Picture

Adolf Hitler with Blondi

Most Americans think of Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany during the Third Reich, as a mad carpet-eater. They watch the black-and-white newsreels of his speeches and imagine the German dictator flailing his arms about and raving twenty-four hours every day.

They would be shocked to read Dr. Jan Bondeson’s new book, Amazing Dogs: A Cabinet of Canine Curiosities, and learn that the same man supported scientific research during the 1930’s to teach dogs to talk.

The Germans tried to train intelligent dogs to read, write, and speak with some success. Puppies were collected across Germany and put through training sessions at the Tier-Sprechschule ASRA, translated as the School for Dog-Human Communication, in the town of Leutenberg.

Trainer Margarethe Schmitt taught Rolf, the Airdale Terrier, who could discuss religion, complex mathematics, and communicated in an alphabet-code that he tapped out with his paw. Supposedly one pup named Don barked “Mein Fuhrer” when asked who Hitler was.

Bondeson speculates that after the war started the program may have been attempting to train the guard dogs to take over for their masters and supervise military prisoners.

It is a well-known fact, though it contradicts his image, that Hitler was fond of dogs and training dogs. He was frequently seen with his favorite dog, Blondi. He often used to boast about her tricks. He took her with him to East Prussia. She stayed with him at the Wolf’s Den. She was there when von Stauffenberg tried to blow up Hitler and failed in July of 1944 during the “July Plot”.

Comments are closed.