Highlights
- •STR typing on the of the only known extant DNA sample from prisoner ‘Spandau #7’, believed to be Rudolf Hess, Deputy Führer of the Third Reich.
- •Refutation of the so called “Doppelgänger Conspiracy Theory” by comparison with reference sample from the Hess male line.
- •Valuable amendment of the recent history record of the Third Reich Period.
Abstract
The Deputy Führer of the Third Reich Rudolf Hess was captured after a controversial
flight to Scotland in 1941. Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment during the Nuremberg
War Crimes Trials. He was detained in Berlin’s Spandau Prison under the official security
designation ‘Spandau #7.’ Early doubts arose about the true identity of prisoner ‘Spandau
#7.’ This evolved to a frequently espoused conspiracy theory that prisoner ‘Spandau
#7’ was an imposter and not Rudolf Hess. After Hess’s reputed 1987 suicide, the family
grave became a Neo-Nazi pilgrimage site. In 2011, the grave was abandoned and the
family remains cremated. Here we report the forensic DNA analysis of the only known
extant DNA sample from prisoner ‘Spandau #7’ and a match to the Hess male line, thereby
refuting the Doppelgänger Theory.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 11, 2019
Accepted:
January 9,
2019
Received in revised form:
May 28,
2018
Received:
January 12,
2018
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
