Seth Creason
ENGL 1301
Professor Hammett
Final Research Exam
December 5, 2021
Introduction
On April 30th, 1945, the infamous Adolf Hitler was allegedly dead by suicide. Saving his pride from the Allied powers and going out his own way by taking his life, the body of his being never found raised suspicion from the public, and government officials were not trusting of the people showing them the evidence of his death; “Hitler lived (Philpot 1).”
There are multiple conspiracy theories that have surrounded this landmark case for ages:
1. Did Hitler manage to escape Berlin, and flee to a different country?
2. Was Hitler captured by aliens and taken to the Moon?
3. Did Hitler commit suicide by Cyanide Capsule/Gunshot?
We can take a look at the evidence given in these theories of his death, as well as the most likely outcome being the death by Cyanide Capsule/Gunshot.
Character Analysis
As a child growing up in a small Austrian town called Linz, Adolf Hitler was different from all of his family members. Cunning, virtuous, and brave “He’s different from all the rest of the family (Welle. 1)”. While growing up through primary school, Hitler was an incredibly popular student in his peer group, while the opposite can be said from his family and teachers. Growing up at home his family saw him as a lost cause, or a no-hoper who hated doing anything that included hard work, while being a fan of art for all of his life, portraits from his early years are criticisms made from his family that drove him to get better at it. “He was talented, albeit also lopsided, and while not violent, he was considered rebellious. He was not hardworking either (Welle. 1)”.
Analyzing his first trait, which is Cunning, correlates with him in an almost perfect way, using the people to his advantage, without having to lift a finger, bringing them power with his political speeches, motivating them, believing in him, and following him through the war until the end, “A Soviet Paradise” as Hitler described what the Nation would be (Editors. 1)
Going into the war, in the beginning, Hitler was constantly pumping out propaganda and lies to the German people to secure their confidence in the war, to prevent any type of unease with the German people.
These lies would eventually be their downfall after truth kept breaking out in the later stages of the war, everyone finding out, and preparing for the worst after an inevitable German defeat soon to come.
Another trait of Hitler’s was being virtuous, while not in the eyes of everyone around him in neighboring countries. The German people had thought of him as some sort of prophet and would do anything for him, Hitler being so good with large group speaking and talking points, had swayed them to his side with his language used and emotion, “he was a feel-good dictator, a leader who not only made Germans feel important but also made sure they were well-cared-for by the state.” (Cowen. 1).
Hitler, loving Germany with all his heart, was willing to sacrifice by any means necessary for it, having no option that was out of the question.
Internal conflicts of Hitler had mainly revolved around the sudden death of both of his parents, driving to break and change him into what he had become later in his life. As well as the anger issues that have been in development throughout his life, finally becoming an explosive person who can’t take being wrong from anyone, he was slowly going insane.
External conflicts of Hitler were mostly around when he wanted to be an artist, but was rejected by the academy, which then he swore off of art, hating it from then on. “They should all burn and they will regret rejecting me! (Anderson. 1)” As well as his mothers’ death from Breast Cancer being treated by a Jewish doctor, sparked his hatred for the Jewish people.
The last and final trait of Hitler is Brave. This is one of his main traits, fighting in the 1st World War on the German side and losing, angering him and sparking his motivation for his Nazi party creation, wounded twice while there: He went on to be promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal and awarded several medals.
He can be considered a type of brave man when all he wanted to do was protect his people, with his radical ideological views. He loved Germany and thought that it was the supreme nation that nobody could go up against, “Human, yes, but no less a monster” (Malanowski. 1)
It is this view on Hitler that can make it seem that Hitler’s death is more of a mystery than it should have ever been, the fact that a man with the power he had, died so unexpectedly.
Conspiracy Theories
3 main conspiracies are revolving around the death of Hitler, with the least likely one being captured by aliens.
The first one was that Hitler had escaped, changing his name, and moving to a different country living out the rest of his life. While highly unlikely, it’s not impossible: This theory was widely accepted when the news first broke out of his death, the reason being that many were skeptical, and someone of his being could not simply be killed because of the massive amount of power he had held. Edited photographs show what kind of man Hitler would look like if he escaped and disguised himself, in each type of different country he may reside in; Changing his hair, face with different looks, and growing different facial hairs to hide his true self. “Would you know Der Fuehrer’s face if he settled in Western Canada?” (RHP. 1)
This type of Conspiracy works in theory.
Due to the Allied forces only beginning to breach the Nazi Territory, giving them time to escort the Dictator out of the country before any consequences for him staying may have arrived, but Hitler believed whole-heartedly that it was better to die with honor than to flee with none. “Choose death to escape the disgrace of being forced to surrender”. (Bradsher. 1) so the knowledge things we know now is one of the reasons that this can’t be possible.
Another different kind of Conspiracy that had been developed in this time shows the uneasy mindset that everybody was in, and how anybody would believe in anything to suit the view they had because of the monster that this man was in his time of power.
Some believe that Hitler was captured by aliens, and taken to the moon.
