New documents revive suspicions: Did Hitler kill his niece after an argument?

A group of archival documents uncovered at different times has revived suspicions that Adolf Hitler may have played a role in the death of his niece, who was found dead in his apartment in Munich in 1931. At the time, the incident was officially recorded as a suicide.

Angela “Geli” Raubal, 23, was found shot in the chest. The weapon used was a pistol owned by Hitler.

Official documents have so far shown that Hitler, who was gaining increasing prominence but had not yet come to power in Germany, had left Munich for Nuremberg the day before Raubal’s death. This version would suggest that he could not have been involved in the incident.

However, German historian Harold Sandner claims to have found an important clue in Munich’s official death register. According to him, it states that Raubal’s body was discovered at 10:15 a.m. on September 18, 1931. The same date also appears in two death notices found in archives.

If these documents are authentic, Raubal may have died around 24 hours earlier than previously believed. This would mean that Hitler was in Munich when her body was found, while official records show that he did not leave for Nuremberg until the afternoon of September 18, CNN reports.

Sandner believes that the discrepancies between the documents could point to an attempt to cover up a murder, involving police officials and supporters of the Nazi Party. His findings were first published by the German magazine Der Spiegel and are expected to be examined in greater detail in his forthcoming book, “The Death of Angela ‘Geli’ Raubal: Suicide or Foul Play?”, which is due to be released next month.

Thomas Weber, a scholar of Nazi Germany who has known Sandner for many years, told CNN that the historian is “extremely meticulous” and that the documents he presented are credible.

Some historians believe that Hitler had romantic feelings for Raubal and behaved toward her in an increasingly controlling and possessive manner. Shortly before her death, the two allegedly had a conflict over her desire to leave Munich for Vienna, where she planned to study music.

The new evidence does not provide a definitive answer about how Raubal died, but it has reopened questions that have surrounded what happened inside Hitler’s Munich residence that day for nearly 100 years.