The 10 Graves of Adolf Hitler

25 years (almost to the day) after of Adolf Hitlers suicide – his, and the ashes of some of his compatriots – were unceremoniously dumped into the river Ehle outside of Magedburg. His corpse, as well as that of Eva Braun, the Goebbels Family, and of General Hans Krebs had been buried and reburied a total of (at least) 9 times in at least 5 different cities in the 25 years since their suicides, a secret kept by the Soviets until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

To this day there seems to be a general confusion to the question: Where is Hitlers grave?
Despite the morbid curiosity that the Nazis and Hitler elicit from some people, it seems that many falsely believe that its underneath the parking lot that now resides over whats left of the Führerbunker in Berlin. The short answer: Its not. The long answer: read below.

Searching for Hitlers body

After Adolf and Eva decided to commit suicide on the 30th of April 1945, Martin Bormann and parts of Hitlers remaining escort staff were tasked with burning the bodies in the garden of the Reich Chancellery to spare them the same “fate” that had befallen Mussolini and his mistress in Milan just a few days earlier.

Those tasked with “cremating” the bodies lacked enough fuel and knowledge, and possibly care – to successfully complete the task – leaving charred and disfigured, but still somewhat recognisable corpses behind. A shallow grave (approx. 1m deep) was dug, the bodies dumped and covered in sand and earth. This was his first burial for those counting.

After the fall of Berlin, the Soviets went on the hunt for Hitler, not knowing if he was dead or had managed to flee. Anyone and everyone that could potentially know anything about Hitlers whereabouts was arrested and interrogated. On the 3rd of May 1945, Soviet soldiers found the body of a Wehrmacht soldier which showed some resemblance to Hitler, and decided – with some artistic license – to prepare the body and make it look like they had found Hitlers body.

Ironically, after ordering a group of eye witnesses (who where in the Bunker at the time of Hitlers supposed death) to identify the “doppelgänger” the next day, Ivan  Klimenko (commander of the Red Army’s SMERSH unit) and some Soviet soldiers accidentally uncovered the real bodies of Adolf and Eva. Believing they had already found the actual body, they reburied both bodies (his 2nd burial). The doppelgänger body was quickly debunked as such, and the search continued.

Stalin refused to believe that Hitler was dead, while actively sowing mistrust between his various security and inteligence departments, with the goal of receiving independent reports from which alone he could draw whatever conclusions he wanted.

On the 5th of May 1945, Klimenko and his men returned to the Neue Reichskanzlei and exhumed the two bodies that had found the previous day. After confirming that these were indeed the bodies that they were looking for – through eye witness testimonies and interrogation notes – the bodies began a 25 year long journey.

Hitlers graves until January 1946

While there are a lot of smaller details regarding the movements of Hitlers body, here is a brief summary of its movements until January of 1946.

Berlin-Buch, 8th of May, 1945

The body of Adolf Hitler was moved to the pathology building of the Hospital in Berlin-Buch on the 6th of May and underwent several extensive autopsies. It was then buried in an empty field behind the pathology building. (3rd burial).

Eberswalde-Finow, 17th of May, 1945

The Smersh unit stationed in Buch was being reorganised and moved to the north to Finow. They proceed to remove the bodies and rebury them in a small forest on the ground of a “local” soviet garrison. (4th burial)

Eberswalde-Finow, 22nd of May, 1945

The bodies are exhumed again and shown to a Soviet General and then reburied. (5th burial).

Rathenow, 3rd of June, 1945

Colonel Miroschnitschenko decided to move his Smersh unit to Rathenow. The bodies of Hitler, Eva Braun, the Goebbels family and Krebs were exhumed and moved to a military base in Rathenow. After undergoing yet another medical examination, they were reburied in forest outside of Neu Friedrichsdorf. (6th burial).

Stendal, July, 1945

Colonel Miroschnitschenko and his staff were moved yet again, this time to Stendal. After moving into the former Hindernburg Barracks, the bodies were buried in a filed/small forest behind it. (7th burial).

Magdeburg, December, 1945

Due to rising political infighting, Lieutenant General Selenin ordered the bodies to be secretly exhumed and reburied on a Smersh compound in Magdeburg. Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun were buried underneath the driveway of a boiler house, while the Goebbels and Krebs were buried a few streets further away. (8th burial)

Magdeburg, February, 1946

The bodes are exhumed yet again, and undergo another final autopsie. They were then reburied underneath the driveway under the watchful paranoid eyes of the soviets. This is where Hitler would remain for the next 25 years. (9th burial)

Why was Hitler buried and reburied so often?

One of the main reasons why Hitlers body was exhumed and reburied so many times was essentially down to two facts: 1. the Soviets performed multiple autopsies and 2. they were scared someone would dig up the bodies.

The second reason deserves a little more nuance though. As there was no clear directive as what to do with Hitlers body, it essentially became the property of SMERSH, moving to wherever the unit was going to. They wanted to keep a close eye on it and to avoid it falling into the “wrong” hands.

