had a hole on its left side, which most likely came from a bullet wound. The researchers were not allowed to make samples from this fragment, notes the report.
The skull fragments have a morphology that is, according to researchers, "totally comparable" to radiographs of the dictator's head, which were taken a year before his death.
The study was first published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.
