The leader of Nazi Germany spent his final days cowering in his Berlin Bunker as his empire crumbled, before consuming cyanide and shooting himself with a pistol as the Red Army closed in. After storming central Berlin, they discovered his body, along with the lair 55 feet under the Reich Chancellery, which contained 18 small rooms and was fully self-sufficient, with its own water and electrical supply. But that whole narrative was thrown into contention when the FBI declassified reports claiming Hitler escaped to Argentina, following several sightings in the South American country.
The History Channel’s ‘Hunting Hitler’ series revealed what appeared to be a stunning breakthrough during their investigation into an escape from the Fuhrerbunker before April 30, 1945.
The narrator said: “Investigators Lenny DePaul and Sascha Keil have made a shocking discovery.
“With the help of forensic reconstruction, they have just uncovered a fifth and never before known escape route from Hitler’s bunker.
“The team is following a declassified file that claims Luftwaffe pilot Peter Baumgart flew Hitler out of Berlin on a makeshift runway on April 29, 1945.”
Mr Keil explained why he thought the discovery could be huge for proving Hitler did manage to flee Berlin.
He said: “This is a breakthrough, even in my work.
“For the last 15 years, we never knew that there could be another exit from his bunker.
“It is a complete shock.”
The series went on to explain how scores of secret tunnels were uncovered after the end of the war.
READ MORE: World War 2: ’Extraordinary’ secret Nazi ‘Black Book’ detailed chilling plans for Britain
The narrator added: “At the end of World War 2, Berlin was turned over to the Allied forces – the French, British and Americans occupied the West and the Soviets the East.
“As it intensified, the Soviets built the Berlin Wall, a 96-mile barrier to prevent defectors from leaving the East.
“The Stasi, the East German secret police, generated hundreds of maps and eyewitness accounts of escape routes that were built during Hitler’s regime that could be used to escape under the Berlin Wall.”
But the investigators found the map of the secret tunnel discovered by the Stasi led to Tiergarten, a huge park in the centre of the capital.
It was a huge blow for their theory, but they believed it could still be a vital clue to understanding if he managed to get out the bunker.
DON’T MISS
Tehran’s war capability revealed amid tensions with West [ANALYSIS
US soldier risked ‘cataclysmic outcome’ with defection to USSR [COMMENT]
Turkey close to Russia’s grasp amid Trump fury after Venezuela ruling [ANALYSIS]
Mr DePaul explained in 2017: “The most wanted man in the world is not going to pop up in the middle of a central park.
“It does not fit.
“Why would he be heading in that direction, where is he going? There must be another destination.
“Hitler had a way out.”
Despite the claims in the show, the FBI states that the information within the declassified documents pertaining to the escape and sightings of Hitler cannot be verified.
Moreover, it is not a shock that the FBI would investigate something at the time, with Hitler being such a prominent figure.
In 2017, French forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier confirmed that teeth on one of the jawbone fragments found near the bunker were in “perfect agreement” with an X-ray taken of Hitler in 1944.
The results were later reported in the European Journal of Internal Medicine in May 2018, revealing that the dental remains were definitively Hitler’s teeth.
According to Dr Charlier: “There is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945 [in Berlin].”
