The Allied Hunt
Even before the collapse of Germany in the spring of 1945, the Anglo-American counter-espionage service (CI War Room) had taken an interest in all top Nazis. They were to be captured, interrogated and tried. This was quite successful; many were discovered, many were convicted and some committed suicide. However, the Gestapo top people proved elusive for a long time. Several were eventually tracked down, but never Müller. As late as the end of June 1945, the Anglo-American Nazi hunters believed that Müller was still alive in Berlin, and not hiding in the Bavarian Alps like many others. An aggravating factor in the search for him was that he had such a common name; one of these was also an SS general.
Rumors and Theories
Many rumors abounded about his fate but none of them led anywhere. In 1947, the Western Allies searched the house of Müller's mistress, but there was no indication that the wanted man was still alive. He was now presumed dead, which was a liberating assessment when the search had failed completely.
The Question Remains Unsolved
But the question whether he was dead or not remained for decades. Rumors surfaced that he had been seen here and there in the world. The most bizarre rumor was that he had become a high police chief in Albania.
The Eichmann Trial
The question of his whereabouts came to the fore in 1961 when Adolf Eichmann was put on trial in Israel. He claimed that Müller was still alive. The following year, the West German police also became involved, mainly with surveillance and searches of the family, the mistress and a secretary. Were there letters or other traces of contact? Nothing - nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The Last Confirmed Sighting
It was now established that Müller had been in Hitler's bunker as late as the evening of May 1, together with his associate Christian Scholz. Müller is said to have declined the offer of an escape attempt, but also to have said that he had no plans to let the Russians take him prisoner. These statements may indicate that he was planning suicide or a separate breakout and escape.
Seen with Himmler?
An odd German report that Müller had been seen in Himmler's company in Schleswig Holstein several days after the fall of Berlin could not be followed up. Claims that he had died in Berlin during the collapse in May 1945 accumulated over the years. The search, which had long focused on the living Müller, now concentrated on the search for his dead body.
Three Stories
The search essentially followed three stories.
The Gravedigger's Story
The earliest came from a gravedigger in Berlin. He reported that the dead Müller had been taken from the Gestapo headquarters at Prinz Albertstrasse, and that the body had been buried in a cemetery at Lilienthalstrasse in the Neukölln district. This statement seemed to be supported by the fact that there was a gravestone there with the inscription:” Unser lieber Vati Heinrich Müller geb. 28.4 1900 gef. in Berlin Mai 1945”, i.e. roughly:” Our dear father/dad Heinrich Müller born in 4/28 1900 fallen in Berlin May 1945”.
The Grave is Opened
The wording suggests that it is the children of the marriage, Reinhard (1927) and Elisabeth Müller (1936), who had the stone erected. This sounds quite normal, children want to honor their father, although the word” fallen” may sound very positive for this particular father. To be on the safe side, the West German police opened the grave in 1963, and indeed found body parts, but of three different people, and no parts that could be attributed to Müller.
A Fake Burial?
What purpose could there be in carrying out such a burial with an expensive stone? Presumably, they wanted to reassure the world that the person whose name was on the stone is dead. Why would you want that? Probably because they are alive.
The Children's Relationship
It is also rather uncertain whether Müller's two children by marriage were so fond of their” Vati”, who abandoned them and their mother for a mistress as early as 1939.
The Soviet Trail
A second clue came in a roundabout way from the Soviets: a story that Russian soldiers had found Müller with his identity papers intact in the subway a few blocks from Hitler's Reich Chancellery. The body had a bullet through the head, possibly suicide. Müller was then buried in a mass grave in the old Jewish cemetery at Grosse Hamburgerstrasse in the Soviet zone.
The Third Story
A third story came from a German who worked on mass graves in the summer of 1945. He had seen an SS general in uniform and found him in the garden of the Reich Chancellery. The body had a large wound in the back. All medals and decorations were missing, but Müller's identification documents were present. The body was buried in the cemetery at Grosse Hamburgerstrasse. - The three stories seem difficult to reconcile into something convincing.
Further Mysteries
Further mystifying elements of Müller's disappearance: his awards, medals and identification documents are said to have turned up in 1957 and been transferred to his family, but never thoroughly examined. And the gravestone from Lilienthalstrasse was bought in 1963 by an anonymous woman.
Current Status
Nowadays, Müller has been officially declared dead for many years. Most researchers believe that his body is probably in the mass grave in the Old Jewish Cemetery. But Jewish rules do not allow searching for the body.