Blondi

This article is about Adolf Hitler's dog. For similar names and related words, see Blondie.

Blondi
Blondi in 1942
SpeciesCanis lupus familiaris
BreedGerman Shepherd
SexFemale
Born1941
Died29 April 1945(1945-04-29) (aged 3–4)
Berlin, Nazi Germany
Cause of deathCyanide poisoning
Nation fromNazi Germany
OwnerAdolf Hitler
OffspringWulf and four other pups

Blondi (1941 – 29 April 1945)[a][2] was Adolf Hitler's German Shepherd, a gift as a puppy[3][4] from Martin Bormann in 1941. Hitler kept Blondi even after his move into the Führerbunker located underneath the garden of the Reich Chancellery on 16 January 1945.[5]

Hitler was very fond of Blondi, keeping her by his side and allowing her to sleep in his bed while in the bunker. According to Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, this affection was not shared by Eva Braun, Hitler's companion, who preferred her two Scottish Terrier dogs named Negus and Stasi.

Blondi played a role in Nazi propaganda by portraying Hitler as an animal lover. Dogs like Blondi were coveted as "germanische Urhunde", being close to the wolf, and became very fashionable during the Nazi era.[6] On 29 April 1945, one day before his death, Hitler expressed doubts about the cyanide capsules he had received through Heinrich Himmler's SS.[7] To verify the capsules' potency, Hitler ordered Dr. Werner Haase to test one on Blondi, who died as a result.[8]

  1. ^ Eatwell, Roger (1995). Fascism: A History. Chatto & Windus. p. 152.
  2. ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography, W.W. Norton & Co. p. 252. ISBN 0-393-06757-2
  3. ^ Comfort, David (1994). The First Pet History of the World. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 247. ISBN 0-671-89102-2.
  4. ^ some sources suggest the Summer of 1942 (see: Wires, Richard (1985). Terminology of the Third Reich. Ball State University. p. 9.) or even February 1943 (see: timelines.ws Archived 14 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine)
  5. ^ Beevor, Antony (2002). Berlin: The Downfall 1945. Viking-Penguin Books. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-670-03041-5.
  6. ^ Sax, Boria (2000). Animals in the Third Reich: Pets, Scapegoats, and the Holocaust. Foreword by Klaus P. Fischer. New York and London: Continuum. ISBN 978-0-8264-1289-8.
  7. ^ Kershaw, Ian (2008). Hitler: A Biography, W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 951–952.
  8. ^ Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography, W.W. Norton & Co. p. 952.


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