Hitler's Other Dog

When you hear the name Adolf Hitler, what's the first thing that comes to mind? That's right.  Blondi, Hitler's German shepherd.  The 100 percent Aryan pooch appears in many photos with his demented master, and perished in the bunker with him, poisoned with cyanide lest he be captured by the Russians and tortured into divulging state secrets. 

But Hitler had another dog, a dog shadowed in secrecy, legend, gossip, and innuendo.  This dog was Burli the Scotch terrier.  Given to Hitler by Martin Bormann, Burli stayed well away from the Albert Speer-designed spotlights of celebrity fascism.  In fact, the only reference to him we've ever run across is in The Hitler Book, which distills the details of the interrogations of two of Hitler's underlings conducted by the Soviets following the war.

Why the miasma of mystery surrounding Burli?  Was it because he was not German but Scottish?  Was his diminutive size seen as unsuitable to the supersized image of Hitler presented by the Nazis?  Was it because Hitler was running around behind Blondi's back?  Or could it have been because Burli was actually a tiny military genius in a dog suit?  We know that Wehrmacht HQ personnel referred to the terrier as "the Greater German Imperial Hound."  Perhaps this was more than an ironic reference to his stubby profile.

Unfortunately, we may never know.  We  have searched in vain all of the great archives of Nazi materials for a photo of Hitler's furry sidekick.  It's as if he never lived.  But he did.  Who knows.  Maybe after the war he told his children hair-raising stories. 

composite sketch of Burli by Soviet artists

Comments

[Scottie News Publisher]

The Scottish Terrier and Dog News staff is deeply sceptical that Hitler ever owned a Scottish Terrier.

[Nicolas]

if you look in that picture, you see five pups(Which belong to Blondi)as specified. You also see however a short all black dog. I'm no dog specialist but that sure looks like a terrier. I don't, know what do you think.

[John]

Funny, I was just doing some research on Blondi and ran across the pic of Blondi's 5 pup's and what appears to be a black Scottish Terrier. No mention of the Terriers owner but gives more validity to Hitler having a Scottie...