Why have some conspiracy theories managed to capture the public imagination for so long? It’s the heart of this new podcast by History Extra, hosted by Rob Attar, which looks at some of the most well known theories with Rob joined by a different historian each episode.
In one such episode, Attar and Professor Richard J. Evans look at conspiracy theories that followed the end of World War II. “There are many, many fantastic, extraordinary, ridiculous theories about Hitler,” says Attar. “For example, he was substituted in the bunker sometime before the end by a double, and Eva Braun is a double, and even his dog, Blondi, is a double. But the secretaries who were there with him until the end said that's absurd. We would know if it wasn't the same man. There's many other kinds of fantasies spun by conspiracy theorists.
“I think what motivates them is mostly an admiration for Hitler, feeling that he'd fooled the Allies so many times, he must have fooled them again.”
