BONN. Apr 3: Adolf Hitler's corpse, which disappeared in ’■ Berlin in 1945 was preserved in Ormany by the Soviets until 1970 when ft was burned, the , Get nian weekly Der Spiegel reveals in its latest edition to appear today, reports AFP

in a 12-page cover story the Hamburg magazine says that the final order for the Incineration came from then KGB chief Yuri Andropov, who feared that the txidy could one day become the object of cult worship

The magazine reproduces a letter from Andropov — later a Soviet leader — to then Soviet leader Leonid Breznev dated March 13. 1970 (he most important passages of which are handwritten

“in February 1946 writes

Andropov, "the human remains of Hitler. Eva Braun Goebbles his wife and children In all 10 people where buried in Magdeburg on the grounds of our garrison An dropov goes on to say that the garrison s land was to be re turned to the East German authorities and to prevent the corpses from being discovered he proposed incinerating the remains

The operation will be carried out under the seal of strictest secrecy by a KGB unit Andropov wrote

The Andropov letter was au thenticated by Vladimir Kryuchkov Andropovs chief aide at the time and himself a later KGB chief

According to Der Spiegel.

which has promised a follow up story tor next week s edi tion Andropov’s advisers, warned him that if Hillers remains left Soviel control thev could betrape a dangerous rallying point for neo Nazis

The magazine also said that Il had a Magdeburg KGB trail script, in which it said that the remains, kept In five munitions cases since 1946 had been incinerated with the ap propnate technology The Nazi dictator's ashes were dis persed

Until last year, even the most authoritive historians conceded that Hitler s body had never been found after he committed suicide in his bunker on 30 Apru 945

Several witnesses however have already said that Hitler

was buried in Magdeburg on the territory which Andropov mentions in his letter to Brezhnev The discovery In Marcli 1994 of human re-inalnl In the same street rekindled speculation about the fate of the dictator’s re-

Provfdlng more evidence of events in Berlin in. 1945. Der Spiegel cites documents discovered In Russian archives under the code name 'operation myth* and describing a vigorous Interrogation conducted by the Soviets after World War II of witnesses of Hitler s last hours

Stalin ordered of the inter-rogation. ;.^t Spiegel says, be cause he did not want to believe Hitler had committed

suicide, but all the witnesses questioned, some under tor ture. confirmed Hitler had died on 30 April 1945

The mystery of Hitler's last days has caught the public imagination on a number of occasions, most notably In 1983 when a forger sold faked editions of what he claimed were Hitler's diaries to the Gentian magazine Stern — and then the British Sunday Times — before being exposed and sentenced to three years In prison.

Mindful of the time of year, commentators said Der Spiegel's story was highly unlikely to be an April fool. The magazine does not come out until April 3. and a Joke on thi* subject would be conaldeied in very bad taste In Germany.