Adolf Hitler, a name synonymous with the horrors of WWII, oddly enough, has an unexpected connection to a creature far removed from the political and battle fields—the American alligator. Saturn, an American alligator, who allegedly once belonged to Hitler, lived out its years far from the dictator's regime, in a much quieter enclosure at the Moscow Zoo. Born in 1936 in Mississippi, USA, Saturn was transported to the Berlin Zoo, where he lived until the city was bombed in 1943.
The story of Saturn's survival during the bombings and his subsequent capture is cloaked in as much mystery and intrigue as any spy tale. After the bombing, the alligator escaped and disappeared, only to be discovered by British soldiers three years later. In an unusual twist of Post-War diplomacy and perhaps a bit of dark humor, Saturn was gifted to the Soviet Union in 1946.
For years, Saturn was an unusual celebrity in Moscow, rumored to have been a personal pet of Hitler, though there is no substantial evidence to support this claim. The alligator's life in Moscow spanned over seven decades, providing a living connection to historical events of the 20th century. Visitors to the Moscow Zoo were fascinated not just by his survival through the war and his longevity but by the mythical layers of history associated with him.
The fascination with Saturn underscores how objects (and animals), too, become repositories of historical narrative, sometimes gaining almost a mythical status. Saturn passed away in 2020 at the age of 84, acclaimed as one of the oldest alligators in captivity. His story remains a peculiar footnote in the annals of history, symbolizing the bizarre intersections of historical events and the natural world. Saturn’s longevity and the life he led serve as a reminder of the unexpected ways in which history sometimes unfolds.
