Documents from the CIA, dating from 1945 to 1955, have been analyzed by the Washington Post. They show that field agents had suspicions that Hitler had escaped to South America under a false name, despite the CIA having access to an autopsy report that confirmed his death. The MI5 files indicate that Hitler and his long-term partner, Eva Braun, who he had married the day before, took their own lives on April 30, 1945, in the Berlin Bunker to avoid capture. Their partially burned bodies were later found by Soviet soldiers outside the Reich Chancellery. However, CIA agents continued to pursue leads until the mid-1950s. A document from 1945 states that US War Department agents told the FBI that a Kurhotel in La Falda, Argentina, had been prepared as a possible hiding place. The hotel owners, who had donated to Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda ministry, had close ties to Hitler. The US intelligence agencies believed that the hotel owner had made “all necessary” preparations to accommodate Hitler after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. Another document from October 1955 includes a photo of a man believed to be Hitler, sitting next to a friend in Colombia. The man, who used the name Adolf Schrittelmajor (Hitler’s actual name was Schicklgruber), is said to have left Colombia in January 1955 heading towards Argentina. The CIA temporarily investigated Schrittelmajor’s background, but later dropped the investigation, noting that “enormous efforts can be made on this topic with vague prospects of achieving something concrete.” None of the other released CIA documents provide evidence of further searches for Hitler after 1955, according to the Washington Post. The analysis came in conjunction with Argentina’s announcement that it will publish previously secret documents dealing with those who sought refuge in the country after World War II. At least 10,000 war criminals are believed to have fled Europe using the so-called “rat line” to Argentina. About half of them settled in Argentina, which was known for its reluctance to hand over suspects. Among them were Adolf Eichmann, one of the main architects of the Holocaust and Josef Mengele, the infamous Auschwitz doctor. Eichmann was captured by Israeli agents in 1960 and brought to trial in Israel. Mengele evaded capture and died in Brazil in 1979 after a heart attack while swimming. In the United States, state documents lose their classification level every five years, even the highest category. Permanent secrecy is the exception. In Germany, all documents from all intelligence services are permanently sealed, including those dealing with Nazi war criminals; historical research usually requires lengthy legal battles to gain access.
Declassified Documents Reveal Decade-Long Search for Hitler in the 1950s
