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The Specter of Hitler's Survival

Historical Blindness

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The Hitler Survival Myth After Stalin

The Hitler survival rumor turned into something of a hysteria across the Atlantic when Americans believing the sensational news reports about Hitler's escape began suspecting everyone around them of being Hitler. The man next most responsible for the spread of the Hitler survival myth after Stalin was J. Edgar Hoover, who since we last left him had built up his BOI into a very powerful domestic surveillance and policing organization that had been renamed the FBI. Like Stalin before him, it's not certain whether he really believed Hitler was still alive or just used the rumor for propaganda purposes. Agents ran down every lead they received and never found convincing evidence of Hitler's presence in the US.

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