'Homes of misery, filth and unhygienic housewives'

[Blackleaf]

Hitler's spies secretly compiled information about British housewives and the UK's 'homes of misery' years before they planned to invade Britain.

German Military Intelligence were horrified by the 'catastrophic' condition of cities where their invading forces would set up garrisons.

They also criticised how the British lived - describing neighbourhoods as 'homes of misery' in a secret dossier.

'Homes of misery, filth and unhygienic housewives': What Hitler's spies wrote about the British in a secret dossier to help prepare Germany to invade

German spies were horrified by 'catastophic' conditions British people lived in
They even criticised British housewives who they thought were unhygienic
Bizarre views have been translated into English from one of the surviving copies

By Stewart Paterson For Mailonline
23 July 2017

Hitler's spies secretly compiled information about British housewives and the UK's 'homes of misery' years before they planned to invade Britain.

German Military Intelligence were horrified by the 'catastrophic' condition of cities where their invading forces would set up garrisons.

They also criticised how the British lived - describing neighbourhoods as 'homes of misery' in a secret dossier.

'Hardly any of the old industrial towns have been spared the "slum problem"', they wrote.

Hitler's spies were horrified by the 'catastrophic' condition of cities where their invading forces would set up garrisons

'They inhabit slums with poor sanitary conditions, filth, and at times morbid forms of social existence, in a state of poor health and in some cases long-term malnutrition.'

Only a small number were left when the allies reached Berlin in the final days of the war

And even the humble British housewife could not escape the sharp tongues of German spooks - who they described as lacking the hygiene standards of a German hausfrau.

The intelligence dossier, of which there were 7,000 printed, was designed to prepare Germany for invading the British Isles.

However, only a small number were left when the allies reached Berlin in the final days of the war.

But one of the last-surviving copies has now been translated into English by Oxford University's Bodleian Library.

It also goes into detail on how the Nazis viewed the Welsh.

'Unlike the bright English they are dark and small in stature.

'Even though they have largely abandoned their language, they have still retained a reasonably strong awareness of their distinctive heritage and culture,' the document adds.

The intelligence dossier, of which there were 7,000 printed, was designed to prepare Germany for invading the British Isles

They also criticised how the British lived - describing neighbourhoods as 'homes of misery' in the secret dossier

Read more: What Hitler's spies thought of British | Daily Mail Online
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[Curious Cdn]

Canadian servicemen often commented on how primitive they found the conditions in the UK compared to those in Canada, during the Second World War. The utility grids were more modern and sophisticated here, in rural areas than in the British cities and necessities like central heating, which was standard in Canadian construction since Victorian times, were almost unknown there at the time. Britain probably still doesn't have centrally heated houses.

My mother grew up in a Victorian era farmhouse that was centrally heated since it was built in the 1880s. The Interprovincial natural gas pipeline passed near the farm so, amazingly, they were on the natural gas grid in the late 1920s ... in a rural area! (It was not Alberta gas, back then. It came from the Leamington/Lake Erie region). They had a telephone in their farmhouse in the early 1920s. Britain was still putting phones in farm houses well into the 1950s,60s.

 

[Blackleaf]

The utility grids were more modern and sophisticated here

Where's your evidence for this?

Ironically, despite the Nazis' comments, Britain was second only to Switzerland for GDP per capita in Europe in 1938.

central heating, which was standard in Canadian construction since Victorian times, were almost unknown there at the time.

Central heating became fashionable in British homes in the 1830s.

Britain probably still doesn't have centrally heated houses.

93% of British homes have central heating.

My mother grew up in a Victorian era farmhouse that was centrally heated since it was built in the 1880s. The Interprovincial natural gas pipeline passed near the farm so, amazingly, they were on the natural gas grid in the late 1920s ... in a rural area! (It was not Alberta gas, back then. It came from the Leamington/Lake Erie region). They had a telephone in their farmhouse in the early 1920s.

So you think it's amazing that people in the countryside as recently as the 1920s in Canada actually had gas?

Britain was still putting phones in farm houses well into the 1950s,60s.

So was every country in the world.

Of course, the telephone is a British invention.

 

[Curious Cdn]

Where's your evidence for this?

Ironically, despite the Nazis' comments, Britain was second only to Switzerland for GDP per capita in Europe in 1938.



Central heating became fashionable in British homes in the 1830s.



93% of British homes have central heating.



So you think it's amazing that people in the countryside as recently as the 1920s in Canada actually had gas?



So was every country in the world.

Of course, the telephone is a British invention.

Sonny, you are utterly full of shit.

 

[Blackleaf]

Sonny, you are utterly full of shit.

 

[Curious Cdn]

The Germans got it right... poxy and unhygienic.

 

[Blackleaf]

The Germans got it right... poxy and unhygienic.

British-German rivalry

The Krauts are always the baddies in British comedy...

"Don't be revolting, Darling! I wouldn't lick a German if he was glazed in honey."

