Kept Since 1965 · Washington, Caracas, Zurich

The Archive

The Hitz archive holds more than 500 documents. 144 family originals dated 1941 to 2019 in German, Spanish, French and English; a press corpus of about 200 items from 1959 to 1966, from more than thirty newspapers and two wire services in eight countries; and, since 2026, the records of the Swiss state. The family kept all of it for sixty years. Twelve documents are public below, in the order they were printed. The rest stay sealed until the story is told.

Digitized from the family scrapbooks. The tape, the tears and the blue-pen underlines are original. These pages were never meant to leave the family.

What documents are in the Hitz archive?

The Washington Post front page banner, Tuesday November 23, 1965: D.C. Heiress to $10 Million Fortune Missing.
Ex. 01 The Washington Post · Nov 23, 1965 · the front page that started it
French daily, November 25 1965: Anna-Maria, multimillionaire in 26 days, disappears with a student. The Swiss heiress, twice kidnapped by her father then by her mother.
Ex. 02 French daily · Nov 25, 1965 · “multimillionaire in 26 days” and twice kidnapped, by her father, then by her mother
BILD, West Germany, November 25 1965: Die Millionen-Erbin ist seine wahre Liebe (The Millionaire Heiress Is His True Love).
Ex. 03 BILD · Nov 25, 1965 · the husband's family gives its version
The Evening Star, November 26 1965, complete clipping: D.C. Heiress Wires Mother She's Wed, Safe in Venezuela. The line saying the mother doubted the authenticity of the cable is underlined in the family's blue pen.
Ex. 04 The Evening Star · Nov 26, 1965 · her mother doubts the cable. The blue underline is the family's
Washington Daily News, November 26 1965: Heiress Turns Up, living with husband in Venezuela.
Ex. 05 Washington Daily News · Nov 26, 1965 · she turns up in Caracas
The Herald Journal, Logan Utah, November 26 1965: Missing Heiress In Caracas, A Mother.
Ex. 06 The Herald Journal, Logan, Utah · Nov 26, 1965 · the wires carry it nationwide
The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia, November 26 1965: Girl, 17, in Caracas Says She Is Missing Heiress.
Ex. 07 The Evening Bulletin, Philadelphia · Nov 26, 1965 · a girl says she is the heiress
The Washington Post, November 29 1965: Missing Heiress Reported a Mother, with portraits of Anna Maria Hitz and her mother Anna Spring-Hitz. The family wrote Glad to read this across the top.
Ex. 08 The Washington Post · Nov 29, 1965 · “Glad to read this,” in the family's hand
Daily Journal, Caracas, late 1965: Mrs. Hitz Points Finger at Two Others. The passages about bearer shares, the murder accusations and the autopsy are underlined.
Ex. 09 Daily Journal, Caracas · late 1965 · bearer shares, an autopsy, and a murder accusation in print
BLICK, Zurich, December 16 1965: Goldspatz versoehnt (The Golden Sparrow, Reconciled), with the family's handwritten note above the headline.
Ex. 10 BLICK, Zurich · Dec 16, 1965 · the Goldspatz, reconciled. “We hope this isn't true,” the family wrote above it
Ultimas Noticias, Caracas, January 11, 1966: 50 Millones que dejo Hitz (The 50 Million That Hitz Left).
Ex. 11 Últimas Noticias, Caracas · Jan 11, 1966 · counting the estate
El Mundo, Caracas, February 14, 1966: Dr. Naranjo Ostty and the Hitz-Spring scandal.
Ex. 12 El Mundo · Feb 14, 1966 · the scandal gets a name

Where the story ran, 1959 to 1966: 44 newspapers and two wire services in eight countries. Switzerland: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Neue Zürcher Nachrichten, Die Tat, Der Bund, Blick, Beobachter, Neue Bündner Zeitung, Neue Berner Zeitung, Freiburger Nachrichten, Engadiner Post, Schaffhauser Nachrichten, Prättigauer Zeitung, Gazette de Lausanne, La Suisse, Journal du Jura, Thuner Tagblatt, Appenzeller Volksfreund, Bündner Monatsblatt. United States: The Washington Post, The Evening Star, Washington Daily News, The Evening Bulletin (Philadelphia), The Herald Journal (Logan), The Salt Lake Tribune, The Deseret News, The Boston Globe, New York Daily News, The Pittsburgh Press, The Houston Chronicle, Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Ogdensburg Journal, Pampa Daily News, Associated Press wire, United Press International wire. Venezuela: El Nacional, Últimas Noticias, El Mundo, La República, La Verdad, La Esfera, The Daily Journal (Caracas). Germany: Bild. France: Le Monde. Spain: El Adelantado de Segovia. Canada: The Vancouver Sun. Netherlands Antilles: Arubaanse Courant. Many of the papers outside Switzerland and Venezuela carried the same wire copy, which counts as one report, not many.

Which documents are still sealed?

The rest  of the archive remains sealed

What is not public: the rest of the international press run, the Swiss and Venezuelan court papers, the letters, and the photographs the newspapers never saw. They stay sealed until the story is told, first to the email list, then in the book.

Researchers, journalists and producers can request supervised access.

Received. Access requests are reviewed personally. Meanwhile, get the first chapter →

Or write directly: elisabeth@thehitzinheritance.com · Privacy