December 21, 2020

"Hitler's Alligator" to Be Displayed


"Hitler's Alligator" to Be Displayed
This is no ordinary alligator! Image by H. Zell via Wikimedia Commons

The animals at Moscow’s Zoo are much beloved, even extending into their deaths. In May 2020, an alligator at the Moscow Zoo passed away, and, thanks to his exciting history, his body has been stuffed by taxidermists and will be put on display at the State Darwin Museum.

The alligator, named Saturn, was 84 when he passed away this spring. He was born in the US and then moved to the Berlin Zoo in 1936. It is rumored that Saturn was part of Adolf Hitler’s personal collection. During World War II, Saturn escaped the zoo in a 1943 bomb raid. He was brought to Moscow three years later, where he was installed at the Moscow Zoo.

Now, after six months of taxidermy, Saturn is ready to be displayed in the State Darwin Museum in Moscow. He will be located with other North American wildlife, such as bison, raccoons, and porcupines.

“Each employee treats the newcomer with special reverence — no reptile in the museum has such a rich biography,” stated the State Darwin Museum. The museum is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but plans to reopen in January 2021, when visitors will be able to see Saturn in person.

You Might Also Like

The Amazing Life of Moscow's Gator
  • May 27, 2020

The Amazing Life of Moscow's Gator

Saturn, a Mississippi alligator, saw Hitler and survived the Battle of Berlin. A tribute to the Moscow Zoo's greatest reptile.
Alligator Tears
  • May 27, 2020

Alligator Tears

The Moscow Zoo laments the loss of an 84-year-old, WW2-veteran alligator.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

Steppe / Степь (bilingual)

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955