Russian intelligence agency reveals Hitler’s final words and other key testimony before his death

Eighty years have passed since Adolf Hitler died, and on the anniversary of his death, the Russian intelligence agency made public a large number of documents that reveal new details about his final moments.

Hitler died on April 30, 1945, as World War II came to a close. That same day, Nazi Germany began to fall apart. According to the documents, Hitler took his own life in his bunker, and Russian officials have now shared what they believe were his last words, along with information about how he looked and what happened to his body afterward.

A man named Heinz Linge, who was close to Hitler, wrote down a detailed description of what Hitler was wearing at the time of his death.

He said Hitler wore a white shirt with a turned-down collar, a black vest, a grey military-style jacket made of fine fabric, long black pants, thin black socks, and black leather boots. Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun, who died with him, was wearing a silk dress, thin silk stockings, and wedge-heeled shoes, possibly made in Italy.

After they died, three containers of gasoline—brought by another high-ranking Nazi, Martin Bormann were placed near the exit of the underground shelter. These were used to burn Hitler and Eva Braun’s bodies, as they had instructed, so that they wouldn’t be captured.

For decades, people didn’t know what Hitler’s last words were. But now, thanks to the newly released documents, we know that just before his death, when Heinz Linge asked Hitler, “Führer, whom should we try to break through to in the West?” Hitler replied, “For the sake of the one who is still to come.”

There had always been questions about whether Hitler really died in that bunker, or if he had somehow escaped and used a body double. But the Soviet investigators examined his remains and concluded he had truly died there.

One of the key pieces of evidence was Hitler’s teeth. The Soviets had footage and reports that showed close-up details of the remains of his mouth. The forensic report mentioned a piece of broken glass in his mouth, a smell like bitter almonds which is typical of cyanide poisoning and chemical tests showed traces of cyanide in his organs. These findings helped confirm that the body was his.