It seems that little maniac that tried to take over Europe some 70 years or so ago was a notorious farter. His gas was so epic in fact that it may have played a role in Germany losing World War II (if so it would be a possible to assume that flatulence is a force for freedom and liberty). This comes to us via The Smart Set at Drexel University:

Guests at the Berghof, Hitler’s private chalet in the Bavarian Alps, must have endured some unpleasant odors in the otherwise healthful mountain air. It may sound like a Woody Allen scenario, but medical historians are unanimous that Adolf was the victim of uncontrollable flatulence. Spasmodic stomach cramps, constipation and diarrhea, possibly the result of nervous tension, had been Hitler’s curse since childhood and only grew more severe as he aged. As a stressed-out dictator, the agonizing digestive attacks would occur after most meals: Albert Speer recalled that the Führer, ashen-faced, would leap up from the dinner table and disappear to his room.

Hitler had first tried to cure himself when he was a rising politician in 1929 by poring over medical manuals, coming to the conclusion that a largely veg diet would calm his turbulent digestion as well as make his farts less offensive to the nose. A rabid hypochondriac, he would also examine his own feces on a regular basis and administer himself camomile enemas.

His private physician, Dr. Theo Morell, recorded in his diary that after Hitler downed a typical vegetable platter, “constipation and colossal flatulence occurred on a scale I have seldom encountered before.”

I know I just lowered the credibility of our esteemed blog by not only bringing up Hilter, but farts as well. I should be scourged…

[Comment - BRH: Those of you not up on the German language, they routinely compound words together to form new more specialized words. In this case the word for leader (füher) and fart (furzen) are mixed.]