# Identify a sci-fi short story **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652 "2012-10-23T19:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/1 "2012-10-23T19:30:30Z")
This one’s for real. I was reminded of this in the brain transplant thread. It was a story about Hitler undergoing some type of operation, maybe a brain transplant, maybe not, but the end result is Hitler’s mind is transferred into the body of someone who ends up in a prison camp or something while the other guy’s mind ends up in Hitlers body. Somehow this is associated with Heinlein in my own transplant ready brain, but I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s the writing style, or maybe it just appeared in a collection that contained some Heinlein stories. The identity of Hitler may have been obscured as ‘The Leader’ or some other device. I think it was written from the point of view of the doctor performing the operation. Anyone got any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/2 "2012-10-23T23:06:22Z")
It doesn’t sound as good as that adventure story about a couple of French Resistance operatives who tried an ambitious water-based attack on Hitler in occupied Paris. Y’know, _They Braved Hitler’s Seine_ ? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/3 "2012-10-23T23:09:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Y’know, _They Braved Hitler’s Seine_ ? 😃 Very good! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/4 "2012-10-24T00:39:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > This one’s for real. > > I was reminded of this in the brain transplant thread. It was a story about Hitler undergoing some type of operation, maybe a brain transplant, maybe not, but the end result is Hitler’s mind is transferred into the body of someone who ends up in a prison camp or something while the other guy’s mind ends up in Hitlers body. Somehow this is associated with Heinlein in my own transplant ready brain, but I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s the writing style, or maybe it just appeared in a collection that contained some Heinlein stories. The identity of Hitler may have been obscured as ‘The Leader’ or some other device. I think it was written from the point of view of the doctor performing the operation. > > Anyone got any ideas? The pinesl glands of a transparently Hitleruan Leader and a concentration-camp inmate are cross-transplanted, I believe owing to disease in the Hitler figure’s pineal. The story is “Heil!” by Heinlein, from the 40s and collected in _Off the Main Sequence_. The kjickjer, of course, is that identity resides in the pineal… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/5 "2012-10-24T01:00:33Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > The pinesl glands of a transparently Hitleruan Leader and a concentration-camp inmate are cross-transplanted, I believe owing to disease in the Hitler figure’s pineal. The story is “Heil!” by Heinlein, from the 40s and collected in _Off the Main Sequence_. The kjickjer, of course, is that identity resides in the pineal… Thanks\*\* Polycarp\*\*! Glad to hear it’s Heinlein. This would have driven me nuts if I couldn’t find it. If **Irishman** hadn’t mentioned Heinlein and brain transplant together I’d have no way of recovering this memory. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/6 "2012-10-24T02:06:29Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > The pinesl glands of a transparently Hitleruan Leader and a concentration-camp inmate are cross-transplanted, I believe owing to disease in the Hitler figure’s pineal. The story is “Heil!” by Heinlein, from the 40s and collected in _Off the Main Sequence_. The kjickjer, of course, is that identity resides in the pineal… It’s also in Heinlein’s “Expanded Universe” under the title “Successful Operation” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/7 "2012-10-24T14:42:18Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > It’s also in Heinlein’s “Expanded Universe” under the title “Successful Operation” Hi, Hon. Somehow I knew I’d see you in this thread!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/8 "2012-10-24T22:38:09Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > It’s also in Heinlein’s “Expanded Universe” under the title “Successful Operation” That’s where I read it! A weird story, but the bad guy got his just desserts. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/9 "2012-10-25T02:43:37Z")
That reminds me of another short story in which an evil leader, on the eve of his country’s destruction by its enemies (the man is unidentified, but described in such a way that it really could only be Hitler), is enticed to escape from his bunker by time travelers from the future. A dead, full-grown clone of the leader is left behind to be found by others. The time travelers pretend to be his friends, but are really taking him back to the future so that he can be scientifically and endlessly tormented for all of his crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/10 "2012-10-25T02:48:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That reminds me of another short story in which an evil leader, on the eve of his country’s destruction by its enemies (the man is unidentified, but described in such a way that it really could only be Hitler), is enticed to escape from his bunker by time travelers from the future. A dead, full-grown clone of the leader is left behind to be found by others. The time travelers pretend to be his friends, but are really taking him back to the future so that he can be scientifically and endlessly tormented for all of his crimes. Author and title? Sounds entertaining. