Adolf Hitler and vegetarianism
The vegetarianism of Adolf Hitler is referred to by most of Hitler's biographers. Recordings made of conversations with Hitler between 1941 and 1944 by Martin Bormann, his private secretary, clearly indicate that Hitler regarded himself as a vegetarian from the early 1930s onwards. However, some of those who knew him have said that he continued on occasion to eat meat, and records show that he received regular injections of animal by-products from his doctor during the last nine years of his life, although he may not have been aware of the contents.
Whether Hitler abstained entirely from eating fish, flesh, and fowl is based largely on anecdotal evidence. The issue is further confused by the failure of the primary sources, including Hitler himself, to clarify how they were using the term "vegetarian."
Evidence for
Biographies by the German journalist Joachim Fest and British historian Ian Kershaw state that Hitler became a vegetarian after the death, possibly by suicide, of his niece, Geli Raubal, in 1931, an event that allegedly left Hitler in great distress, possibly because he was in love with her.
From 1937 onwards, he began to describe himself as a vegetarian and espouse the benefits of a meatless diet. According to recordings made by Martin Bormann of conversations with Hitler and his inner circle between July 1941 and November 1944, translated by Hugh Trevor-Roper, Hitler said on November 11, 1941 that: "One may regret living at a period when it's impossible to form an idea of the shape the world of the future will assume. But there's one thing I can predict to eaters of meat: the world of the future will be vegetarian." [3] On January 12, 1942, he clearly stated that he regarded himself as vegetarian: "The only thing of which I shall be incapable is to share the sheiks' mutton with them. I'm a vegetarian, and they must spare me from their meat." [4]
Food writer Bee Wilson, writing in the New Statesman in 1998, says that Hitler's diet became "free of flesh" after Raubal's death, and that he became a "highly idiosyncratic, not to mention creepy, vegephile," whose vegetarianism was undermined from 1943 onwards — apparently without his knowledge — when Marlene von Exner became his dietitian and started adding bone marrow to his soups. [5] Traudl Junge, who became his secretary in 1942, reported that he "always avoided meat," but that his Austrian cook, Kruemel, often added a little animal broth or fat to his meals. "Mostly the Fuehrer would notice the attempt at deception, would get very annoyed and then get tummy ache," Junge reported. "At the end he would only let Kruemel cook him clear soup and mashed potato." [6]
Bormann built Hitler a large greenhouse at Berchtesgaden in order to keep him supplied with fresh fruit and vegetables throughout the war, though it is not known whether this was because of Hitler's specific diet or because of a general shortage of fresh food. Personal photographs of Bormann's children tending the greenhouse survive (see above), and by 2005 its foundations were among the only ruins associated with the Nazi leadership still visible in the area.
In private conversations, Hitler allegedly often recited the benefits of eating raw vegetables, fruit, and grains, particularly for children and soldiers. In an attempt to disgust dinner guests and provoke them into shying away from meat, he reportedly told graphic stories of visits he had made to a slaughterhouse in the Ukraine. "It amused him to spoil carnivorous guests' appetites," Bee Wilson writes. "As they put their forks down in disgust, he would harangue them for hypocrisy. 'That shows how cowardly people are,' he would say. 'They can't face doing certain horrible things themselves, but they enjoy the benefits without a pang of conscience'." [7]
He is said to have disapproved of cosmetics since they contained animal by-products and to have frequently teased his mistress Eva Braun about her habit of wearing make up.
Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary on April 26, 1942:
An extended chapter of our talk was devoted by the Führer to the vegetarian question. He believes more than ever that meat-eating is harmful to humanity. Of course he knows that during the war we cannot completely upset our food system. After the war, however, he intends to tackle this problem also. Maybe he is right. Certainly the arguments that he adduces in favor of his standpoint are very compelling. [8]
Evidence against
American author and historian John Toland indicates that, despite calling himself a vegetarian, Hitler continued to eat meat on occasion. He quotes Hitler's close friend Frau Hess as saying that, after his neice's death, Hitler "never ate another piece of meat except for liver dumplings". [9]
Robert N. Proctor's book The Nazi War on Cancer (1999) suggests Hitler's diet was related to problems he had digesting meat. According to both Toland and Proctor, Hitler suffered from stomach cramps which he interpreted as an early sign of cancer, a disease his mother Klara Hitler died from when he was eighteen. Proctor describes Hitler as "a vegetarian, of sorts" who ate meat on occasion:
Hitler was indeed, for the most part, a vegetarian — though he did occasionally allow himself a dish of meat. Gestapo chief Rudolf Diels after the war wrote that Hitler would sometimes eat Bavarian liver dumplings (Leberknödel), but only when they were prepared by his photographer friend, Heinrich Hoffmann.
The medical diaries of Hitler's physicians, Dr. Theodor Morell, reveal that, for the last nine years of his life, Hitler was given daily injections of animal by-products, including Glyconorm, an injectable compound containing cardiac muscle, suprarenal, liver, and pancreas. He also received supplements containing placenta, and bovine testosterone, and to combat depression, extracts containing seminal vesicles and prostate. The extent to which Hitler was aware of the contents of these preparations is not known. [10]
Vegetarian historian Rynn Berry, in Hitler: Neither Vegetarian Nor Animal Lover, cites Robert Payne's 1973 biography, The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler, which argues that Hitler's vegetarianism was a myth invented by Joseph Goebbels to give Hitler the aura of an ascetic:
Hitler's asceticism played an important part in the image he projected over Germany. According to the widely believed legend, he neither smoked nor drank, nor did he eat meat or have anything to do with women. Only the first was true. He drank beer and diluted wine frequently, had a special fondness for Bavarian sausages... His asceticism was fiction invented by Goebbels to emphasize his total dedication, his self-control, the distance that separated him from other men. By this outward show of asceticism, he could claim that he was dedicated to the service of his people. Although Hitler had no fondness for meat except in the form of sausages, and never ate fish, he enjoyed caviar
In 1964, Dione Lucas, who worked as a cook at a Hamburg hotel during the early 1930s, published the Gourmet Cooking School Cookbook, which included a recipe for pigeon with a short anecdote:
I do not mean to spoil your appetite for stuffed squab, but you might be interested to know that it was a great favorite with Mr. Hitler, who dined at the hotel often. Let us not hold that against a fine recipe though.
On April 14, 1996, The New York Times Sunday magazine edition, marking the newspaper's 100th anniversary, reprinted a May 30, 1937 article entitled "At Home With The Fuhrer" written by Otto D. Tolischus, which also indicates that Hitler continued to eat meat occasionally:
It is well known that Hitler is a vegetarian and does not drink or smoke. His lunch and dinner consist, therefore, for the most part of soup, eggs, vegetables and mineral water, although he occasionally relishes a slice of ham and relieves the tediousness of his diet with such delicacies as caviar.
Vegetarianism in Nazi Germany
In 1935, the vegetarian movement, like most organized activist groups not directly affiliated with the National Socialists, was suppressed in Germany. As documented by writers such as Charles Patterson, Janet Barkas, and Rynn Berry, the Gestapo confiscated books which contained vegetarian recipes, and vegetarian societies were declared illegal, prohibited from organizing or publishing materials of any kind. Others were forced to join the Nazi Living Reform Movement. [11] One journal, The Vegetarian Press, was allowed to continue operating, but was subject to censorship.
See also
References
- ^ Section 66 in Hitler's Table Talk: 1941-1944, translated by Hugh Trevor-Roper, Enigma Books, ISBN 1929631057.
- ^ The Goebbels Diaries, pg. 215, translated by Louis P. Lochner, Charter Books, ISBN 0441295509.
- ^ Toland, John. (1991). Adolf Hitler : The Definitive Biography. Anchor; Reissue edition. pp. 256, 782. ISBN 0385420536.
- ^ Doyle, D. (2005). "Adolf Hitler's Medical Care". The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 35(1): 75-82.