Nazis Tried To Train Dogs To Read, Write, And Speak, New Jan Bondeson Book Says

Hitler may be on the short list of despicable dictators most undeserving of a dog's unconditional love, but that didn't stop him from trying to talk them.

According to a new book titled "Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities," Nazi specialists attempted -- apparently with some success -- to train a fleet of "intelligent" dogs to read, write and speak.

The research comes from Cardiff University associate professor Dr. Jan Bondeson, who found that the Nazis collected pups from across Germany and put them through intense training during the 1930s at the Tier-Sprechschule ASRA (School for Dog-Human Communication) in the town of Leutenberg.

"The Nazis were sentimental enthusiasts who were really fond of animals and liked the idea that dogs were intelligent and could communicate with people," Bondeson told AOL Weird news.

Under trainer Margarethe Schmitt's direction, the institute trained dogs such as Rolf the Airedale terrier, who was said to be able to discuss religion, contemplate complex mathematics and communicate with humans by tapping out an alphabet code using his paw.

Another dog, Kurwenal, supposedly cracked jokes like a comedian and was a symbol of the educated canines of Germany.

But Hitler's presumable pick of the litter was a pooch named Don, who apparently barked "Mein Fuhrer" when asked who Adolf Hitler was.

According to Bondeson, Hitler and the Germans seem to have had hopes that the superior dogs would eventually communicate with their SS masters and act as the ultimate guard dogs.

"Why would the Nazis allow such a bizarre project to continue in a country ravaged by war unless they had an interest in studying dog-human communication?" Bondeson asks.

Considering their record on human rights, the Nazi's actually had notoriously strong feelings about animal rights.

Hitler was widely recognized as a dog lover and owned two German Shepherds, named Blondi and Bella. The dictator famously killed Blondi before taking his own life in 1945.

Bondeson says that some Nazis even wrote letters to local authorities about the pets that were being left behind when the military began forcing Jews into concentration camps.

"When the Jews were deported from certain German cities, nobody bothered about them, they said 'good riddance,'" Bondeson explains. "But as for their pets, people thought, 'Well, they can't bring those with them to the concentration camps, surely we must do something.'"

"It's a completely forgotten aspect: A good Nazi was a friend to animals."

Comments

[mrtumnas]

03:58 PM on 05/31/2011

Were the dogs Aryan?

[European1919]

03:24 PM on 05/31/2011

Bondeson is a rheumatologist. No one ever heard about this story before this month because it was a private dog training school run by animal trainer Margarete Schmidt. It had nothing whatsoever to do with official Nazi policy. It was not funded by the state or the party. He (Bondeson) only found out about it through some small advert in an old dog magazine.
This article is about as worthless as reporting that when Coca Cola first came out it contained cocaine and was held to be a cure-all for anything from tiredness to smelly feet.

[BlueStreakBP3]

02:36 PM on 05/31/2011

Did Hitler and the rest of the psychopaths in Germany refer to his dogs as just ' sheperds? '

[Eeky]

01:21 PM on 06/03/2011

They probably called them Alsatians, since that's what they are called.

[czs5056]

11:58 AM on 05/30/2011

bark feed me bark

[Hohummm]

03:01 AM on 05/30/2011

The fact that Hitler loved dogs places him ahead of the Billions of Muslim who hate dogs!

[dayzee10]

08:29 AM on 05/30/2011

Asians love dogs! With fava beans and a nice chianti, yummy.

[joehark]

11:01 PM on 05/29/2011

The report is highly suspect, starting with the ridiculous alleged name of the so-call "Tier-Sprechschule". It definitely does not mean what the author claims.

Any freshman high school German student knows that the word "tier" means "animal" - not "dog" (which is "hund").

"Sprech" - There is no such word in German. If you add "e" on the end of it, it would be a verb that means "speak" or "talk. " But in this example, it is as a noun. But the noun form is "Sprach"

"schule" means "school."

So, the word Sprechschule is ungrammatic German. The word Sprachschule would mean "speaking school."

The word in German for "communication " is "kommunikation"

It's pretty reasonable to assume that everything else in the "story" is just that, a story.

And I ain't just a-woofin.

[Anarch Duke]

04:41 PM on 05/30/2011

Well, its nice to see someone who took a year of German and think they know everything. Perhaps we could chew the fat sometime.

Oh wait, chew the fat doesn't mean talk in English, this must be a fake post since no one in the freaking history of the world has ever used words metaphorically or with poetic license.

[European1919]

03:33 PM on 05/31/2011

He is actually correct on all points. Gobshite. There is a fundamental difference between using a word metaphorically and using it wrongly.
The school did exist though. Mr. Bondeson and this article are, however, bowing a small private animal trainer up to be Nazi policy while the school was actually a privately run fringe affair in a small town in Thuringia which originally specialised in training all sorts of animals for circuses and artistes.
Amazing what marketing power the word Nazi still has, eh? Even if it is a complete lie.

[Eeky]

01:24 PM on 06/03/2011

I'm all for getting more evidence before assuming something is true. But...maybe the author misspelled Sprachschule? Putting an e instead of an a? It doesn't necessarily disprove the story just because of one wrong word...

[crayola 08b]

07:44 AM on 05/29/2011

what with all the advanced alien technology, paranormal soothsayers, and now talking dogs it's a wonder Hitler lost the war at all.

[European1919]

03:34 PM on 05/31/2011

Area 51 is in what country?

[Kache]

10:40 PM on 05/28/2011

I clicked on this thinking it was a story about Michele Bachmann. Close.

[Feurio]

05:19 PM on 05/28/2011

Nazi dogs were barking mad. So obviously the nazis wanted to know what they had to say.

[AlButerol]

11:55 AM on 05/28/2011

Hitler used to kick Blondi violently when she did not obey. He tested the cyanide he would later use to commit suicide on Blondi first. So much for Hitler being an animal lover. People who hate people generally don't care much for any living creatures.

[MissElaineous]

06:33 PM on 05/27/2011

"Considering their record on human rights, the Nazi's actually had notoriously strong feelings about animal rights."

The Nazi's *what* actually had...?

http://eloquentscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/angry-flower-guide-to-its.gif

[Lolotehe]

09:57 PM on 05/27/2011

The problem is everywhere. They're saving their editors for the big stories over there.

[Andrzej Olszewski]

04:10 PM on 05/27/2011

"A good Nazi was a friend to animals"

Actually, like any socialist - see the push on animal rights in the EU

[European1919]

03:39 PM on 05/31/2011

With you limited factual knowledge you will find it very difficult to get much more than say 0 fans.

[cliffhammond]

03:56 PM on 05/27/2011

Hey, we've got a trained seal in the White House who can bark, clap his hands and balance a beach ball on his nose while catching salmon thrown from Wall Street. They've even trained him to make entertaining and hilarious promises to the crowds who sit under the Big Top while the security forces keep and eye on them so they don't buy too much beer and talk loudly during the act.

[Grokenspiel]

03:20 PM on 05/27/2011

My dog thinks I anthropomorphize too much, but she's just projecting.

[robeson]

02:12 PM on 05/27/2011

But could Don goose-step?