On April 30, 1945, with the war lost and Soviet troops advancing, Hitler committed suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin, shooting himself. Eva Braun, whom he had recently married, also took her own life. According to Hitler’s wishes, their bodies were burned and then buried. At least, that is the widely accepted version of his death. Almost immediately conspiracy theories began—thanks in part to the Soviets. They initially claimed that they were unable to confirm that Hitler was dead and later spread rumors that he was alive and being protected by the West. When pressed by U.S. Pres. Harry Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin stated that he did not know Hitler’s fate. According to later reports, however, the Soviets recovered his burnt remains, which were identified through dental records. The body was secretly buried before being exhumed and cremated, the ashes being scattered in 1970, though a piece of skull—bearing a single gunshot wound and not found until 1946—was kept. Such news failed to stem the doubts, however, and they only increased in 2009, when researchers determined that the skull fragment actually belonged to a woman.