Did Adolf Hitler Survive World War II?

     Open up nearly any history textbook in the world and it will tell you that Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30. 1945 in Berlin along with his wife Eva Braun.  The couple reportedly took cyanide and Hitler shot himself in the head.  Afterwards, those loyal to Hitler and in the underground bunker with him took the two bodies outside to the garden and set them on fire and then buried them in a shallow grave.  The reports of Hitler's death have been called into question almost from the time it happened.  So, what really happened to Adolf Hitler?  Did he commit suicide in his bunker?  Or did he escape Germany as the allied forces closed in?

     The Russians were the first on the scene and they took possession of Hitler's remains and sent what was left of him to Moscow to preserve them for history.  The Russian leader, Joseph Stalin, was one of the first to express doubt that Hitler was actually dead.  Many other world leaders were reportedly skeptical as well despite the testimony of those in the bunker with Hitler and Braun.

     It is believed that many high-ranking Nazi's used Berlin's extensive underground tunnel system to escape.  Many believe that Hitler also used these tunnels to escape from his bunker to an awaiting airplane.  In fact, Luftwaffe pilot Captain Peter Baumgart testified that he flew Hitler, Braun, and several other Nazi officers to the Danish town of Tonder.  Because Baumgart underwent psychiatric treatment after his trial, his testimony was disregarded by officials.

     There are persistent rumors that Hitler, Braun, and several other high-ranking Nazi's made their way to Argentina where they were given shelter and support by Nazi sympathizers.  In fact, on the night of July 27, 1945, in Necochea, Argentina local police received reports of strange lights and unusual activity on the beach.  Police find a German man on the beach who was attempting to use morse code to signal something or someone in the water that the police could not see.  The police take the man into custody and interrogate him.  The man admitted to signaling a German Submarine that was attempting to unload on the beach.  Police then returned to the beach and found tire tracks and drag marks, as if something had indeed been unloaded on the beach.  Police followed the tire tracks to a remote farm.  There they were confronted by four heavily armed German soldiers.  The police reportedly arrested the four soldiers but were ordered to release them two hours later.  Who were these Germans?  And why were the police ordered to release them?  It's definitely a strange and suspicious story, but is there any truth to it?

     In the summer of 1945, a fifteen-year-old girl was living with a wealthy family who were known Nazi supporters.  The girl claims that Hitler stayed with the family that summer of 1945.  She claims Hitler continued communicating with the family until the early 1960s.  A construction worker claims to have seen Hitler at the home of another known Nazi supporter on more than one occasion.  A now declassified FBI document from September 1945 confirms that the U.S. government was investigating reports that Hitler had arrived in Argentina via submarine and was being assisted by top Argentine officials.

     We do know that several Nazi's were captured in South America over the years including Adolf Eichmann and Joseph Mengele.  Does this lend credence to the stories and rumors about Hitler settling here after the war?  After his capture, Gerhardt Bohne admitted that Juan Peron's people assisted him on getting into Argentina and gave him money and documents for a new life.  Does this lend credence to the rumors that the Nazi's had a network of support in Argentina?

     The forensic evidence collected by the Russians in 1945 has done little to settle the debate.  An examination of the skull that supposedly belonged to Hitler was determined to belong to a female.  Could it have been Braun?  Possibly, but where was Hitler?  On the other hand, French investigators who studied the recovered teeth claim that the remains do belong to Hitler and there are signs of cyanide on the teeth.

      What do you think?  Did Hitler die in 1945?  Would Hitler have been desperate enough to commit suicide if he knew he had an escape route and a support network in South America?  With so many high ranking Nazi's fleeing to South America why would the biggest Nazi of them all not have gone with them?  The debate goes on just as it has since 1945.