Adolf Hitler wanted to kill the Three Stooges. While it wouldn’t be completely unexpected to see the infamous German dictator wanting yet more people killed, this itself was a really unique wish. On one side there was a madman dictator who practically controlled all of Western Europe and seemed infinitely powerful, and on the other side were three slapstick comedians from America. Why would a nutcase like Hitler want the Three Stooges dead? As entertainers they hardly posed even a minimal risk to the might and power of the master race. Well, they may not have been a trio of superheroes, but they did manage to make the Fuhrer a little upset. Just like John Wayne managed to do to Stalin.
Back at the beginning of 1940 things in Europe were a little worse for wear. After exhausting all efforts to avoid conflict, the nations of Europe were plunged into war at the hands of a nut job. In the early stages of the war not a lot was happening, and some people even referred to it as a phony war. The United States at this early stage was keeping itself well out of a foreign dispute. But being neutral didn’t always mean that you didn’t favor one side over the other, and the comical trio, Larry, Curly and Moe, made no effort to hide what they thought of Hitler and the Third Reich.
Why did Hitler want to kill the Three Stooges?
On January 19, 1940, the Three Stooges released a scathing parody of Hitler and Nazi Germany called “You Nazty Spy!” This parody was made nine months before the more well known Charlie Chaplin movie, The Great Dictator. The three comedy geniuses were warned about possibly upsetting the German dictator and his followers, but didn’t seem to care much at all.
The Three Stooges movie was the first that openly satirized Hitler and the Nazi’s. Hitler was so pissed off at the film that he wanted the Three Stooges killed. Even in the US, some government representatives believed that the movie was designed to be a anti-nazi propaganda film designed to sway public support for entering the war.
