| rdfs:comment | - Blondi (1941 — 29 April 1945) was Adolf Hitler's pet German Shepherd dog. She was given to him as a gift in 1941 by Martin Bormann. Blondi stayed with Hitler even after his move into the Führerbunker located underneath the garden of the Reich Chancellery on January 16, 1945. In March or in early April (likely 4 April) 1945, she had a litter of five puppies with Gerdy Troost's German Shepherd, Harras. Hitler named one of the puppies "Wolf", his favorite nickname and the meaning of his own first name, Adolf (Noble wolf) and he began to train her. One of Blondi's puppies was reserved for Eva Braun's sister Gretl, and Eva sent Gretl a letter containing a photo of Blondi and three of her puppies, Gretl's being indicated with an arrow.
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| abstract | - Blondi (1941 — 29 April 1945) was Adolf Hitler's pet German Shepherd dog. She was given to him as a gift in 1941 by Martin Bormann. Blondi stayed with Hitler even after his move into the Führerbunker located underneath the garden of the Reich Chancellery on January 16, 1945. In March or in early April (likely 4 April) 1945, she had a litter of five puppies with Gerdy Troost's German Shepherd, Harras. Hitler named one of the puppies "Wolf", his favorite nickname and the meaning of his own first name, Adolf (Noble wolf) and he began to train her. One of Blondi's puppies was reserved for Eva Braun's sister Gretl, and Eva sent Gretl a letter containing a photo of Blondi and three of her puppies, Gretl's being indicated with an arrow. Hitler was reportedly very fond of Blondi, keeping her by his side and allowing her to sleep in his bedroom in the bunker. This affection was not shared by Eva Braun, Hitler's mistress (and later his wife), who preferred her two Scottish Terrier dogs named Negus and Stasi (or Katuschka). According to Hitler's secretary Traudl Junge, Eva hated Blondi and was known to kick her under the dining table. In May 1942 Hitler bought another young German Shepherd "from a minor official in the post office in Ingolstadt" to keep Blondi company. He called her Bella. Blondi played a role in Nazi propaganda, of which portraying Hitler as an animal lover was an important aspect. Dogs like Blondi were coveted as "germanischer Urhund", being close to the wolf, and grew very fashionable during the Third Reich. She was killed when Hitler ordered Dr. Werner Haase to test the efficiency of some cyanide capsules on his dog Blondi, as there had been cases where cyanide tablets were sabotaged and therefore not deadly. However, Hitler's batch was good and the dog died as a result. Hitler became completely inconsolable.
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