World War II was a dark era. It was, at that time, uncertain when and how the hostilities left, and right would end. Among the graceful participants of the war was Hitler, and it wasn’t a secret that there were multiple attempts to bring him down and end his cruelty. So when the Allies had access to the Fuhrer’s food supply, they decided the best course of action was to douse his food with estrogen in hopes that making him feminine would tame him down. We’re not sure who exactly brought the sexist idea to the table, but if anything, this may be the epitome of “You gotta fight crazy with crazy.” However, we’re not confident with the whole making-him-girly-would-calm-him-down idea. I mean,….Nevermind, you know what we mean.

Close To The Male-Female Line

Hitler’s sister, a mild-mannered, meek woman named Paula who was working as his secretary, was one of the idea’s inspirations. What if the Fuhrer could be like her? After all, they’re siblings. There were also claims that his gender spectrum was close to the male-female line. In an article written by Mental Floss, they explained:

A study at the time by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services, a precursor to the CIA, claimed that on the gender spectrum, Adolf Hitler fell notably near the middle—”close to the male-female line,” wrote the OSS’s director of research and development, Stanley Lovell. The Allies thought if they could just tip him over the line into “female” territory, he would lose his hold on Germany and the war would be won.

Furthermore, in the book “What Were They Thinking?: Really Bad Ideas Throughout History” published by Rowman & Littlefield, they wrote:

Naturally, a smooth-shaven, big-busted Hitler would quickly become a national laughing stock and be driven from power. (Imagine crowds of smirking Germans saluting each other in the street with breathy “Heil, Hitlette!”)

Whether it’s to make him a bit kinder in hopes he would cease his mass genocide or crush down his confidence and charisma in leading the Nazis, the Office of Strategic Services went with the idea and made plans to carry it out.

The Plan

So here’s the plan: They would get agents who would get into his food by bribing Hitler’s gardener to inject his carrots with estrogen until he eats enough of it hoping less testosterone would mean a kinder, gentler Hitler.

You might be thinking, “That’s ridiculous. Why not inject poison instead while you’re at it?” Well, if you are Adolf Hitler, you’d be aware that people would want you dead and cold, so he got himself food tasters who would get sick or die first in case his food was spiked with some substance. On the other hand, estrogen is tasteless, and its effect would be gradual, making it hard to detect its presence until maybe you notice Hitler’s unusual pitch in his voice, or he grew boobs.

They carried out as planned, but in the end, nothing happened, and they weren’t able to “take away his mustache and give him breasts,” as Professor Brian Ford of Cardiff University said. The Office of Strategic Services suspected that either the mole ripped them off and didn’t really do what he’s supposed to or that someone noticed that the carrots were suspicious. Maybe the carrots growing boobs was the tip-off.

Other Ideas To Take The Fuhrer Down

Some other rather interesting ideas devised against the dictator were dropping glue on the Nazis to trap them, bombs disguised as fruit tins, dropping poisonous snakes on troops, a Catherine wheel full of explosives, but this estrogen idea was nonetheless one of the most ridiculous but interesting plots against Hitler we’ve ever heard of.