A scheme was once hatched during World War II to try and turn Hitler into a woman. Or at least try and make him as womanly and feminine as possible. The hope was that it would make him less aggressive, or barring that, cost him the respect and adoration of his macho followers, who might be turned off by an effeminate Fuhrer. Below are some fascinating facts about that scheme and other strange historic plans.
20. The Scheme to Make Hitler Womanly With Estrogen-Laced Carrots
War pushes people to the brink in many ways. Sometimes it pushes them beyond the brink when it comes to creative and diabolical ideas to do in the enemy. One such scheme – and a bizarre scheme at that – was a WWII plan to turn Hitler into a woman. Or at least make him as effeminate as possible. How? By tampering with his food. Hitler was a vegetarian, and he really liked carrots. So a scheme was concocted to slip estrogen-laced carrots into his diet. It began with a study by Stanley Lovell, director of research and development for the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS – the CIA’s predecessor), on where Hitler fit along the gender spectrum. Lovell concluded that Hitler was right at the middle of the male-female line.
So a plan was whipped up to nudge the German dictator over that line, and make him as womanly as possible. The OSS might have reasoned that an effeminate Hitler would become less aggressive. Or perhaps it figured that Hitler with boobs and without facial hair would look ridiculous, lose his confidence and the respect of his followers, and thus become an ineffective leader. OSS agents would bribe Hitler’s gardener to inject his carrots with estrogen. The idea to just poison Hitler was considered, but discarded – the Fuhrer had food tasters. So it had to be something whose results were not immediate. Estrogen fit the bill because it was tasteless and slow-acting. Over time, it was hoped that it would gradually “feminize” Hitler. The plan went awry, either because somebody suspected the carrots, or because the gardener simply pocketed the bribe money, and did nothing.