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/11 "2012-10-25T02:55:24Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > Author and title? Sounds entertaining. 🙂 I wish I knew. I read it in the early Nineties, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/12 "2012-10-26T02:04:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That reminds me of another short story in which an evil leader, on the eve of his country’s destruction by its enemies (the man is unidentified, but described in such a way that it really could only be Hitler), is enticed to escape from his bunker by time travelers from the future. A dead, full-grown clone of the leader is left behind to be found by others. The time travelers pretend to be his friends, but are really taking him back to the future so that he can be scientifically and endlessly tormented for all of his crimes. There were a lot of “Revenge on Hitler” stories - one featured a guy who looked like Hitler showing up in the bunker in 1945; Hitler kills him of course, and then his scientists put him into a time machine that they think will get him somewhere safe - but it takes him back a few hours… Then there was Lester Del Rey’s “My Name is Legion” which also has a time machine and Hitler… ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/13 "2012-10-26T12:19:22Z")
Since we’re talking time travel and Hitler, [the obligatory link to WikiHistory](http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/14 "2012-10-26T12:32:02Z")
> [@tanstaafl](#): > > Since we’re talking time travel and Hitler, [the obligatory link to WikiHistory](http://www.tor.com/stories/2011/08/wikihistory). and the obligatory link to this one [http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter\_2007/fiction\_missives\_from\_possible\_futures\_1\_alternate\_history\_search\_results\_b](http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine/winter_2007/fiction_missives_from_possible_futures_1_alternate_history_search_results_b) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/15 "2012-10-26T12:35:21Z")
While we are at it, I remember a fragment of a 1950’s SciFi story about Nazi Germany. The Germans had discovered a way to warp spacetime, such that they could move close to other planets-they were able to get materials like tungsten, gold etc. by doing this. The experiment ended when horrible beats broke through and killed the scientists. The story was revealed from reading top secret German files. Anybody remember this one? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/16 "2012-10-26T12:42:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > While we are at it, I remember a fragment of a 1950’s SciFi story about Nazi Germany. The Germans had discovered a way to warp spacetime, such that they could move close to other planets-they were able to get materials like tungsten, gold etc. by doing this. The experiment ended when horrible beats broke through and killed the scientists. The story was revealed from reading top secret German files. Anybody remember this one? “Secret Unattainable” by Van Vogt [PsychoCeramiQ: Secret Unattainable by A. E. van Vogt](http://psychoceramiq.blogspot.com/2005/03/secret-unattainable-by-e-van-vogt.html) ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/17 "2012-10-26T14:49:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > That reminds me of another short story in which an evil leader, on the eve of his country’s destruction by its enemies (the man is unidentified, but described in such a way that it really could only be Hitler), is enticed to escape from his bunker by time travelers from the future. A dead, full-grown clone of the leader is left behind to be found by others. The time travelers pretend to be his friends, but are really taking him back to the future so that he can be scientifically and endlessly tormented for all of his crimes. The story is _Valhalla_ by Gregory Benford. You can find it in his anthology _Hitler Victorious_. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/18 "2012-10-26T16:43:15Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Secret Unattainable” by Van Vogt [PsychoCeramiQ: Secret Unattainable by A. E. van Vogt](http://psychoceramiq.blogspot.com/2005/03/secret-unattainable-by-e-van-vogt.html) Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/19 "2012-10-26T19:59:08Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > That’s where I read it! A weird story, but the bad guy got his just desserts. Would that be rice pudding or cherry pie? 🙂 That would be just deserts. (Or at least it is in the UK. Apologies if I’ve wandered into the minefield of US/Brit spelling differences!) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652/20 "2012-10-26T20:13:06Z")
> [@detop](#): > > The story is _Valhalla_ by Gregory Benford. You can find it in his anthology _Hitler Victorious_. Thanks! I’ve ordered it from my library. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sci-fi-short-story/638652.md?page=2)