Evening star., 1947-08-17


Five months after the RussiansI
entered Berlin in May, 1945, Allied
Intelligence agents began an at
tempt~to reconstruct the macabre, |
morbid and sometimes naudlinl
events of Adolf Hitler's last stand inI
his Fuehrerbunker. The trail was
admittedly cold.
Yet much was found. There were
a dozen or so important witnesses,
many more minor ones, consider
able documentary evidence (Hitler's
engagement diary lay unobserved in
his chair for five. monthsl. H. r.
Trevor Roper. oxford historian and
British intelligence officer detailed
to the investigation, has collatedl
the data with care. While conclu-
six proofs Of the disposition of Hit
ler's body Is lacking, there is strong
indicative evidence, and at least the
sequence of events preceding his
death can be stated with some cer-
tainty..
In brief, the evidence tends tol
shoY that at the time his Reich
was crashing about him Hitler was
undergoing systematic poisoning
from strychnine and belladonna at
the hands of quack physician, al
though the latter apparently in
tended the doses as pain relievers.
Both a physical and mental wreck,
Hitler determined to commit sui
eide before the Russians captured
him and to have his bo6y destroyed
so it. could not be used for propa-
ganda purposes. Having married
Eva Braun and prepared personal
and political testaments, he shot
himself through the mouth while
she took poison. The bodies of
both were Immediately set afireI
with the aid of gasoline by aides in
the yard Of the Reichschancellery.
The corpses could not have been
consumed completely, but are mis-
sing. The bones may have been
buried in the garden, perhaps mixed
with others of soldiers killed in
defense Of the Chancellery. The
Russians, who were there first, did
cOlilc ulSSulS. 4IcIc tAl6 1Ay otC4y
of Hitler's body rests.
Ingenious Murder Theory.
While this story is the probable
one, positive proof of all points, of
course, does not exist. James w.
Barrett, city editor Of the New York
World when that dying newspaper
was sold to Scripps- Howard, and
Herbert Moore, director OF a COM
mercial enterprise called Private
Intelligence, have taken advantage
of the less supported points to ad-
vance the ingenious theory that
Hitler died OF the poison, which they
strive to show was administered un-
der the orders Of the ambitious
Heinrich Himmler. They deride the
suicide version as device Of Pro-
paganda Minister Goebbels for a
future German legend, and think
Hitlers' body cannot be found be-
cause Russia, to bolster communism
as a continuing world need, desires
a myth to grow that he is alive.
While Mr.. Trevor -Roper's rivals,
OdA4OAO4y o4o w 0SSoAVJ 4A4o oStSAA4V,
take the less probable Of two solu-
tions, their claims, Of course, re-
main possible. Evaluation of these
opposing books. therefore, must rest
largely on their manner of approach
and their internal evidence. In
such scales Mr.. Trevor-Roper reg
listers full weight. His work is that
of a man not intent on proving a |
theory, but of one collecting all
available fact to find where it leads.
His acceptances, reflections or recon-
citations of conflicting testimony
are based on principles recognizable
to any person reasonably expert
enced in such work. This is no sign
Of material omission in well Or
ganized recital.
His rivals, on the other hand,
spare no language to give their story
the Sunday supplement treatment.
Factual detail is without discrimi-
nation, the trivial being given the