A comic novel about Hitler and his beloved dog Blondi
While the story seems far-fetched and sounds like a fictional narrative, a lot of the book is deeply based on fact.
Eugene Shafir didn’t intend to write a book about Nazis. It was an idea that came to him during the COVID-19 lockdowns, bunkered down in Melbourne, much like Hitler bunkered down in Berlin for the last six months of his life.
Shafir is a second generation Holocaust survivor.
“My father, Arthur, who lost his whole family except for one sister to the Nazis, never spoke about what he went through to the children. By the same token, we didn’t push him to talk,” Shafir said. “But we felt it. Little things. He ate very fast and would hector us to finish everything on our plate. His favourite phrase was ‘You don’t know where your next meal’s coming from.’”
Shafir’s book, Wehrwolf, has been described as a comic novel. It’s dedicated to Arthur. And according to Shafir, though it has many comedic moments, “it deals with grim subjects.”
It follows Hitler and his beloved dog Blondi. The official story goes that Hitler wasn’t sure his cyanide pill would work so he gave a capsule to Blondi. It worked. Blondi died and Hitler committed suicide the next day. In Shafir’s version of the story, the dog kills the dictator.
When launching the book at a WIZO function earlier this year, Shafir was asked whether his father would be okay with a book that includes jokes about the Holocaust. In his response, Shafir noted that the Holocaust is becoming sanitised.
“I agonised on how to deal with the Holocaust in the book,” he said. “I had no intention of trivialising the Holocaust but I have no problem with laughing at Nazis.”
Shafir also noted that his father laughed at shows like Hogan’s Heroes and Get Smart – television shows that made fun of Nazis.
It’s important to note that while the television shows treat Nazis as buffoons, Wehrwolf makes fun of Nazi ideology – the theory of eugenics.
“Eugenics maintains that people with certain bodily and facial characteristics have more favourable genetics. The Nazis didn’t invent eugenics but they used it to devastating effect,” he said at the launch, noting that a similar thing is happening now with Hamas.
“The Nazis killed us because they said we weren’t white enough. Now, Hamas supporters, say we are too white.”
The title of the book Wehrwolf was taken from an actual troop of soldiers who were trained to operate behind enemy lines. And there is a lot about animals in the book as well. Shafir said it was a conscious choice.
“Firstly, I wanted to contrast animal cruelty to human cruelty. Animals are driven by instinct. Humans are cruel by choice,” he said. “Secondly, I wanted to blow up the myth that people who love dogs must be good. Hitler loved his dog.”
While the story seems far-fetched and sounds like a fictional narrative, Shafir explained that a lot of the book is deeply based on fact.
“I read witness reports that Hitler was an obsessive compulsive – he raced with his valet every morning to get dressed; he timed his barber – so, I put that in. Watching him speechify, I saw him as a ham actor – every flourish, every pose rehearsed over and over. I put that in. His spitting and snarling reminded me of the ice addicts I see in Chapel Street, so I wasn’t surprised when I read that Hitler was hooked on pain killers and psychotropics. I put that in. As for Adolf’s relationship with women, I have him alternating between a perfect gentleman and a psychopath,” he said.
Shafir said he also dealt with those who were “just obeying orders”. He finishes the book with “Never again”. Yet, he acknowledged, he was wrong.
“Who would ever have thought antisemitism would come back with such vengeance, come back here, to the very country my father found sanctuary in. I’m glad he died some years ago. Luckily, he missed out on the rabble calling out ‘kill the Jews’ at the Sydney Opera House … I finish my book with ‘Never again.’ How wrong I was. Antisemitism is a light sleeper.”
Wehrwolf can be purchased at Benn’s Books, 437 Centre Road, Bentleigh.
comments