Adolf Hitler ordered the deaths of millions, but the only person the dictator may have killed with his own hands could have been his niece he was rumored to be having an affair with, according to newly unearthed clues.
Hitler’s 23-year-old niece Angela “Geli” Raubal was found shot dead inside his Munich apartment on September 19, 1931. Hitler’s own gun was found at the scene, but the death was deemed a suicide as the future dictator was in Nuremberg at the time.
But that alibi may be bogus, one scholar claims.
German historian Harald Sandner told The Telegraph he uncovered a “crushing mass” of evidence that the body was actually discovered on Sept. 18 — when Hitler was still in town.
Sandner uncovered official records that listed Raubal’s body as having been found 24 hours earlier than previously thought.
“Since the body was already indisputably in the flat at that point, the actual time of death must logically have been much earlier – either in the early hours of Sept. 18 or even as early as the night before,” Sandner told the outlet.
Hitler reportedly had the motive and means.
The dictator’s own gun was found near her body, and the pair reportedly had a nasty argument when they were last together.
Speculation had swirled that the two were in an incestuous relationship.
If Hitler shot Raubal, she could be the only person he is known to have murdered with his own hands.
Yet other historians, like Guy Walters, aren’t convinced.
Walters agrees with fellow historian Heike B. Görtemaker, who has chalked up the discrepancy to a simple transcription error, he wrote Thursday in The Telegraph.
Walters also doubts the theory and that Hitler and Raubal — who was the daughter of his half sister — were actually engaging in a sexual relationship.
“[W]ere the Nazi leader and Geli sleeping together? My own view is probably not,” he wrote.
