News, Hitler's Food Taster Tells Her Story (war, general, origin)

[JD59]

Margot Wölk spent two and a half years tasting Adolf Hitler's food, living in fear that one of the delicious dishes might be poisoned. Now 95, Wölk—who, with time, learned to take pleasure in eating again—just started talking about her experiences. "There was never meat because Hitler was a vegetarian," Wölk tells der Spiegel.

Hitler's Food Taster Tells Her Story - Margot Wölk lived in fear she'd be poisoned

[Phil306]

I read the article and well, found it rather lacking. The woman in the story doesn't say a whole heck of alot, now does she? Unless there is some sort of a link to a more in depth interview, you don't learn anything more about Hitler, or for that matter, her. She says Hitler is a "pig." Yet doesn't say why. What specifically did he do to HER which made him a pig? If anything at all? Or is her thoughts of him tempered by his actions overall and in general?

I'd like to see these people who say they knew Hitler, in this capacity or another, give specific examples of their interactions with him. Specific stories as to conversations, his demeanor, his thoughts, his desires; not some vague/general description of something which really, hasn't even been verified.

[NJGOAT]

Phil, I agree with your comments. The article was very brief and lacking. I found the original article that was being quoted which is from Der Spiegel and goes into more details:

Hitler Food Taster Margot Wölk Speaks about Her Memories - SPIEGEL ONLINE

I also read the German one hoping that it might be more extensive then the English version, but it is not. Here is the German one if anyone wants it:

Margot Wölk war Vorkosterin bei Adolf Hitler - SPIEGEL ONLINE

I gleaned the following from it:

Margot Wolk certainly has an interesting personal story to tell, but it lends no additional insight into Hitler or anything else. She, along with 14 other girls, that lived near the "Wolf's Lair" and were recruited to work as food tasters for Hitler and the leadership there. She confirms the general belief in terms of Hitlers vegetarianism, at least later in his life, in that no meat dishes were served. She was astounded at the quality and variety of the food Hitler and the others at the "Lair" enjoyed, food that was impossible for regular people to get. She never actually saw or met Hitler as her and the other tasters were kept in a building a decent distance away from the main complex. She and her family were never Hitler supporters and never liked him. She refused to join the womens version of the Hitler Youth when she was a teenager and her father had actually been arrested by the Gestapo for failing to join the Nazi Party. So, her comments about Hitler being a "pig" are not based on anything she personally observed, but just her general opinion of him.

Outside of the story and in response to Phil306's last statement, finding objective observations of Hitler in personal interactions is very difficult. You either end up with comments from people around him written while he was in power that are all obviously glowing or you end up with post-war memoires that paint him as horrible. It seems that in general, at least up until the mid and late war years, people found Hitler to be rather affable dinner company.