Stalin vehemently refused to acknowledge Hitlers death, and it became public Soviet policy to deny, deflect and lie about any possible information they regarding Hitlers whereabouts or body. West Germany had officially declared Adolf Hitler as dead on the 25th of October 1956 – after a 4 year long court case to get legal clarity as what should happen with Hitlers inheritance. Two thirds of it would go to Hitlers sister Paula. After her death in July 1960, it went to the Bavarian State – which to this day owns the german copyright of Mein Kampf.

The Soviets still refused to officially acknowledge the death, with only a single Soviet official admitting in 1963 that the Soviet Union “considered” him deceased as well. In addition, the Soviet Union continued promoting the “theory” that Hitler had poisoned himself like a coward, rather than shooting himself, thus trying to “deny” him the more “honorable” death (this was also a direct order from Stalin). Extensive Soviet autopsies revealed that Hitler had in fact shot himself, but also bitten into a cyanide pill.

Operation Archive – The disposing of Hitler

The Soviet SMERSH Compound in Magdeburg was planned to be handed over to the East German Authorities in 1970, This of course raised an alarm with a verv select Soviet Officers who knew who was buried there. In a top secret commonique from the 13th of March 1970, Juri Andropow – head of the KGB – asked Leonid Breschnew for permision to secretly exhume, burn, and dispose of the remains, lest that “graves” would become a pilgrimage site for Neo Nazis. The order was approved on the 17th of march 1970 by Breschnew, Alexei Kosygin and Nikolai Podgorny.

Under the name “Operation Archive”, a detailed plan was set up, including a cover story for the exhumation, burning of the remains and a suitable location to dispose of said remains. On the 4th of April under the secrecy of night, the remains of Hitler and Co. were exhumed, the bones placed in empty wooden munition crates and transported to a soviet baracks in Schönebeck on the outskirts of Magdeburg. The bones were pulverised, mixed with charcoal and doused with 20 liters of gasonline and then set on fire. After an hour, the ashes were swept up into a bag, and then sent on its final journey.

Last Stop: Schweinebrücke

In the afternoon of the 5th of April, 1970 – Colonel Kowalenko, Major Schirokow and first lieutenant Gumenjuk transported the ashes to Biederitz, just east of Magdeburg. The Soviet officers stopped just outside of the municipality at small bridge spanning the river Ehle named “Schweinebrücke” (Pig Bridge). Its unclear why exactly this spot was chosen, and if the name was just pure coincidence or poetic justice. They then unceremoniously dumped the ashes into the river and completed their task.

The wooden bridge that once stood here has since been replaced with modern concrete one, though the scenery is still quite calming. The railroad tracks in the background and the occasional car interrupt the chirping birds and the sound of the water flowing below. Its a weird juxtaposition between the scenery and the tale of who and what was dumped into the river. It is a pleasant thought though knowing that Hitler has been physically removed from this earth (unlike his Italian and Japanese counterparts) and those who would so have liked cannot build a shrine to him.

On the other hand, those who blindly admire and follow his ideology have seen a steady rise both at home and abroad in recent years.

Why Was Hitlers body not destroyed/disposed of much earlier?

So the quick and short answer to this is that Stalin did want to body to be disposed of. Officially there was an order of some sort for the bodies of Adolf Hitler and co. to be destroyed on the 3rd of June 1945, but the head of the SMERSH Unit , Colonel Miroschnitschenko, decided against it as there was no direct order from Moscow to do so, and they feared that the situation might change yet again.

Ultimately, the fact that Stalin was playing all his departments against each other had created such a confusing situation that no one dared to take direct action and dispose of the bodies unless directed by Stalin himself.

Opening of the Soviet Secret Archives

It wasnt until the fall of the Soviet Union that some of the truth was revealed. In 1992, two Soviet officers lifted their secrecy and spilled the news that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun had been buried in Magdeburg. When exhuming the spot, nothing was found (what a surprise) – but later uncovered soviet archival documents proved this to be correct.

It would be another 8 years – the year 2000 – until Russia would let the outside have a glimpse at the miriad of secrets it still held . For the 55th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, Russia would display 2000 “trophies” of its victory over the Nazis, including parts of the sofa Hitler committed suicide on, his uniform, as well as a purported fragment of his skull with a bullet hole in it – as if to disprove their own lie that they had been selling for years.

It would also be revealed that fragments of his jawbone and teeth were stored (in a paper cigarette box no less) in the FSB archives. Ironically, most experts who got to examine the skull fragment agree that it is most likely that of someone else, though they all agree that the jaw bone and teeth are truly Adolf Hitlers.

Hitlers Planed Mausoleum

So Hitler didnt plan on having fragments of his skull ending up in a Russian Archive, and the rest of his body being dumped into a small obscure river. Hitler had initialy stated in his 1938 will, that his body would be interned in the Feldherrnhalle in Munichs Odeonsplatz.

After visiting the Tomb of Napoleon in Paris in 1940, he changed his mind and instructed the architect Hermann Giesler to design and build him a Mausoleum modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. The Mausoleum would be connected to an equally new and gigantic “Halle der Partei”, a building whose function was/is not quite clear. Neither of the buildings ever progressed past the initial planning stage, and all we are left with are some 3D renderings and some sketches.