Archivist insists Russia has Hitler skull

MOSCOW, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- An archivist with Russia's Federal Security Service said his country is in possession of a fragment of Adolf Hitler's skull despite a report to the contrary.

Lt. Gen. Vasily Khristoforov, the service's chief archivist, said while U.S. academics insist the skull fragment came from a woman, he is confident the skull fragment as well as a fragment of Hitler's jaw held by Russia are actually from the late Nazi leader, The Times of London said Wednesday.

"Hitler's jaw is at the FSB archives, the fragment of skull at the State Archive. These materials are the only documentary evidence of Hitler's death," he said.

Khristoforov also said the KBG, the former Soviet intelligence agency, incinerated Hitler's remains in 1970 and disposed of the ashes in an East German river.

The remains of the notorious Nazi leader were removed from a burial ground in a Soviet base at Magdeburg on the orders of Yuri Andropov, the head of the KGB at the time.

Khristoforov said the order was given to destroy Hitler's remains to avoid the burial site becoming a shrine to Nazi supporters, The Times reported.

"It was not worth leaving any grounds for the rise of a cult of worship … there are people who profess the fascist ideology, regrettably even in Russia," the archivist said.