# German you learned from "Hogan's Heroes" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2017, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614 "2017-05-15T00:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/81 "2017-05-17T20:17:06Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I learned that it was better to go to Hell than to _ze Rahssian Frahnt!_ Leon Askin, who played Gen Burkhalter, was another Jewish refugee, this time from Austria. In the '50s, he played a presumably Russian spy in an installment of _ **The Bowery Boys** _, alongside Veola Vonn, his female sidekick. It was like watching a real-life Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. (Maybe they were the inspiration for Bill Scott and Jay Ward’s characters.) ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/82 "2017-05-17T22:03:54Z")
William “Father Mulcahey” Christopher played both sides of the fence in this war, playing a shot down English pilot trying to hurry back home for a cricket match in an early episode, then the German officer later. In another episode, as part of the story, Carter did him one better, pretending to be a German officer during the day, coming back to camp at night. Carter also wore gloves for most scenes, as Larry Hovis was married and didn’t want to take off his ring. Which is kind of awkward when he is playing cards, washing clothes, etc. I know the major actors on the German side were Jewish. They probably thought it was a good joke on the Nazis. I don’t know how serious they could be when there are power lines running across the back of the outdoor scenes. And to sort of bring it back to the OP’s question, the woman Russian spy was checking how clean Klink’s desk was and mentioned something about the “schmutz” – something a Russian probably wouldn’t say to the Germans! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/83 "2017-05-17T22:50:55Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > And to sort of bring it back to the OP’s question, the woman Russian spy was checking how clean Klink’s desk was and mentioned something about the “schmutz” – something a Russian probably wouldn’t say to the Germans! \*Schmutz \*is the German word for dirt. _Shmutz_ is the Yiddish variant. Nita Talbot, who played Marya “The White Russian,” was actually from New York, NY. She’s still alive at age 86! ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/84 "2017-05-18T00:14:20Z")
I guess I learned a German word today! I just assumed it was the Yiddish word, as it was in an English sentence – not a simple “Ach! Dirt!” I don’t remember which episode it was or I’d go back and check. (Google didn’t help matters by switching the spellchecking. Ach!) I always wondered how much German the Heroes knew, considering the situations they get muddled into. Granted, they did their lines in accented English when they were in German-mode which presumably meant they were speaking German, so they must have gotten lessons. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/85 "2017-05-18T00:36:42Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > I guess I learned a German word today! I just assumed it was the Yiddish word, as it was in an English sentence – not a simple “Ach! Dirt!” I don’t remember which episode it was or I’d go back and check. (Google didn’t help matters by switching the spellchecking. Ach!) > > I always wondered how much German the Heroes knew, considering the situations they get muddled into. Granted, they did their lines in accented English when they were in German-mode which presumably meant they were speaking German, so they must have gotten lessons. I always thought that they must all speak German to be selected for such a role. Certainly whenever Kinch called up someone pretending to be Hitler he wouldn’t have done so in accented English. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/86 "2017-05-18T01:02:12Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I \*\*own \*\*the \*Schatzi \*Toy Company! (“Little Treasure”) I liked the smug look Schultz had when he said that! I almost named my dog Schatzi, but went with Nathan instead. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/87 "2017-05-18T01:06:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Leon Askin, who played Gen Burkhalter, was another Jewish refugee, this time from Austria. In the '50s, he played a presumably Russian spy in an installment of _ **The Bowery Boys** _, alongside Veola Vonn, his female sidekick. It was like watching a real-life Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. (Maybe they were the inspiration for Bill Scott and Jay Ward’s characters.) Askin did Shakespeare, translated into German. And on one episode of Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds he played Martin Luther. I loved the other “celebs” who were guests, Voltaire, Plato, and Florence Nightengale. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/88 "2017-05-18T01:13:34Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > I always thought that they must all speak German to be selected for such a role. Certainly whenever Kinch called up someone pretending to be Hitler he wouldn’t have done so in accented English. The show was never clear, like when Carter asked the guard what cell a prisoner was in, and he replied “nine”, and Carter thought he was saying _nein_, that is, refusing to answer. Jokes like that don’t work if everyone is already speaking German. On the other hand, when Hogan (Not who! Hoople! Major Hogan Hoople) meets Klink in a bar, while wearing a German uniform, pretending to be a German officer, he certainly has to be speaking German. And no matter what happens, whever lies he tells himself so that he doesn’t really figure out what is going on, Klink has to wonder how Hogan came to speak German so well as to pass as a native. Hogan and Carter could be of German extraction, maybe Kinch grew up with German speakers, but how LeBeau and Newkirk learned it well enough to not be spotted as a foreigner is a mystery that will never be explained. I just assume they are all excellent German speakers, even Newkirk: “You may hear that Hamburg is in ruins, that Berlin is a shambles, but I tell you: Do not believe these rumours. Even if they ARE TRUE!” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/89 "2017-05-18T01:19:00Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Not sure the exact years but airing time was not such a problem because the southern cut was produced by the same people who made the show or the network that was airing them not by the individual stations. Sort of how movie studios produce airline versions with different cuts of movies to avoid excess profanity, nudity or violence particularly violence that involves airplanes crashing. I would like to see a cite for this, if anyone can provide one, because I cannot believe this was ever a practice by any of the three major networks of the time, or any of the studios such as Warner Brothers that produced programs for the networks. ---
**Author:** ![Kzbre5m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kzbre5m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kzbre5m)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/90 "2017-05-18T01:42:15Z")
It wouldn’t have made good sitcom if they spoke the German in German, but then again, they didn’t really try to make it real. One scene had Hogan asking for someone to play Hitler. Voice or acting? he was asked. Upon which it was explained that Carter was a better Hitler actor, but Kinchloe the better voice. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/91 "2017-05-18T01:53:09Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > I guess I learned a German word today! I just assumed it was the Yiddish word, as it was in an English sentence – not a simple “Ach! Dirt!” Word’s pronounced the same, regardless the parent’s native language. My kids know what schmutz is. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/92 "2017-05-18T03:50:43Z")
> [@Kzbre5m](#): > > I always wondered how much German the Heroes knew, considering the situations they get muddled into. Granted, they did their lines in accented English when they were in German-mode which presumably meant they were speaking German, so they must have gotten lessons. The diversity of languages in _ **Hogan’s Heroes** _ posed about as many problems as it did in _ **The Time Tunnel** _. Everyone understood everyone else, and accents didn’t seem to matter. One hilarious exception: In the episode where Lt DuBois turns up, he and LeBeau converse in French right in front of Schultz, who obviously doesn’t understand a word of what they’re saying. DuBois asks if any of the Germans understand French. LeBeau snorts derisively and says no, they only understand German and English. DuBois then passes some secret information on to LeBeau, who relays it to Hogan. Later on in Klink’s office, Hogan presents him with a red herring he says he heard from LeBeau. Klink then asks how LeBeau would know such things, and Hogan says DuBois told him. Schultz immediately chimes in and says “It is **true** , Herr Kommandant! I heard them speaking **French**!” ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/93 "2017-05-18T04:06:30Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I would like to see a cite for this, if anyone can provide one, because I cannot believe this was ever a practice by any of the three major networks of the time, or any of the studios such as Warner Brothers that produced programs for the networks. Sorry I read about it a while ago and I don’t remember where. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/94 "2017-05-18T04:07:18Z")
When Carter impersonated Adolf Hitler in the flesh, none of the Germans seemed to realize (or care) he was speaking English, though it was a brilliant performance on his part. To the best of my knowledge, the only foreign language Hitler ever tried to learn was French, simply because it was mandatory in Austrian secondary schools. IIRC, he got very poor grades in it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2017, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614/95 "2017-05-18T10:46:40Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > Sorry I read about it a while ago and I don’t remember where. I can’t find anything on a Google search. Father who worked for a Southern NBC station, never mentioned it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/german-you-learned-from-hogans-heroes/786614.md?page=4)