Berlin 1945 - Spot the Schwimmer

[Martin Southwell]

I know that the subject is not VW related, but is period related, but I heard in the news today, that an American aligator, (One of the original Schwimmers!) originally gifted to Berlin Zoo in 1936, by America, died yesterday, at Moscow Zoo. It seems he escaped from Berlin Zoo in 1943 after it was bombed, and was alive and living in Berlin at the time this photo was taken in 1945. How he survived for 3 years in Berlin's unfavourable climate for such warm weather creatures, remains a mystery.

Aparently found by British soldiers in Berlin in 1946, he was handed over to the Russians, who took him back home, and he lived at Moscow Zoo until his death yesterday, at the age of 86.

https://newsflash.one/2020/05/23/berlin-ww2-bombin...oscow-zoo/

[tcmia]

Such an amazing story.

[rod_vw]

Martin you do come up with some strange tales, interesting never the less.

It's time for the lock-down to lift a bit and let us get out to work on the cars at least that will get us both away from the screen & keyboard.
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Rod,
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1946 Beetle (Back on the road after over 50 years! Last major outing - Hessisch Oldendorf 2022)
2016 T6 Selfbuild Camper and a LWB MAN TGE in build.

[Martin Southwell]

I caught the tail end (no pun intended!) of a brief newsclip on a BBC radio programme yesterday regarding this, and wondered if I heard it correctly? An American born aligator, on the loose for 3 years in wartime Berlin, and still alive until recently in Moscow? If this scenario appeared in a book, you would say that someone had overstretched their imagination!

[finster]

I had posted his demise in the celebrity death section. I seem to recall reading books about german cities being bombed (berlin, hamburg or dresden) where wild animals from the zoo such as lions etc were seen running about the streets among the chaos.
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"we're here on Earth to fart around" kurt vonnegut

nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect...