Scientists Name Hitler’s Suspected Cause of Death

MEAUX, FRANCE—Philippe Charlier of Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and his colleagues examined teeth and skull fragments held in Moscow and identified as Adolf Hitler’s for evidence of the manner of his death in Berlin in 1945, according to an AFP report. Analysis of the tartar deposits on the teeth found no evidence of meat consumption. Charlier said this agreed with Hitler’s known vegetarianism. The researchers also said the skull fragments were consistent with radiographies taken of Hitler’s skull a year before his death. A hole thought to have been made by a bullet was found in one of the skull fragments. The teeth showed no evidence of powder from a gunshot, so the bullet is thought to have entered through the neck or the forehead. Charlier added that bluish deposits on the false teeth may have been caused by a chemical reaction between cyanide and metal. “We didn’t know if he had used an ampule of cyanide to kill himself or whether it was a bullet in the head,” Charlier said. “It’s in all probability both.” For more, go to “The Third Reich’s Arctic Outpost.”