Did Adolf Hitler die in 1945? Definitely, says new study of his teeth

Adolf Hitler definitely died in 1945 in Berlin, from taking cyanide and a bullet, according to French researchers who were given rare access to fragments of the dictator's teeth held in Moscow.

"The teeth are authentic, there is no possible doubt. Our study proves that Hitler died in 1945," professor Philippe Charlier told AFP.

"We can stop all the conspiracy theories about Hitler. He did not flee to Argentina in a submarine, he is not in a hidden base in Antarctica or on the dark side of the moon," Charlier said.

The study, which Charlier co-authored with four other researchers, was published Friday in the scientific magazine European Journal of Internal Medicine.

The analysis of Hitler's bad teeth and numerous dentures found white tartar deposits and no traces of meat fibre -- the dictator was vegetarian, Charlier said.

In March and July 2017, Russia's secret service the FSB and the Russian state archives authorised a team of researchers to examine the bones of the dictator, for the first time since 1946, he said.

The French team was able to look at a skull fragment presented as being from the Fuhrer, which showed a hole on the left side which was in all probability caused by the passage of a bullet.

The scientists were not authorised to take samples from this fragment.

As it stands, the fragment's morphology was "totally comparable" to radiographies of Hitler's skull taken a year before his death, the research found.

If this study confirms the generally accepted view that Hitler died on the 30 April, 1945, in his Berlin bunker with his companion Eva Braun, it does also shed new light on the exact causes of death, Charlier said.

"We didn't know if he had used an ampule of cyanide to kill himself or whether it was a bullet in the head. It's in all probability both," he said.

The examination of the teeth did not find any traces of powder, which indicates there was not a revolver shot to the mouth, more likely the neck or the forehead.

Equally, bluish deposits seen on his false teeth could indicate a "chemical reaction between the cyanide and the metal of the dentures," the researcher said.

Charlier, a specialist in medical and legal anthropology, was also involved in the analysis of the mummified heart of Richard Lionheart.