Well, There Was A German General Who Told Hitler to go F**** Himself

[Cicero]

Paul von Lettow-Borbeck.

Story

I posted the link in Great Debates but possibly a little more coverage here.

The more I read about the guy, the more I admire him.

[Pitchmeister]

Hm, I don’t really see what’s so great about him, other than that he kind of didn’t like Hitler (although apparently he approved of his rise to power).

“I understand that von Lettow told Hitler to go fuck himself.” The nephew responded, “That’s right, except that I don’t think he put it that politely.”

I’m really curious as to what he actually said, because that expression only kind of exists in German and I honestly doubt he would have said those exact words 80 years ago. Unfortunately, the German Wikipedia article is silent on the subject.

[pseudotriton_ruber_ruber]

“Mein Fuhrer, I vould like you to take this broomshtick-handle, zand it down like so, mit der rough Zandpaper, und jam it full-length up your rectum, mitout der lube, until der Fuhrer 's arshehole begins to hemmorage…”

[Pitchmeister]

To clarify, here’s what the German Wikipedia has to say about his opinion of Hitler:

Lettow-Vorbecks Verhältnis zum Nationalsozialismus scheint widersprüchlich. Einerseits begrüßte er Hitlers Machtergreifung und trat auch auf Veranstaltungen, insbesondere in der Kolonialfrage, bis 1938 als Redner auf, andererseits stießen seine regimekritischen Äußerungen bei den Nationalsozialisten auf Missfallen.

"His stance on National Socialism seems contradictory. On the one hand, he approved of Hitler’s rise to power and gave public speeches, especially on colonialism, until 1938; on the other hand he also criticised the regime, which upset the Nazis.

[Donnerwetter]

I seriously doubt that von Lettow-Vorbeck would have used the f-word. This smells like an urban legend.

The man was an old-style German conservative who on one hand resented the Nazis because he considered them to be cultureless brutes. On the other hand, he initially appreciated the fact that Germany finally got a strong government (that’s the way many Germans felt at the time). He refused to become a member of the Nazi party.

He was also no active soldier anymore, von Lettow-Vorbeck was 63 years old when the Nazis came to power.

von Lettow-Vorbeck spoke highly of the African soldiers he commanded in WW I, the Askaris, something the Nazis did not like. He intervened on numerous occasions to ensure that the Askaris received their pensions they earned for doing military service for Germany.

He did this as late as the 1960s, 50 years after WW I. There were former Askaris living in Tanzania, old men, who had no proof of their military service. When they petitioned the Germany embassy (this happened in the 1950s), the men were given broom sticks and asked to perform rifle drills, the orders were given in German. Those who passed received their pension from the (then) West German government.