- Nazi talking dogs
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During the 1930s and 1940s, German animal behaviorists were encouraged to explore whether dogs could be taught to speak or communicate in other ways in order to be useful in the Nazi war effort. This talking dog research was dubbed the Woofan SS by the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph.[1] Author and historian Jan Bondeson wrote about the talking dog research in his 2011 book, Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities.[2][3]
Describing his book Bondeson said; "In the 1920s, Germany had numerous 'new animal psychologists' who believed dogs were nearly as intelligent as humans, and capable of abstract thinking and communication. When the Nazi party took over, one might have thought they would be building concentration camps to lock these fanatics up, but instead they were actually very interested in their ideas... Hitler was himself interested in the prospect of using educated dogs in the war effort, and he advised representatives of the German army to study their usefulness in the field."[1] Margarethe Schmitt started her Tier-Sprechschule ("Talking Animal School") in Leutenberg, Thuringia[4] in 1930 to pursue this research.[1][dubious ] In 1942, it was attended by five Great Danes, one terrier, and one cat.[5] In or before 1943, Mrs. Schmitt offered to put her dogs into the service of the Wehrmacht's troop entertainment events (within the "Strength Through Joy"/"KdF" program), and on Hitler's order received a positive reply from the Reich Chancellery; however, it is not known whether these plans were realized before the end of the war.[5]
An article from The Times carried in The Australian says that Bondeson's book "claims the Nazis believed dogs were almost as intelligent as humans and only physical limitations prevented them from interacting as equals. Experiments were carried out to find evidence of telepathy between dog and man."[6]
Contents
Notable Nazi dogs
"Students" for the dog school, which was run by Margarethe Schmitt,[7] were collected from all over Germany, but only trained dogs were chosen. One of the most successful students is said to have been a mixed-breed dog that when asked "who Adolf Hitler was" supposedly could respond: "Mein Führer".[1][8][9][10]
Dogs that behaved well and studied successfully were honored; for example, "Kurwenal", a Dachshund, was visited by a "troop of 28 uniformed youths from the Nazi animal protection organisation on his birthday." [1] Kurwenal's speech was based on barking, but apparently his trainers understood him quite well. The dog reportedly said he was going to vote for Paul von Hindenburg.[1]
"Don", a German pointer, is said to have been able to imitate a human voice, and supposedly could say "Hungry! Give me cakes" in German.[1][10]
Results
Bondeson told the Daily Telegraph that despite prolonged efforts to teach dogs to talk, "there is no evidence it ever actually came to fruition and that the SS were walking around with talking dogs".[1] In an interview with the BBC, he said that most of the successes, like the dog that could type, were probably a result of the Clever Hans effect. "I'm sure that the Nazi generation of animal psychologists genuinely thought they'd tapped into a hidden innate intelligence within many animals," he told the BBC.[11] "It's very easy but entirely wrong to mock their findings, as the film footage appears extremely compelling. Dogs in particular have an innate need to please their pack leader, and will go to almost any lengths to achieve this."[11]
He also complained that much of the press coverage of his book has exaggerated or misconstrued his own findings. He wrote that the Nazis were interested in finding new ways to use dogs in the war effort, "but that's a million miles away from the press claims – which get taller by the day – that the Nazis had a legion of talking, machine-gun-toting hounds, on the point of being unleashed on the allies."[11]
See also
- Talking animal#Dogs (reports about "talking" dogs in other countries)
- Dog communication#Human speech
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Nazis tried to train dogs to talk, read and spell to win WW2". The Daily Telegraph. May 24, 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8532573/Nazis-tried-to-train-dogs-to-talk-read-and-spell-to-win-WW2.html. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ William Lee Adams (May 25, 2011). "How Nazi Scientists Tried to Create an Army of Talking Dogs". The Sun via Time. http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/25/how-nazi-scientsts-tried-to-create-an-army-of-talking-dogs/. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ John Coles (May 25, 2011). "Heel Hitler Nazi boss trained dogs to ‘talk’ in war effort". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3598638/Hitler-trained-dogs-to-talk.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=News. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Britt von den Berg: "Die »Neue Tierpsychologie« und ihre wissenschaftlichen Vertreter (von 1900 bis 1945)" ISBN 978-3-86504-258-3, 2008 ("The 'new animal psychology' and its scientific representatives (from 1900 to 1945)", dissertation at the University of Hannover, in German). p.124-125
- ^ a b von den Berg, p. 125
- ^ Simon de Bruxelles (May 26, 2011). "Nazis bred 'talking' dogs for war effort". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/nazis-bred-talking-dogs-for-war-effort/story-e6frg6so-1226062952683. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ Helen Turner (May 26, 2011). "Nazis planned army of ‘super-intelligent’ dogs". Wales Online. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2011/05/26/nazis-planned-army-of-super-intelligent-dogs-91466-28766428/. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ "Adolf Hitler had army of talking dogs, claims Dr Jan Bondeson". The Courier-Mail. May 26, 2011. http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/barking-mad-hitler-trained-an-army-of-educated-talking-dogs-claims-author-dr-jan-bondeson/story-e6frep1o-1226063098215?from=public_rss. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
- ^ David Leafe (May 26, 2011). "Heel Hitler! The Great Dane taught to say 'Mein Fuhrer' and the spaniel that could do maths revealed in new book about the most bizarre dogs in history". Mail Online. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1390931/Great-Dane-taught-say-Mein-Fuhrer-secret-Nazi-training-school.html. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
- ^ a b Helen Turner (May 26, 2011). "Adolf Hitler's Nazi scientists sought to teach dogs to talk, read, write: book". Daily News (New York). http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/05/26/2011-05-26_hiters_nazi_scientists_sought_to_teach_dogs_to_talk_read_write_book.html. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
- ^ a b c "Author Jan Bondeson frowns on 'Nazi Superdog' claims", BBC, May 28, 2011
Further reading
- Maureen Dowd (July 12, 2011). "Hitler’s Talking Dogs". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/13/opinion/13dowd.html. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
Categories:- Nazi Germany
- Military animals
- Dog training and behavior
- Talking animals
- Animal intelligence
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