Sixty five years ago, on April 30, 1945, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun ended their lives in an underground bunker after Berlin fell.
Shortly afterwards, LIFE photographer William Vandivert was on scene to photograph the destroyed city and the bunker itself. These never-before-published images are now available from LIFE Photo Gallery WWII: Inside Hitler's Bunker.
This one above is captioned:
With only candles to light their way, war correspondents examine a couch stained with blood (see dark patch on the arm of the sofa) located inside Hitler's bunker. In his typed notes Vandivert wrote: "Pix of [correspondents] looking at sofa where Hitler and Eva shot themselves. Note bloodstains on arm of soaf [sic] where Eva bled. She was seated at far end .... Hitler sat in middle and fell forward, did not bleed on sofa. This is in Hitler's sitting room." Remarkable stuff -- but, it turns out, only about half right. Historians are now quite certain that Braun actually committed suicide by biting a cyanide capsule, rather than by gunshot -- meaning that the blood stains on the couch are quite likely Hitler's, and not Eva Braun's, after all.
Link - Thanks Ben!
Previously on Neatorama: 17 Strange Facts About Hitler
But also enjoyed the post and the link- really fascinating. I don't always take the time to read the captions if they're long but these were worth the time it took. Thanks for a very interesting post!
Oh, and mein kampfy? You sir, WIN at the Intarnets!! Kudos.