The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service investigated possible sightings of Adolf Hitler's private secretary Martin Bormann, at Wanaka and Mt Cook in the mid-1960s, released documents reveal.
Documents released under the Official Information Act reveal the SIS investigated two reports from the public about a possible sightings of Bormann.
One sighting, in June 1964, had been discounted after a subsequent investigation identified the man as a clerk living in Christchurch.
"Although there is a resemblance to Martin Bormann, it is not striking," the report notes.
The second investigation was carried out on a couple who stayed in Wanaka between February 22 and 24, 1965 after making their bookings through the Government Tourist Bureau in Dunedin.
The couple later stayed at the Hermitage, Mt Cook on February 25.
A classified inter-office memorandum reveals photographs of Martin Bormann were shown to an unidentified person who said "the individual they met could be Bormann; they could not identify him from these photographs".
"The photographs are of limited value as they were taken 20 years ago and Bormann could have changed greatly in that time," the report notes.
The suspect was described as being 55-60 years of age, about 5ft 8in (1.72m), of sallow complexion, heavy build and with a guttural accent.
The couple mentioned their home was in Sydney where they were "New Australians".
Martin Bormann was born in Germany in 1900, and would have been 65 at the time.
"The supposition offered by [name withheld] that the manhe met could be Martin Bormann is of course highly unlikely, but is not an impossible one, as no-one can say where Bormann is likely to be found," said the report.
Eighteen documents and one photograph relating to the Bormann sightings are still being held by the SIS.
Rumours of Bormann escaping from Hitler's bunker and fleeing Germany circulated widely after 1945, but DNA taken from an unnamed 83-year-old relative of Bormann in 1998 revealed a skull unearthed on a Berlin building site in 1972 was that of Bormann.
