Posted on 01/07/2011 4:58:17 AM PST by SJackson
Nazi expert: "Months before Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union, they had nothing better to do than to obsess about this dog."
BERLIN — Germany's Nazi government was so angry about a dog trained to imitate Hitler that it started an obsessive campaign against its Finnish owner, according to newly discovered documents.
In the middle of World War II, the Foreign Office in Berlin commanded its diplomats in the Nazi-friendly Nordic country to gather evidence on the dog, and even came up with plans to destroy the pharmaceutical wholesale company of the dog's owner.
Historians had not been aware of the strange footnote to the Nazi period before some thirty files containing parts of the correspondence and diplomatic cables were recently found by a researcher at the political archives of the German Foreign Office.
Klaus Hillenbrand, an expert who has written several books on the Nazi period, was contacted by the historian and examined all of the documents for an article to be published Saturday in daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Hillenbrand called the entire episode "completely bizarre."
"Just months before the Nazis launched their attack on the Soviet Union, they had nothing better to do than to obsess about this dog," Hillenbrand said.
The dog, Jackie, was a mutt owned by Tor Borg, a businessman from the Finnish city of Tampere. Borg's wife Josefine, a German citizen known for her anti-Nazi sentiments, dubbed the dog Hitler because of the strange way it raised its paw high in the air like Germans greeting the Fuehrer with a cry of "Heil Hitler!"
On January 29, 1941, German Vice Consul Willy Erkelenz in Helsinki wrote that "a witness, who does not want to be named, said ... he saw and heard how Borg's dog reacted to the command 'Hitler' by raising its paw."
Borg was ordered to the German embassy in Helsinki and questioned about his dog's unusual greeting habits.
He denied ever calling the dog by the German dictator's name, but admitted that his wife called the dog Hitler. He tried to play down the accusations, saying the paw-raising had only happened a few times in 1933 — shortly after Hitler came to power.
The Finnish merchant ensured the Nazi diplomats that he never did anything "that could be seen as an insult against the German Reich."
The zealous diplomats in Helsinki did not believe him and wrote back to Berlin that "Borg, even though he claims otherwise, is not telling the truth."
The different ministries that were involved in the dog scandal — the Foreign Office, the Economy Ministry and even Hitler's Chancellory — meticulously reported all their findings about the canine.
The economy ministry announced that the German chemical conglomerate IG Farben, which had supplied Borg's wholesale trade with pharmaceuticals, offered to eliminate his company by ending their cooperation with him.
Based on all this support, the Foreign Office was already looking for ways to bring Borg to trial for insulting Hitler, but in the end, none of the potential witnesses were willing to repeat their accusations in front of a judge.
On March 21, 1941, the Foreign Office asked the Chancellory whether to press charges against Borg and five days later they answered that "considering that the circumstances could not be solved completely, it is not necessary to press charges."
ping for later - gotta head for work
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We need an Obama-mocking dog to see if it enrages our own national socialist party (aka the democRATS, in case there was any question).
Apparently the Nazis reacted to any mocking of Der Fuehrer in the same way that Muzzies react to cartoons mocking their Profit Mohammed.
Interesting......
BTW the Nazi-Muslim connection during WWII is well documented. And the Arabic version of Mein Kampf is a bestseller yet, right up there with the koran.
That would be appropriate and convenient, especially if the dog went "Obama" on command . . . so long as the owner scooped it up afterward.
LOL! Obama and/or Mohammed...a multi-tasking, totalitarian-mocking dog.
He probably would have been able to do that but the owner never could get him to stop licking his "Axelrod".
Humor is a potent weapon against those who are legends in their own minds.
Considering that this is the same company that provided the abortion drug to be used on Jewish women and other undersirables, the resultant dropping of the case is expected.
BTW, this is the same drug known as RU-486, or Mifeprex.
I’m working on teaching my Lab to lift his leg everytime he hears “hope and change” - will that do?
Interesting. Got a link for that?
I remember when it came out, and it was designed by Roussel (sp?), a French pharmaceutical company.
I have a friend who taught his dogs to drag their butt ( like dogs do when they are scratching their anal glands) across the floor when he says Obama. At one point he had a video of it, but I’m not sure if it’s still up.
IG Farben was a subsidary of Roussel AG.
“In 1916, the Hoechst AG was one of the co-founders of IG Farben, a pressure group of Germany’s chemicals industry to gain industrial power during and after World War I. In 1925 the IG Farben turned from a pressure group into the well-known conglomerate.”
The doctor involved was named Madaus. The SS had heard of the Cancer Drug he developed which had the side effect of abortifacia. Dr. Madaus received a commission to the SS for his work.
If I remember correctly Roussel gave their rights to the drug to a French Doctor, trying to rid itself of the history invovled. (70’s?)
I am familiar with IG Farben, but not the rest of your post. The things you learn on FR!
Yes it is interesting how the Abortionist start their history at 1980 with this drug. I think it may have been Hoesch that didn’t want any ties to this drug.
Baulieu took credit for it’s developement, he actually only perfected it, since the Nazi Docs didn’t give a rats behind about the tortures involved.
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