| A photograph of Chef des Stab des Stellvertreters des Führers Martin Bormann (June 17, 1900 – May 2, 1945) next to his skull found The night of December 7-8, 1972 by construction workers. On May 1, 1945, Bormann contacted the new Reichspräsident und Oberbefehlshaber der Wehrmacht (“Reich President and commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht”) Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (September 16, 1891 – December 24, 1980) by radio telgram to inform him that he intended to break out of Berlin and join the new government at Flensburg. That was the last time Bormann was ever seen or heard from alive. Reichsjugendführer Artur Axmann (February 18, 1913 – October 24, 1996) claimed to have seen Bormann’s body when Bormann was indicted at the International Military Trial at Nuremberg. A worldwide search was conducted for the war criminal for 30 years. Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal (December 31, 1908 – September 20, 2005) consistently believed he was living in hiding in South America. The valet of Führer und Reichskanzler (“Leader and Reichchancellor”) Adolf Hitler’s (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) Schutzstaffel SS-Sturmbannführer Heinz Linge (March 23, 1913 – March 9, 1980) was released from Soviet captivity in October 1955. He claimed he saw Bormann’s body. SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche (September 24, 1917 – October 2, 2003) was released from Soviet captivity on May 2, 1956. He also claimed to have seen Bormann’s body. Retired postal worker Albert Krumnow (???? – ????) claimed in 1963 that Soviet Red Army officers made him and others bury 2 bodies around May 8, 1945; Bormann and SS-Obersturmbannführer Doctor Ludwig Stumpfegger (July 11, 1910 – circa May 2, 1945). Worker Herbert Seidel (1930 – ????) wrote to German magazine Stern on May 3, 1965, claiming that on May 4 or May 5, 1945, he saw 2 bloated bodies on Invalidenstrasse Railroad Bridge. 1 had a SS doctor’s uniform but no pants or shoes. He couldn’t identify them. But by 1965, changes to the geography of Berlin made identification of the location difficult. An excavation based on Krumnow’s testimony uncovered nothing. However, 7 years later, construction found 2 bodies 12 meters (40 feet) from Krumnow’s estimation of his burial location. But the rumors of Bormann’s survival were not abated by the discovery, so Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing was ordered in 1999. An 83-year-old cousin of Bormann’s agreed to provide a blood sample. The comparison of the sequence from the skeletal remains and a living maternal relative of Martin Bormann revealed no differences. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0778.jpg |
| Image Size | 208.74 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1300 x 1056 |
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| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | January 1, 1972 |
| Location | |
| City | Berlin |
| State or Province | Berlin |
| Country | Germany |
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| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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