GERMANY: Adolf Hitler has just added a posthumous string to his criminal bow: Germany's Nazi wartime dictator, mass murderer and - now - tax dodger.
An Austrian historian and a Bavarian tax official have uncovered Hitler's long-hidden tax file in a Munich archive, showing that the dictator withheld taxes worth over 600,000 Reichsmarks (RM) - equivalent to €6 million today.
"Hitler preached to the people that the common good preceded personal gain and acted in exactly the opposite way himself," said Mr Klaus Dieter Dubon (71), a retired notary.
Hitler's tax problems began in 1925 after his release from prison, where he wrote his hate-filled political manifesto, Mein Kampf. His 1925 tax return lists royalties from the book as RM11,231, followed by a list of tax-deductible "promotional costs", including a secretary and travel expenses.
In 1930, at the height of Germany's economic crisis, Hitler claimed to have earned RM48,472 in Mein Kampf royalties, but he again tied the tax authorities in knots with objections.
In 1933, Mr Ludwig Mirre, the head of the Munich tax office, wrote to newly-elected Chancellor Hitler, asking for permission to grant tax immunity to Adolf Hitler, "author" - as the dictator was described in his tax file. Mr Mirre received a reply reading: "Herr Hitler accepts your proposal." Mr Mirre forgave the tax debts exactly 70 years ago this month and, a year later, closed Hitler's tax file. In return, Mr Mirre received a tax-free salary bonus of RM2,000 a month - half a teacher's annual salary - until Hitler killed himself in 1945.