Hitler Dead: The Dictator's Bunker Suicide Ends the Reich
Adolf Hitler shot himself in his underground bunker in Berlin on April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops fought their way through the streets above. He'd been underground for months. He married Eva Braun the day before and had her take cyanide along with him. Soviet soldiers found the bodies in the chancellery garden. Stalin, suspicious that the deaths were faked, had the remains burned multiple times. A jawbone fragment was kept as evidence. DNA testing in 2018 confirmed the skull fragment the Russians had displayed for decades belonged to a woman — Eva Braun — not Hitler. His death ended the Third Reich; the formal surrender came eight days later. Twelve years of Nazi rule had left between 70 and 85 million people dead.
April 30, 1945
81 years ago
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