Smithsonian Magazine · People & society

New Research Challenges Official Narrative of Hitler's Niece's Death

New research suggests that the official account of Geli Raubal's 1931 death, ruled a suicide, may have been manipulated to provide Adolf Hitler with an alibi.

Geli Raubal, Hitler's half-niece, died from a gunshot wound in his Munich apartment. Official reports stated her body was discovered on September 19, with Hitler having an alibi in Nuremberg. The death was ruled a suicide, a conclusion questioned even at the time.

Historian Harald Sandner has found archival documents in Munich, including death notices and a death register entry, that indicate Raubal's body was recovered by police on September 18, when Hitler was still in Munich. This contradicts the established timeline.

Newspaper reports from the time suggest Nazi officials strategized on how to release the news of Raubal's death. Concerns were raised about intense arguments between Hitler and Raubal prior to her death, and alleged injuries on her body.

Sandner believes these meetings led to the manipulation of dates and times in public records to create an alibi for Hitler, thereby facilitating the official suicide ruling. He describes the original documents as a 'work of deception' with numerous errors and manipulations.

Hitler's relationship with Raubal, who lived with him from 1929, has long been a subject of speculation. Family members and biographers have described it as obsessive and a significant, albeit taboo, love affair for Hitler.

Historian Thomas Weber has reviewed Sandner's research and stated that the new evidence seriously undermines the established chronology of Raubal's death, validating Sandner's findings.

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