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tween 160 and 169 liters of petrol wern collected and deposiled in thel garden just outside the emer- geney exit of the bunker. Farewell Appearance At about the same time Hitler and Eva Braun made their last appearance = alive. They went round the bunker and shook hands with their immediate en- to.rage, and retired to their own ayTartmenis, where they both committed suicide, Hitler by shooting himself, apparentiy through the mouth; Eva Lraun apparently by taking poison, thoigh she was supplied with a revolver. After the suicide the hodies were taken into the garden just ontside the bunker by Goebbels, Bormann, perheps Stumpterzer and one or two others,. Hitler wrapped in a blanket, presuma- bl: because he was bloody. bodies were pisced side be side in the garden shout three yards from the emergency exit cf the bunker, and d:enched with petrol, Because cf the sheiling the party withdrew under the shelter of the emergeacy exit, and a petrol-soaned and Jighted raz was thrown on the bodies, which at once caught fire. The party then ttood at atieation, gave the Hit- ler salute and retired. Probably Broken Before Burial From then on the evinence is Jess circumstantial, How often the bedies were resoaked or how long tney burned is not known. One witness was informed that they burned unti}? nothing was Ieft: more probable they were charred until they were unrecopnizahle and the bodies broken up and probably buried, On the evening of May 1 Bor- mann sent a telegram to Doenitz jaforming him that Hitler’s will if naw in force and that Hitler whs dead. This was amplified Injer by # telegram froin Gorb- js, which stated that Hitler had Gifd at 3:39 P. M. on the previous day and that his will appointed Doenits as Reich President, Garb- : bels og Reich Chancellor, Bors mnrnn ona Pariy Minister and ALinis- - Seyss-Inquart as Foreign ; ny ae The !} ter. Goebbels added that Hor- mann was trying to go to Doenitz and inform him of the situation. CONCLUSION The above evidence Is not com- plete, but it is positive. cirgqum- stantial, consistent and indeppnd- ent. There is no evidence at~ ever to support any of the fihe- orles which have been circulpted and which presuppose that Hitler js still alive. All such stories which have been reported have been investigated and have been found to be base- less; most of them have dissolved at the first touch of fact and some of them have been admitted by their authors to have been | pure fibricaticn. Nor is it possible io dispose of the existing evidence which is summarized above. It ts consid- ered quite impossible that the versions of the various eye-wit- nesses can represent a concerted cover story; they were all too busy planning thelr own safety to have been able or disnosed to learn an elaborate charade, which they could still maintain after five months of isclatlon from each other, and under detalled and persistent cross-cxamination. Mistaken Identity Doubted Nor is It considered possible that the witne-ses wore misteken in respect of Hitler's body (of the identity of Eva Braun's body, no doubt is considered possible; not being blanketed she was easily recognized), Such a theory would require that Hitler escaped after 2:30 P, M. on April 30, and that Eva Braun was fobbed off with the corpse of a double which had been secretly introduced. But es- tape after 2:30 P. M. was almost certainly impossible, Even if it, was still possible to fly a training plane from the Charlottenburger Chaussée, there was no pilot to fly il, for Hitler's two pilots wdra In the bunker on April 30, Both took part in the ntlempted escape on the night of May 1. In any case, there is no vakd reason for constructing such theories, which are conirary to the onty positive evideice and supported by no evidetica at all. cane a i