The truth behind the photo claiming to show Adolf Hitler years after his death has finally been revealed.
A grainy black-and-white photograph has reignited one of the internet’s most outlandish conspiracy theories -that Adolf Hitler faked his death and escaped to Argentina after World War II.
The claims have been circulating heavily on social media in recent weeks, with users citing so-called “declassified” CIA files as proof that the Nazi dictator didn’t die in his Berlin bunker in 1945.
Some posts on X (formerly Twitter) even claimed the documents had just been released, adding to the frenzy.
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According to the theory, Hitler supposedly fled to South America after Nazi Germany’s collapse and lived out his days in secret.
However, that directly contradicts what has long been accepted as historical fact - that the dictator died by suicide, shooting himself in the head, while his longtime companion Eva Braun took a cyanide pill.
These latest rumors gained momentum after the CIA made thousands of documents public related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, alongside plans by the U.S. Justice Department to release surveillance files on Martin Luther King Jr.
In the middle of this data dump, social media latched onto older CIA documents referencing a bizarre tale from a former German soldier who claimed the late Nazi leader was alive and well and living in Colombia.
He even said he had a picture to prove it, supposedly taken in January 1955 in Argentina, showing him alongside the infamous dictator. The picture quickly made the rounds online, further fueling speculation that Hitler survived the war.
But here's the truth: the documents in question weren’t newly released, nor do they confirm anything. They were made public in 2017 and are based entirely on thirdhand accounts.
"Neither [CIA agent] nor this Station is in a position to give an intelligent evaluation of the information," the original memo stated, per Snopes.
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The CIA itself has consistently dismissed any idea that Hitler escaped justice and has noted the lack of credible evidence in these reports.
The document refers to “CIMELODY-3,” a CIA agent whose friend passed along the tale. According to the report, “CIMELODY-3's friend stated that during the latter part of September 1955, a Phillip CITROEN, former German SS trooper, stated to him confidentially that Adolf HITLER is still alive.”
Citroen allegedly told the agent's friend that he had been in contact with Hitler monthly during trips from Maracaibo to Colombia while working for the Royal Dutch Shipping Co. He also said he had a photo - but failed to show it directly.
The memo continues: “Neither CIMELODY-3 nor this Station is in a position to give an intelligent evaluation of the information and it is being forwarded as of possible interest.”
Eventually, the supposed photo was acquired by CIMELODY-3’s friend. The image shows two men: one identified as Citroen and the other claimed to be Hitler. On the back, a note reads: “Adolf SCHRITTELMAYOR, Tunga, Colombia, 1954.”
A follow-up memo in October 1955 dismissed the story as a “fantasy” and noted that the photo’s negatives were “too poor” to reproduce.
By November, the CIA officially recommended abandoning the case: “Enormous efforts could be expended on this matter with remote possibilities of establishing anything concrete. Therefore, we suggest that this matter be dropped.”
While some members of the Nazi regime did in fact escape to Argentina, extensive evidence over decades confirms Hitler did not.
Among the many sources is Hitler’s longtime valet, Heinz Linge, who published a memoir in 1980 recounting his presence outside the room when Hitler took his life and seeing the dictator’s corpse shortly after. The CIA’s own records even include an autopsy report verifying Hitler’s death.
Despite what a blurry photo or decades-old rumor might suggest, there’s no credible reason to believe the dictator lived past 1945 and plenty of evidence proving that he didn’t.