From today's Telegraph online:
'The Germans viewed canines as being almost as intelligent as humans and attempted to build an army of fearsome 'speaking' dogs, extraordinary new research shows.
Hitler hoped the clever creatures would learn to communicate with their SS masters - and he even had a special dog school set up to teach them to talk.
The incredible findings show Nazi officials recruited so-called educated dogs from all over Germany and trained them to speak and tap out signals using their paws.
One mutt was said to have uttered the words 'Mein Fuhrer' when asked who Adolf Hitler was.
Another 'spoke' by tapping letters of the alphabet with his paws and was said to have speculated about religion and learnt poetry.'
The article refers to them as the 'Woofen SS'.
Funny old world.
Comments
I know the Nazis made a few boners in their time but this takes the biscuit!
Was supposedly the pet of the German ambassador to London in the 30s but in reality was a spy dog that had to be "put to sleep" by British secret agent Bulldog Drummond.
Giro has a memorial in Carlton Terrace which is the only Nazi memorial in London
http://www.shadyoldlady.com/location.php?loc=858
Don't tell people in hartlepool there'll be hanged dogs everywhere!
Fascinating, but further research into Giro has led me to this:
'Giro died in 1934 from accidental eletrocution (contact with an exposed wire) and although it may seem absurd, he was given a full Nazi burial.'
So is the shady old lady making stuff up or was it murder that was made to look accidental?
Achtung bono!
Or should that be achtung bonio?
And is that why they invented luftwaffles?