Nazi Fury At Hitler The Paw-Raising Dog - Guardian/AP

[WillyT]

Nazi fury at Hitler the paw-raising dog
German ministries considered prosecuting dog's Finnish owner or ruining his business for insulting Hitler, wartime records reveal
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Friday 7 January 2011 12.48 GMT


Tor Borg and his dog Jackie, aka Hitler. Photograph: Tamro Group/AP

<snip>

...

Hillenbrand called the 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," he said.

The dog, Jackie, was owned by Tor Borg, a businessman from 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 Führer with a cry of "Heil Hitler!"

On 29 January 1941, the German vice-consul in Helsinki, Willy Erkelenz, 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 trick. 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 – and assured 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 involved in the dog scandal – the foreign office, the economy ministry and even Hitler's chancellory – meticulously reported their findings about the canine.

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More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/07/nazi-fury-hitler-dog

Everything old is new again,eh?

:kick:

[hlthe2b]

1. So if he told his dog after misbehaving, that "it would be the death of me"

In this instance, he would not have been kidding. Geez. Of course, Hitler actually liked his own dog-- a paradox if there ever was one...

[Stevenmarc]

2. In 41 they get questioned 70 years later the dog would have 150,000 hits on YouTube

[unkachuck]

3. I want....

....to see a photo with the dogs' paw raised it the air, I won't believe until I see the photo....

....all Nazis and fascists, foreign and domestic, all seem to have an over-sensitivity to satire and humor....than can't take a joke....

....I believe it's because of a guilt complex they all share; down deep, they realize they are jokes....

[hlthe2b]

4. The pharmaceutical company still exists.. they should erect...

a statue of the dog IMO, with a plaque. ;)

[WillyT]

5. Good Idea !!!

:bounce:

:hi:

[Octafish]

6. Jackie's a dead-ringer for Mr. Peabody

"Of course, Sherman, the Way Bac really is a time machine."

[WillyT]

7. LOL !!! - Classic !!!

Maybe Jackie was the inspiration ?

:shrug:

:hi:

[Raine]

8. Very interesting

THANKS for posting this.

[WillyT]

9. You Are Quite Welcome !!!

:hi:

[xchrom]

10. thanks for that. funny. nt