The Enigma of Hitler contributed to Dalí's expulsion from the Surrealist movement. Since the early Thirties Hitler had fascinated Dalí, mainly because of the shape of his back. In 1934, he had to be stopped from painting a swastika armband on the figure of a wet nurse (the nurse is seen in this painting at the edge of the sea). The Surrealists saw Dalí's obsession with Hitler as evidence of his dubious moral and political beliefs, however, Dalí had long stated that he was apolitical, viewing wars and dictators alike as inevitable parts of human nature. Dalí explained The Enigma of Hitler was an interpretation of several dreams he had about Hitler - one had shown Neville Chamberlain's umbrella turning into a bat ? a symbol from his childhood that filled him with fear. The telephone was an image Dalí used often, such as in the 1938 painting, The Mountain Lake. In The Enigma of Hitler the mouthpiece has mutated into threatening lobster claws, symbolic of the danger of these times with
