Anna Hartz
CIA Files Reveal Long-Running Post-War Investigation
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Stories about Adolf Hitler’s death have been debated for decades. While the official version says he died in a bunker in 1945, not everyone was convinced.
Now, newly declassified CIA documents show that American agents kept chasing the idea that he might have escaped, according to Ziare.
They focused on South America, where many Nazis had fled after the war.
On April 30, 1945, as Soviet troops moved through Berlin, Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, took their own lives.
Their bodies were partially burned, then buried. The Soviets later dug them up and identified the remains through dental records.
Parts of the body were kept, including a jaw and part of a skull. The rest was destroyed in 1970 by Soviet agents.
Even with physical proof, rumors quickly spread. Many believed that Hitler escaped using the same secret routes that helped other Nazi officials flee.
A Tip Set off Investigation
The CIA kept looking into tips and reports. Some were vague. Others were more detailed.
In 1945, the U.S. War Department told the FBI that Hitler might be hiding in a hotel in Argentina. The hotel owners were known Nazi supporters.
They had even donated to the Nazi party for years. In 1955, a CIA agent received a report from someone who said he had met Hitler in Colombia.
The man claimed Hitler was using the name Adolf Schrittelmayor. He even shared a photo of them together.
The tip said that “Schrittelmayor” moved to Argentina shortly after.
The CIA decided to dig deeper. But the agency warned the investigation would be expensive and probably go nowhere.
They gave up not long after. No new documents have been found showing that the search continued.
What we do know is that many Nazi officers did escape to South America. Men like Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele lived there for years.
Eichmann was caught in Argentina in 1960. Mengele died in Brazil in 1979.
Argentina recently said it will open its secret Nazi-era files. These could reveal more about the networks that helped war criminals escape.
They might even help settle the questions about Hitler once and for all.