Did Hitler Give His Soldiers Inflatable Sex Dolls . . . that Eventually Inspired the Creators of Barbie?

This seems pretty far-fetched, so let's take this for what it's worth.

According to a new book called "Mussolini's Barber" about bizarre stories in military history, the NAZIS were encouraged to use BLOW-UP SEX DOLLS. Encouraged by Hitler himself. And those dolls inspired a legendary American toy.

Here's how this went down. In 1940, Hitler found out that his soldiers were contracting syphilis because they wouldn't stop having sex with French prostitutes.

His solution was to commission inflatable sex dolls, to be sent out to the troops. The dolls were designed to meet Hitler's Aryan standards . . . ridiculous breast and hip proportions, blonde hair, and blue eyes.

After two years, they stopped making the dolls . . . because they felt their men would be mocked if they were captured and had the dolls with them. Oh, and also because we blew up the factories making the dolls.

More than a decade later, in 1956, two Americans named Ruth and Elliot Handler were visiting Germany and they bought a Bild Lilli doll.

It was an adult-oriented doll, not inflatable anymore, but made out of plastic . . . and modeled after the blow-up dolls from the war. The Bild Lilli could be undressed, had all her parts in the right places . . . and was usually given as a gag gift.

So Ruth and Elliot took it back to the U.S., and the doll's eyes, hair, and body inspired them to invent one of the most iconic toys in history . . . the Barbie doll.

(London Sun)