Discoveries: The Real Thing - Maybe

Just 25 days before Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin, U.S. Army Private Wil bert Massman entered Munich with the 179th Infantry Regiment and settled into a small apartment on the city's east side, using it as an office. While rummaging through a bookcase, Massman stumbled on a red leather album embossed with a swastika. Flipping through the album, he saw 72 photos of World War I scenes, four of which showed a man who appeared to be the young Adolf Hitler. Other items, bearing the monogram A.H., convinced Massman that the apartment had once been Hitler's. Massman sent the memorabilia home to Chicago with a note telling his wife to remove the pictures and use the book for photos of their newborn daughter. Instead, Mrs. Massman stashed the album in the attic.

Forty years later, Massman, now 70, retrieved the album and sold it to Randall Donley, the owner of a local museum. Donley contacted United Press International, which set out to authenticate the photos. Last week experts proclaimed the pictures the real thing--maybe. After the memorable Hitler- diary hoax of three years ago, few experts were eager to put their reputations on the line once more.