The Hitler Vendetta Myth
From time to time an Urban Myth that Adolph Hitler initiated a personal vendetta against the Bouvier Flandres is bandied about.
Typical of this is this passage in Wikipedia, the free on line encyclopedia:
“In World War II", the Bouvier again faced extinction, but not because they were being used in war. Adolph Hitler was deciding on a breed of guard dog for the Third Reichto use. Having heard of the Bouvier's strengths and abilities, Hitler requested to meet this dog. When Hitler reached out his hand, the Bouvier snapped at him, biting his hand. Hitler decreed that all Bouviers were to be killed on sight. Again, it was the people of Belgium who successfully re-established the breed.”
Over and above the fact that no historical references are ever cited, this just simply does not pass the common sense test. Hitler was often photographed with a German Shepherd, probably his personal dog Blondie, and there are many records of his affinity for the breed. This dog was present in the bunker where he and Eva Braun finally committed suicide at the end, apparently testing the poison for Eva on Blondie and her pups.
Furthermore, the leader of the Third Reich and the master of German superiority was simply never going to look to unknown foreign dogs in a nation famous for it’s police breeds in the German Shepherd, Doberman, Rottweiler and so forth, any more than he was going to import French guns for the Wehrmacht. It is entirely possible that Hitler never in his life heard of or saw a Bouvier.
Beyond this, in my extensive research I was in contact with people who themselves or their parents survived in Holland or Belgium and while there were many stories of incredible hardship and deprivation there was no mention of any specific, official German Bouvier eradication program. The Europeans who brought the breed through the war, such as Ms. Bowles who fled with her dog and the many who stayed and somehow survived is indeed a tale of courage and tenacity, but the enemies were starvation and the destruction of war rather than any specific Nazi dog eradication activity.
In general all of the Wikipedia article is poorly researched and fabricated from half truths, exaggerations and emotional nonsense. Apparently in encyclopedias you still get what you pay for, in this case very little.
It is of course possible that in spite of all the improbabilities that there is something to these mythical references, in which case I would appreciate information substantiating the actual facts. You never say never, but in this case it seems highly improbable.