Many theories exist relating to Hitler and whether or not he faked his demise | Photograph: Andreas Wolochow/ Shutterstock
Adolf Hitler died in a Berlin bunker in 1945. Or did he? Reviving suspicions eight a long time outdated, former CIA agent Bob Baer, a 21-year espionage veteran, claims the Nazi chief faked his suicide and fled to South America, plotting a Fourth Reich.
Baer’s explosive concept, fueled by declassified recordsdata and Argentine archives, has historians scoffing and conspiracy buffs buzzing. His key quotes, reported by the Each day Mail lately, 2025, paint a wild image, though by no means that distinctive.
“Plenty of cash was spent on a compound with plumbing and electrical energy in the course of nowhere,” he stated, pointing to a 2015 archaeological dig deep within the jungles of Argentina’s Misiones province that uncovered Nazi cash and memorabilia.
The previous spook believes this hideout, backed by Argentine officers, housed Hitler, whose carbonised physique was discovered alongside together with his dental stays, which does go away area for suspicions.
A Fourth Reich and nuclear assault on Manhattan
“The ex-CIA agent thinks it’s doable there have been authentic makes an attempt at a Fourth Reich with plans together with a nuclear weapon strike on Manhattan,” the Mail added, citing Baer’s hypothesis a couple of Nazi-run nuclear fusion lab on Huemul Island, close to Bariloche, within the Fifties.
Baer explains how he is aware of for positive. The previous spy is banking on Argentine paperwork, quickly to be declassified underneath Argentine President Javier Milei, revealing the South American nation’s function in shielding Nazis.
A 1955 CIA file claims an SS trooper, Phillip Citroen, met Hitler month-to-month in Colombia, snapping a photograph with a person referred to as “Adolf Schrittelmayor” who later fled to Argentina. One other 1945 file notes a Hitler-friendly spa lodge in La Falda, Argentina, prepped as a hideout.
Nazi artifacts sure, Hitler traces no
Baer, per the Mail, trusts these reviews, arguing the CIA took postwar Hitler sightings severely. His proof is skinny. The Misiones dig discovered Nazi artifacts, however no Hitler hyperlink. The Huemul lab, led by Nazi scientist Ronald Richter, flopped, producing no weapons. CIA recordsdata affirm Hitler’s bunker demise, per declassified information.
Historians like Richard Evans dismiss Baer’s claims, citing Soviet autopsies of Hitler’s charred stays.
Proof of Baer’s concept—paperwork tying Hitler to Misiones or Colombia—stays unreleased, leaving sceptics unmoved. For now, Baer’s story of a fugitive Führer plotting nuclear havoc is a gripping yarn, however historical past holds quick to the bunker’s grim finish.
Who began casting doubt?
The narrative that Hitler didn’t commit suicide, however as an alternative escaped Berlin, was first introduced to most people by Marshal Georgy Zhukov at a press convention on 9 June 1945, on orders from Soviet chief Joseph Stalin, in accordance with a Wikipedia article.
That month, 68 pundefineder cent of Individuals polled thought Hitler was nonetheless alive. When requested on the Potsdam Convention in July 1945 how Hitler had died, Stalin stated he was both residing “in Spain or Argentina.” And in July 1945, British newspapers repeated feedback from a Soviet officer {that a} charred physique found by the Soviets was “a really poor double”.
The primary in-depth investigation by Western nations started in November of 1945, when Dick White, then head of counter-intelligence within the British sector of Berlin, had agent Hugh Trevor-Roper look into the matter to counter Soviet claims. Trevor-Roper concluded that Hitler and his spouse, Eva Braun, had dedicated suicide in Berlin. The investigator stated, “The need to invent legends and fairy tales … is (better) than the love of fact.”
In accordance with a distinct Wikipedia entry, eyewitnesses who noticed Hitler’s physique instantly after his suicide testified that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot, presumably to the temple.