Jackie was a black-and-white spotted

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

, a Dalmatian mix,Kirsten Grieshaber
'Heil Rover!' Hitler-imitating dog enraged Nazis
Associated Press, January 7, 2011, Accessed January 12, 2011. that became known for the political incident it caused between its owner, Tor Borg, his company, and

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Borg was a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

businessman from

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

who became head of what is now Tamro Group, which had been co-founded by his father.Nazi Germany pursued 'Hitler salute' Finnish dog
BBC.co.uk, January 7, 2011, Accessed January 12, 2011.History
Tamro Group, Accessed January 12, 2011. At some point in time, Jackie was

trained Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

to raise a single paw whenever the name "

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

" was mentioned, appearing to emulate the

Nazi salute The Nazi salute, also known as the Hitler salute (german: link=no, Hitlergruß, , Hitler greeting, ; also called by the Nazi Party , 'German greeting', ), or the ''Sieg Heil'' salute, is a gesture that was used as a greeting in Nazi Germany. Th ...

. In 1941, shortly before the invasion of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

provoked the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, an anonymous source notified Nazi authorities of Borg and Jackie. The report of Jackie's actions set into motion a series of documents and

diplomatic cable A diplomatic cable, also known as a diplomatic telegram (DipTel) or embassy cable, is a confidential text-based message exchanged between a diplomatic mission, like an embassy or a consulate, and the foreign ministry of its parent country.Defi ...

s between the

German Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...

, Economy Ministry, Nazi Party Chancellery and German diplomats in Finland. In an exchange dated January 29, 1941, German Vice Consul Willy Erkelenz in Helsinki wrote that "a witness, who does not want to be named, said he saw and heard how Borg's dog reacted to the command 'Hitler' by raising its paw". Upon hearing of the situation, Borg became worried, as his company relied on German suppliers; his wife, Josefine, was a known anti-Nazi German.Michael Slackman
The Curious Incident of the Dog in Finland Who Was Trained to Give a Nazi Salute
''The New York Times'', January 11, 2011, Accessed January 12, 2011. Borg was summoned to the German Embassy in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

where he admitted that on a few occasions his wife called the dog “Hitler” and that on a few occasions it did respond with a raised paw. However, he claimed the incident in question had occurred earlier, telling Nazi officials: "The rumor might emanate from an episode in the summer of 1933 which happened within my family only and which had no ulterior political background whatsoever." He denied that his family or Jackie had done anything "that could be seen as an insult against the German Reich". Embassy officials were skeptical of the explanation, noting in communications with

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

that "Borg, even though he claims otherwise, is not telling the truth." The Foreign Office spent three months investigating ways of bringing Borg to trial for insulting Hitler, but no witnesses would come forward. Finally, in March 1941, the Chancellory decided that "considering that the circumstances could not be solved completely, it is not necessary to press charges." Meanwhile, the Third Reich attempted to economically sabotage Borg's company, including trying to get

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

to stop supplying it. It is unclear if

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

had ever been aware or had any say in the incident. The incident was unknown for many years until being uncovered by historian and author Klaus Hillenbrand, who discovered the story while researching Nazi era activities in the German federal archive.Klaus Hillenbrand
Ein Hund namens Hitler
TAZ.de, January 8, 2011, Accessed January 31, 2011. Johannes Tuchel, head of the

Memorial to the German Resistance The German Resistance Memorial Center (german: Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand) is a memorial and museum in Berlin, capital of Germany. History It was opened in 1980 in part of the Bendlerblock, a complex of offices in Stauffenbergstrasse (fo ...

, noted that "This case shows that National Socialism was striving to dominate all spheres of public life and all areas that it could influence. And that went as far as to this rather bizarre case of this dog." Jackie died of natural causes. Borg died in 1959 at age 60; Josefine died in 1971. The company, which had been recently renamed Tampereen Rohdoskauppa Oy and later renamed Tamro Group, expanded during the war years into a national wholesale business and supplied pharmaceuticals throughout Finland's wars of the period. Tamro would go on to become a leading wholesale pharmaceutical company in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

References

{{reflist Individual dogs 20th-century animal births 1941 in Germany 1941 in Finland Finland–Germany relations