From http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090928/twl-hitler-s-skull-is-a-woman-s-say-dna-3fd0ae9.html :

A skull long believed to be that of Adolf Hitler actually belonged to a woman, according to an American scientist who has taken DNA samples from it.

The skull was taken by Soviet forces in 1945 when they found charred remains outside the Nazi dictator's bunker in Berlin.

The Russians said at the time that the findings backed claims that Hitler had shot himself on April 30, 1945, and then been cremated along with his wife, Eva Braun.

Now, however, archaeologist and bone specialist Nick Bellantoni says the skull really belonged to a woman aged under 40 and not Hitler - who was 56 when he died.

Neither does Mr Bellantoni believe the skull belongs to Braun, Hitler's long-time girlfriend and last-minute wife, who is thought to have killed herself by taking cyanide and would therefore not have had a bullet wound - as this skull has.

The Russians say they have never claimed the skull itself was the chief reason for their belief the skull was Hitler's.

Instead, they point to dental records as confirmation that Hitler killed himself.

Some historians have believed for years that the Nazi dictator did not die in Berlin.

"There is no forensic evidence whatsoever that Hitler died in the bunker," historian and journalist Gerrard Williams told Sky News Online.

"The Nazi high command had been making plans since 1943 to get out of Germany and to set up a Fourth Reich mainly in South America so they had no need to die in situ in Germany.

"There was a very effective route out of Germany to South America and the Nazis had help from various factions, in particular a Croatian cardinal from the Vatican called Alois Hudel.

"As for the dental records, they were destroyed on the orders on Martin Borman in 1944. So there were no records on top Nazi leaders with which to compare the charred findings."

One reason why there was such a belief at the end of World War II that the skull was Hitler's, Mr Williams suggests, is that everyone needed Hitler to be dead.

"Everyone wanted to close the chapter very quickly because, of course, the Cold War was just starting up. It was convenient, that's all."