Old Grudge

There's an old wives' tale that Hitler doesn't care for cyclists.

The story (which is not new) is that, in the early days of National Socialism, Hitler was once roaring and ranting at the Jews at a public meeting in Munich.

Screamed the pudgy little horror: "WHO stabbed Germany in the back? THE JEWS! Who grew rich while the Fatherland starved? THE JEWS! Who engineered the Treaty of Versailles? THE JEWS! Who fomented rebellion in the German Navy? THE JEWS!"

Thunderous applause.

Then up got a mild, bespectacled little bloke who said, "Yes, that's right, the Jews and the cyclists!"

"Why the cyclists?" bawled the Fuehrer.

"Why the Jews?" retorted his questioner.

I now read that in France the Gestapo are attacking the cyclists as being carriers of anti-German propaganda. They have forbidden them to ride abreast in the streets of Paris as this...

Daily Mirror Aug 24, 1940