DNA analysis of a skull fragment believed to belong to Adolf Hitler actually belonged to an unidentified woman.
Credit: wikimedia
NEW HAVEN: A skull fragment thought to come from Adolf Hitler is in fact that of an unidentified woman, according to a U.S. study that has resurrected questions about the Nazi leader's death.
The bone, bearing a bullet hole, has been used to support the theory that Hitler shot himself and took cyanide in his Berlin bunker as Soviet troops approached in April 1945.
Doubts about the chain of events – and even speculation that Hitler got away – have persisted for decades.
The debates made the symbolic importance of the skull piece, which went on display for the first time at Moscow's Federal Archive in 2000, all the greater – a unique war trophy that gave the Russians enormous pride.
Woman between 20 and 40 years of age
In addition to the skull, Soviet troops said they exhumed Hitler's jawbone and that the bone's identity was confirmed through his dental assistants. Now, professors at the University of Connecticut say they have debunked the story of the skull, arguing that examinations show it belonged to a woman, probably between the age of 20 and 40.
Archaeologist and bone specialist Nick Bellantoni says he immediately suspected the bone belonged to a woman because of its structure. His partner on the project, Linda Strausbaugh, director of the university's applied genetics centre, agreed to test for DNA if a good sample could be found.
So Bellantoni made the trip to Moscow, where he was allowed to obtain the DNA sample, and at the end of May the team got to work in the university's laboratory in Storrs, Connecticut. It took them three days, working with two forensic scientists from the office of the New York City chief medical examiner, to complete their tests.
DNA analysis of burnt skull
Initially they feared the state of the skull would make it impossible to obtain results. "All we had exposure to was photographs. What was exposed to us was the side that was charred. Fire is one of the real enemies of getting DNA evidence out," Strausbaugh said.
The skull had been stored at room temperature, which had also damaged the DNA. However, the inside of the fragment was not burned and "the amounts we had were well within the range that you would expect to get DNA samples from," she said.
The result was stunning. "What the DNA told us is that it was female," Strausbaugh said. The revelation is featured in a new documentary airing on the History Channel called "Hitler's Escape," which revisits the idea that Hitler may have escaped from Berlin.
Hitler escaped?
Might explain the fact that Nazism remained even after WW2, I found it amazing that a death mystery would surround a figure like him.
There is a movie about this...
There is a new movie coming out about a professor in lying patters. He has gone thru documentaries about the last days in the bunker. He is claiming that all the guards are lying about Hitler shooting himself. And that he has proof that the OSS had an operation called Operation Rebecca that flew 13 men to th US for interrogation in 1945 that they thought could be Hitler. All were released in -46 and went back to Germany. All except one. The film follows the professor trailing this one man's journey thru time, and professor says he is sure he was Hitler. Movie is called "100 years of Evil" coming out later this year. Anybody heard of this, have some more info?
I saw 100 Years of Evil
I screened the film 100 Years of Evil for a film festival in the U.S. The filmmaking itself is quite compelling as is the premise. However, the artifice of the film begins to unravel about 30 minutes into it and I lost some of my interest for I was almost fooled by this hoax (I'm describing the film itself and not the premise). It is written and I would say well written at that- some "real" footage and documents are incorporated well. There were a few choices in the film that if executed a bit better, this film would have more fooled. But it does effectively make the audience take a more critical eye for what is true and accurate- this is the raison d'etre of the protagonist, the professor who has never told a lie. The film didn't have end credits on the screener so it still being complete but look out for it soon on the festival circuit.
Maybe it's Eva's skull.
Maybe it's Eva's skull.
Hitler's skull belonged to woman
probably belongs to Magda Goebbels
Hitler was a woman
it explains everything.