“Secret regime” (Lileks. 1) An extremely unlikely, but still in the eyes of chance, possible.
Many different claims go towards aliens and Hitler being in some sort of allyship, fact or not, this went to the public and caused an uproar. While no solid evidence of the Aliens themselves, there seem to be documents leaked by Snowden proving “US-Alien-Hitler Link Stun” (Fossett. 1). Documents that showed aliens and Hitler may be in common with something, unsure of it, the Government hid them away. People being skeptical of their government leaks at this point when Snowden first leak, brought extreme distrust/hate for the U.S. Government, leading them to believe that anything in those leaked documents was automatically true, otherwise, it wouldn’t have been Classified for the public eye, which caused many to suspect this extreme conspiracy. "People are thinking more about the relationship between privacy and security. What the Snowden revelations have done is to surface the unresolved tension over this issue". (Vijayan. 1)
The final, and most probably theory on the list is the theory that Hitler committed suicide by Cyanide Capsule/Gunshot, “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”. (Frost. 1) Two very likely things that may have happened during the final moments of the war, Hitler knew that his time was up and that the allies had breached the Axis territory. Not wanting the Allied powers to find him dead or alive, Hitler had killed himself and his body hidden by the last who remain of his soldiers. This is very likely that he had done this because he was the type of Leader to go down with his country and to keep his honor after death, regardless of the dishonorable things he had done, while another side to it may be that he didn’t want to die and that he was trapped in the room. It was very unlikely that he had gotten caved in on, due to him wanting to kill himself, and just so happened to be dead after they broke through Axis Territory. because his body was hidden in rubble after his death, thought to have killed himself with his wife.
Additional information of the Conspiracy that Hitler committed suicide is the fact that in 2017, there were teeth that were found in the Rubble after the war, run by both of Hitler’s dentists, as well as tests. Both confirm that they were his teeth, almost proving that he had died in the underground Nazi territory, "Adolf Hitler died in 1945". (Daley .1)
This theory is the most believed throughout everyone, due to the piling evidence that we have acquired over his death in the past decades since, and they are only finding more of it.
Conclusion
Adolf Hitler remains one of the most notorious Dictators, being responsible for the deaths of Millions. His death resulted in conspiracies that had arisen to be one of the biggest ever. Such Conspiracy Theories are:
1. Did Hitler manage to escape Berlin, and flee to a different country?
2. Was Hitler captured by aliens and taken to the Moon?
3. Did Hitler commit suicide by Cyanide Capsule/Gunshot?
In 2017, teeth samples were found from the ruins in one of Hitler’s Bunkers, they were confirmed to be Hitler’s by technology and old Dentists of Hitler. Death by Suicide remains one of the most likely reasons for his disappearance, "Adolf Hitler definitely died in 1945". (Daley .1)
Work Cited
Bradsher. (n.d.). Hitler's final words, his political testament ... - archives. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.archives.gov/files/publications/prologue/2015/spring/hitler-will.pdf.
Chamberlain. (2014, August 26). 75 years later, why did Germans follow the Nazis into Holocaust? ILLINOIS. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/198435.
Cowen, in P. S. (2005, March 30). Why did so many Germans support Hitler? Marginal REVOLUTION. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2005/03/why_did_so_many.html.
Daley. (2018, May 22). Hitler's teeth confirm he died in 1945. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hitlers-teeth-confirm-he-died-1945-180969133/.
Fossett. (2014, January 13). Snowden docs reveal: Nazi aliens rule the U.S.! Foreign Policy. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/13/snowden-docs-reveal-nazi-aliens-rule-u-s/.
Frost. (2018, May 19). Hitler's teeth reveal the Nazi dictator's cause of death. History.com. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.history.com/news/hitler-death-cause-teeth-analysis.
Lileks. (2014, January 13). Hitler and Aliens! Star Tribune. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.startribune.com/snowden-bombshell-aliens-helped-hitler/239953301/.
Philpot. (2019, May 2). 'Hitler lived': Scholar explores the conspiracies that just won't die. The Times of Israel. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.timesofisrael.com/hitler-lived-scholar-explores-the-conspiracies-that-just-wont-die/.
Malanowski. (2002, December 22). Human, yes, but no less a monster. The New York Times. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/22/movies/human-yes-but-no-less-a-monster.html.
RHP. (2021, November 23). Hitler in disguise: US intelligence images of how Hitler could have disguised himself, 1944. Rare Historical Photos. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/hitler-in-disguise-1944/.
Welle. (n.d.). 'who was Hitler: New Documentary lets people who knew him speak: DW: 27.06.2017. DW.COM. Retrieved December 6, 2021, from https://www.dw.com/en/who-was-hitler-new-documentary-lets-people-who-knew-him-speak/a-39419711.
Vijayan. (2014, April 4). Snowden Leaks Erode Trust in internet companies, government. Computerworld. Retrieved December 4, 2021, from https://www.computerworld.com/article/2489544/snowden-leaks-erode-trust-in-internet-companies--government.html.