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German historian (born 1930) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anton Joachimsthaler (born 1930 in Hohenelbe) is a German historian. He is particularly noted for his research on the early life of the German dictator Adolf Hitler, in his book Korrektur einer Biografie ("Correction of a Biography") and his last days in the book Hitlers Ende ("Hitler's End"), published in English as The Last Days of Hitler.
Anton Joachimsthaler | |
---|---|
Born | 1930 Hohenelbe, Czechoslovakia |
Nationality | German |
Occupation | Historian |
Known for | Works on Hitler's youth and Hitler's last days & death |
Anton Joachimsthaler was born in 1930 in Hohenelbe in the Sudetenland. He studied electrical engineering at the Oskar-von-Miller-Polytechnikum, a predecessor of the Munich University of Applied Sciences.[1] Afterwards he worked in 1956[1] for the Deutsche Bundesbahn (German Federal Railroad) as a mechanical and electrical engineer in various places, his last position being as a senior service manager in the Munich-Freimann repair station. Since 1969 he has occupied himself with contemporary and railroad history.[citation needed]
Since the 1970s, Joachimsthaler has produced publications on the history of technology and general history, best known for his works about Adolf Hitler. He has also contributed to television broadcasts from ZDF Mainz, such as Hitler as a private man. His work Korrektur einer Biografie ("Correction of a Biography"), in which he made many facts about Hitler's early years known to a broader public, was particularly well received, and his book Hitlers Ende ("Hitler's End"), which was published in English as The Last Days of Hitler: Legend, Evidence and Truth, is often cited.
Historian Richard J. Evans singled out Joachimsthaler for his "notable... minutely detailed and critical account of the evidence relating to the Nazi leader's early life".[2] He helped to counter the view, expressed by other historians, that the young Hitler was an established anti-semite in the period before the World War I, by highlighting convincing evidence that Hitler developed into a serious anti-semite only during or immediately after the war. This he ascertained from his research in the city archives of Hitler's hometown, Linz, as well as the fact that Stefanie Rabatsch, with whom the young Hitler (according to his boyhood friend August Kubizek) had developed a fanatical love, had the maiden name of "Isak", although she in fact was not Jewish.[citation needed]
Joachimsthaler produced important research into the Breitspurbahn, Hitler's desired 3,000 mm (9 ft 10+1⁄8 in) broad-gauge railway, more than twice the width of the standard gauge of 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in). His first study, published in 1981, is still the standard work.
Historian Ian Kershaw describes Joachimsthaler's book The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, The Evidence, The Truth (originally published in German as Hitler's Ende) as a "meticulous study of the testimony and forensic evidence" as to Hitler's last days and death.[3] Dutch historian Sjoerd J. de Boer wrote that Joachimsthaler help put many myths on the topic to rest.[4] De Boer opined that the witnesses and evidence about Hitler's last days were "dealt with exhaustively" and that the book was an important "reaction" to persistent rumors and speculation as to the dictator's death.[5] German historian Joachim Fest credited Joachimsthaler for correcting various inaccuracies of the last days of Nazi Germany that have been stated and restated in past books, and were due mainly to contradictory statements of the people involved.[6]
Joachimsthaler discounted some early eyewitness accounts regarding a suicide gunshot through the mouth,[7][8] preferring the later conclusion that Hitler shot himself through the temple. Joachimsthaler attributed conflicting accounts to poor memory formation during the turbulent event.[9] Joachimsthaler cites SS-Sturmbannführer Otto Günsche statements and court testimony and concluded they should be held in higher regard than contrary claims.[10]
On the alleged lack of discovery of a bullet in Hitler's study, Joachimsthaler theorizes that after Hitler fired his pistol at contact range, the bullet passed through one temple and became lodged inside the other, rupturing in a hematoma that looked like the temple exit wound reported by eyewitnesses.[11] Joachimsthaler cites a 1925 study which supports such exit failures when not fired transversely at contact range (as later eyewitness accounts said Hitler did)[11][12][13] and mentions that West Germany conducted ballistics tests.[14]
Kershaw wrote that chapters 5–7 of Joachimsthaler's book were "the most reliable and detailed examination" of the burning of Hitler and Eva Braun's bodies.[15] Contrary to the view held by some early historians of Hitler's death and supported by certain scientific studies that bone withstands even indoor cremation,[16][17][18][19][20][lower-alpha 1] Joachimsthaler argued (as U.S. jurist Michael Musmanno had done 45 years earlier) that Hitler's body was burnt to near-ashes and thus never found by the Soviets. Joachimsthaler dismissed an alleged Soviet autopsy report of Hitler's remains, correctly concluding that only his dental remains are known to have been found,[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] positing that the Soviets sifted these from the soil.[24][25][26][lower-alpha 3] Joachim Fest also concluded that only Hitler or Braun's dental remains were confirmed to have been found by the Soviets.[29] Kershaw supported Joachimsthaler's conclusions regarding Hitler's manner of death and the scantiness of the remains (owing to their lengthy burning and the heavy bombardment of the area).[30] In his review of the forensic evidence and eyewitness statements, de Boer also supported Joachimsthaler's conclusions regarding the limited remains as well as the fabricated nature of the alleged autopsy report.[31]
Subsequent to the book's release, the 1947 account of Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge was published.[lower-alpha 4] Supporting accounts from that time cited by British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper,[7] Junge claimed that Günsche said that Hitler shot himself through the mouth and that his "skull was shattered", while Joachimsthaler asserted that no one saw damage to the back of Hitler's head.[13][33] English historian Luke Daly-Groves regarded Joachimsthaler's account as "incomplete", largely because he lacked access to British intelligence files, some first analyzed by Daly-Groves.[34] Daly-Groves does praise Joachimsthaler's methodology of returning to primary sources to "regain perspectives on official conclusions".[35] He agrees with Joachimsthaler's conclusion that Hitler died in Berlin and that the corpse was burnt to near-ashes.[36] However, Daly-Groves goes on to write that though the evidence suggests Hitler shot himself it should not be considered the "definitive answer". Daly-Groves cites Fest's 2002 argument that discrepancies between eyewitness reports had rendered Hitler's death "impossible to reconstruct", while not considering his own investigation to be the final word on the matter.[37]
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