LOCAL WOMAN WHO SERVED UNDER HILT DOUBTS DEATH Oxnard Press-Courier Oxnard, CA Tuesday November 23, 1954 An Oxnard woman who worked in Adolph Hitler’s bombproof hideout during the last stages of World War II thinks the Nazi dictator may still be alive. Mysterious circumstances accompanying reports of Hitler’s death raised the doubt in her mind. The woman is Heidi Templin, 26, now wife of jack Templin of College Park. At the time Hitler was reported shot she was a teen-age nurse’s aide in Berlin. “We were in a large underground shelter where we were taking care of the wounded,” she said. “In the same shelter was Hitler and many “SS” men who were apparently guarding Hitler.” Mrs. Templin said that one day early in May, 1945, all the “SS’ men disappeared from the shelter. “It was strange because they had always been around,” she said. “Then shortly after their disappearance, one of the girls came back to our room carrying Hitler’s personal flag, his bracelet and a brooch. “When we asked her where she got them she told us she had just been in Hitler’s room and took them after being told that Hitler had been shot by someone.” Mrs. Templin said the girl didn’t see the body and as far as she knows no one else did either. “No one is sure but I think he might be alive,” she said. “If all those “SS” men got out I can’t understand why he didn’t also get out.” Mrs. Templin, now an American citizen, was born in Berlin in 1928. At the age of 10 she went into the Hitler youth group, which was not voluntary. She said the group gathered two evenings a week for meetings and sports. Then at the age of 15 she went into an older group, which, in addition to meetings and sports, had marching drills and had one week’s training in firing rifles. “Being in the youth organization and being so young we believed in the Nazi teachings,” she said. Eventually she was asked to leave home to help with the wounded. “We arrived at the shelter on about April 27, 1945,” she said. “The first three days we worked day and night.” She said she missed a chance to meet Hitler because her group was sleeping. “I think it was about May 2,” she said. “Hitler called all the girls in and shook their hands and thanked them for helping out. But I was sleeping and no one called me so I missed seeing him.” She said that long before the war ended on May 9, she could hear gunfire in the streets and hear the bombs blasting. But she said that even when a bomb fell in the street above the shelter it did no more than slightly shake the ground. “After the war ended and the Russians took over we stayed on for a few days more,” she said. “We were kept in the shelter all day and never even knew if it was day or night.” She said the people were glad when the Americans came in. “I didn’t speak to any Americans for a long time,” she said. “Then my grandmother said someone in the family should learn English.” “I started taking lessons and met Jack shortly after,” she said. “He would laugh every time I talked because he said I was learning Oxford English. I told him if he could do better than he should teach me. He said he could, so I quit taking lessons and learned from him.” Mrs. Templin, who speaks English well, said her husband left Germany in June, 1946. It took her until March, 1947, to get the necessary papers and transportation to America. They were married on May 1, 1947, in New York and came back to Ventura. Templin is a native Venturan. They are now living in College Park and have two children, Jimmy, 6 ½, and Michael, 5.