The bizarre story of how Ju Jitsu saved Adolf Hitler’s life

According to some history books – World War II may not have happened, had Japanese Ju Jitsu not saved Adolf Hitler’s life. As bizarre as this story sounds, it is a good example of how the butterfly effect can have a significant impact on historical events. In this case, a suicidal Adolf Hitler tried to shoot himself in the head – but was stopped by Japanese Ju Jitsu. At least, this is the story according to certain history books that believe so.

So, as a result of one woman knowing Japanese Ju Jitsu – millions of innocent lives may have been killed. Interestingly, this kind of story isn’t too uncommon throughout history, but when looking at Nazi myths, there have been quite a number of them throughout time. Here we shall delve deeper into this story and see what happened.

1920s Germany and its love of Ju Jitsu

You may think it was odd that Nazi Germany embraced Ju Jitsu which was quintessentially Japanese. However, at the time the two super powers had close ideological ties and would go on to fight side by side in World War II. Therefore, some have argued that Germany embraced Ju Jitsu because of its strong, masculine culture. After the humiliation of World War I reparations, this combative image was something that many ordinary Germans embraced in a bid to regain a sense of unity.

Arguably, this is the case seeing as Ju Jitsu gripped Germany, without really taking off as much compared to other parts of Western Europe. By the 1930s, Ju Jitsu peaked in Germany and was the main martial art. Remember, this was during an era where stuff like Muay Thai and BJJ wasn’t as popular as they are today.

What is Japanese Ju Jitsu?

Founded hundreds of years earlier, Japanese Ju Jitsu is a martial art that uses standing grappling techniques. Overall, it isn’t too dissimilar from Judo but has a greater emphasis on standing submissions such as the straight arm-lock. Similar techniques were used to restrain people and control their limbs as part of self defense.

There’s a bit more to it than that, but these days Japanese Ju Jitsu still lives on. Having said this, its popularity has declined in recent years which isn’t too surprising, seeing as similar can be said for lots of traditional martial arts. Still, its legacy continues as it helped shape the likes of Judo, Aikido, and BJJ. As you can tell, it was very influential whilst also being pretty raw compared to the aforementioned.

How Japanese Ju Jitsu saved Adolf Hitler’s life…apparently

In 1923, Adolf Hitler made a daring push for power and staged the infamous ‘Beer Hall Putsch’. This is where Hitler and a group of allies tried to take over the current government at the time in Munich. Ultimately, this failed and it wouldn’t be Hitler’s day in terms of gaining power. Whilst the Beer Hall Putsch did gain him attention, it also slowed his eventual rise to power.

As a result, Hitler was put on trial for treason in 1924 and would eventually be jailed which is where he wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle). During on stage of this trial, Hitler was hiding from the police with a woman named Helen Hanfstaengl. She was a follower of Hitler who was asked by a policeman if she knew where he was. Here, she confessed and Hitler gathered his pistol and went to shoot himself in the head.

At this point, Hanfstaengl apparently used Japanese Ju Jitsu to control his shoulder and isolate his arm. Due to the force of her joint lock, Hitler’s pistol fell from his hand and hit the floor. Ultimately, Hitler didn’t kill himself – at least not until years later after his failure of World War II.

Conflicting reports

The above story is told by Ernst Hanfstaengl, who was Helen’s husband at the time. He would later go on to defect to the USA after falling out with Hitler after seeing his murderous intentions. Interestingly though, Helen’s own account of the incident was very different. In her personal notes, she never mentioned Japanese Ju Jitsu but instead wrote about how she calmly grabbed Hitler’s gun and disarmed him. By her account, it almost sounded like Hitler physically gave up when she controlled him.

Nonetheless, this may have been an example of someone using Japanese Ju Jitsu without really knowing it. For example, some street fights involve classic Judo throws by those that have never even trained Judo. Sometimes, people react naturally and practice martial arts without even thinking about it. Did this happen here, or was it much less dramatic? Sadly, we’ll never know and this will forever remain as yet another obscure story surrounding Adolf Hitler.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s bizarre to think that martial arts may have led to World War II. Whilst this may be a bit of a stretch, it’s still a good example of someone having good intentions that eventually lead to something dark and destructive. Of course, it’s not known if this was actually the case but it’s certainly plausible. One thing worth noting though is that Nazi Germany (and 1920s Germany) genuinely loved Japanese Ju Jitsu and were its biggest fanbase where mainland Europe was concerned.

If you’d like to learn more about Japanese Ju Jitsu, then check out this very interesting book.