Suicide or murder? New documents reopen the mystery of Hitler’s niece

A series of archival documents discovered over time raises strong suspicions that Adolf Hitler may have killed his niece, who was found dead in the dictator’s Munich apartment in 1931 — an event officially ruled a suicide.

Angela ‘Geli’ Raubal, 23, was found dead with a gunshot wound to the chest, and the weapon was a pistol belonging to Hitler.

Official documents show that Hitler — who was gaining fame but had not yet seized power in Germany — had left Munich for Nuremberg a day before his niece’s death, a timeline that would prove he could not have been involved in her death.

But German historian Harold Sandner says he has discovered a detail in Munich’s official death register giving the date and time of the discovery of Raubal’s body — precisely 10:15 in the morning on September 18, 1931. Two death notices found in archives also bore that date. If this data is authentic, it would place Raubal’s death about 24 hours earlier than previously believed, which shows that Hitler was in Munich when the young woman’s lifeless body was found, as CNN reports. Official data shows he did not leave for Nuremberg until the afternoon of September 18.

According to historian Sandner, the contradictory data points to a possible cover-up of the murder by police officials, supporters of Hitler’s Nazi Party. The historian’s findings were first published by the German news magazine Der Spiegel and will be detailed in his upcoming book, “The Death of Angela ‘Geli’ Raubal: Suicide or Foul Play?” expected to be published next month.

Thomas Weber, an expert on Nazi Germany who had known Sandner for many years, told CNN that the historian is “extremely meticulous” and that his documents are credible.

Many historians believe that Hitler was in love with Raubal and that his behavior toward her had become intensely controlling and possessive. Shortly before her death, Hitler and Raubal are believed to have argued about her wish to leave Munich for Vienna to pursue musical studies. The newly discovered data does not solve the mystery of how Raubal died. However, it reopens questions that have persisted for nearly 100 years about what exactly happened inside his Munich home on the day of her death.