Stories
Hitler's Niece Death: New Evidence Challenges Suicide Ruling 95 Years Later
- •Geli Raubal, Hitler's 23-year-old niece, was found dead in his Munich apartment in 1931 from a gunshot wound, ruled a suicide.
- •Hitler had an alibi, claiming he was in Nuremberg, but a historian now presents evidence placing him in Munich at the time of death.
- •Historian Harald Sandner's 35-year investigation uncovered death notices and a local death register entry suggesting Raubal died a day earlier, when Hitler was still in Munich.
- •Sandner alleges a cover-up by police and Nazi sympathizers to protect Hitler's image as he gained power, citing 62 errors and manipulations in the official report.
- •While some historians find the new evidence credible regarding Hitler's alibi, not all agree on a murder theory, with some suggesting clerical errors or other reasons for concealment.
Key Questions Answered
German historian Harald Sandner uncovered archival death notices and local death register entries indicating that Geli Raubal's body was recovered by police on the morning of September 18, 1931, when Hitler was still in Munich rather than away in Nuremberg.
Geli Raubal was the 23-year-old daughter of Hitler's half-sister, Angela. She lived in Hitler's Munich apartment, and historians have long debated the nature of their close and intense bond, with some accounts suggesting an intimate or obsessive relationship.
Historian Thomas Weber found Sandner's meticulous archival evidence credible and stated it casts doubt on Hitler's traditional alibi. However, another Hitler historian, Heike Görtemaker, remains unconvinced, suggesting the timeline discrepancy could simply stem from a transcription mistake or clerical error.