Blackadder: What else have you got in your outstandingly inventive repertoire, I
wonder... Aaah, a brilliant drunk Glaswegian, no doubt. An hilarious
black man: `See you, Jimmy, where am dat watty-melon'. (obscured by
laughter) I can't wait for your side-splitting poof and that funny little
croaky one who isn't anyone in particular, but he's such a scream. And
most of all, I like the one you do all the time, that fatheaded German
chamberpot standing in front of me.

Ludwig the Indestructible: You know, you talk too much, Blackadder. I think it's a case of werbal diarrhoea that you are having. I should, perhaps, tell you that I have
given the Queen only a week to reply to my ransom demand. Unless she
pays up, you die. Howwibly.

E: She will pay up. And then within a week, you die. Howwibly howwibly.

L: You find yourself amusing, Blackadder.

E: I try not to fly in the face of public opinion.

L: You know, I think, I think that a week from now, you'll be less in the
mood for being amusing.

E: At least when I *am* in the mood, I *can* be amusing.

L: Then choose your next witticism carefully, Herr Blackadder; it may be
your last. Guards, fetch his friend.

 

[justlooking]

Central heating became fashionable in British homes in the 1830s.

93% of British homes have central heating.

A chimney in every room doesn't count as central heating.

And you mean 7% of British housing stock doesn't have central heating.




ANyway, poverty is relative. The last villages in Czechoslovakia were only connected to the electrical grid in 1967.

 

[Blackleaf]

A chimney in every room doesn't count as central heating.

And you mean 7% of British housing stock doesn't have central heating.




ANyway, poverty is relative. The last villages in Czechoslovakia were only connected to the electrical grid in 1967.

Well, it's simple maths. 93% of British homes have central heating, which means 7% don't. Modern central heating is, of course, a British innovation.

 

[Curious Cdn]

Well, it's simple maths. 93% of British homes have central heating, which means 7% don't. Modern central heating is, of course, a British innovation.

You are totally full of it.

 

[White_Unifier]

Well, it's simple maths. 93% of British homes have central heating, which means 7% don't. Modern central heating is, of course, a British innovation.

Did the British invent gold and silver too?

 

[Danbones]

Geez we used our cottage for twenty years with no hydro, and an outhouse, and the sink going through the floor to water the cedars out back...till they organized our township to get all the dough out of the invading city dwellers, and forced everyone to modernize.
After they did a 2 million dollar study which found out houses were the best form of human waste disposal in that environment.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Only a small number were left when the allies reached Berlin in the final days of the war

And of course, we all know the Germans printed their planning documents in English.

You are one deeply retarded little boy, Blackshirt.

 

[gopher]

of course, we all know the Germans printed their planning documents in English

I was just going to say the same thing - why on earth would they be printing a secret dossier in English???

 

[White_Unifier]

And of course, we all know the Germans printed their planning documents in English.

You are one deeply retarded little boy, Blackshirt.

B... Bu... But English is the international language.

I was just going to say the same thing - why on earth would they be printing a secret dossier in English???

Because English was the international language of course.

 

[gopher]

Very nice of the Nazis to be thoughtful enough to share their views with British and American troops.

 

[Danbones]

And of course, we all know the Germans printed their planning documents in English.

You are one deeply retarded little boy, Blackshirt.

But one of the last-surviving copies has now been translated into English by Oxford University's Bodleian Library.

Be nice if one day you learn how to read eh?
You must be american's finest grade of cannon fodder.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Canadian servicemen often commented on how primitive they found the conditions in the UK compared to those in Canada, during the Second World War. The utility grids were more modern and sophisticated here, in rural areas than in the British cities and necessities like central heating, which was standard in Canadian construction since Victorian times, were almost unknown there at the time. Britain probably still doesn't have centrally heated houses.

My mother grew up in a Victorian era farmhouse that was centrally heated since it was built in the 1880s. The Interprovincial natural gas pipeline passed near the farm so, amazingly, they were on the natural gas grid in the late 1920s ... in a rural area! (It was not Alberta gas, back then. It came from the Leamington/Lake Erie region). They had a telephone in their farmhouse in the early 1920s. Britain was still putting phones in farm houses well into the 1950s,60s.

My mother is English. She came to Canada as a war bride in 1946 and when she returned to England for a visit in 1956 she found she had forgotten just how lacking in modern conveniences England was. Her parents' home still had an outdoor toilet referred to as "the bog" and it was heated only by a coal-burning fireplace. Butcher shops still had sawdust on the floors and meat was hung in unrefrigerated windows.

 

[gopher]

Her parents' home still had an outdoor toilet referred to as "the bog" and it was heated only by a coal-burning fireplace. Butcher shops still had sawdust on the floors and meat was hung in unrefrigerated windows.

Hmmm ~ that sounds just like Brooklyn. Except that in the old days when people for the most part still couldn't read, they used half moons on the outside of the public toilet so people would know it was a sh.it house.

 

[Danbones]

It's funny, last moose we shot spent several days hanging in the boat shed, as do the deer. No need for windows, there are no bugs out in that season.

good times

...and the out house is the best place to read a few pages.
(We put a soft liner on the seat so you don't freeze your ass off when its 30 below.)

There are 40 years of newspaper comics pinned to the walls.