(JTA) — Adolf Hitler’s remains were burned and dumped into a German river by Soviet KGB agents in 1970, according to the head archivist of Russia’s Federal Security Service.
The service, the successor to the KGB, said the action was ordered by then-KGB head Yuri Andropov with consent from the leadership of the Soviet Communist Party, according to news reports.
Gen. Vasily Khristoforov said in an interview with the Interfax news agency that the remains of Hitler’s wife, Eva Braun, Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels and Goebbels’ entire family also were destroyed in the operation. The remains were thrown into the Biederitz River.
Soviet leaders felt that Hitler’s burial site could become a gathering place for Nazi sympathizers or those who supported fascist ideas, according to the documents. The bodies had originally been buried in 1946 on the territory of a Soviet military facility.
Khristoforov said that fragments of Hitler’s jawbone and skull still are kept in Russia.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
