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Hitler and Animal Welfare
#1
This has to be one of the most bizarre things I have discovered recently.
In Nazi Germany, in the 1930s, animal welfare was prominent. Hitler himself was a supporter of animal rights.

https://beezelbarb.wordpress.com/2011/02...n-the-30s/

It is surreal, isn't it -that a man and a regime which created so much darkness and suffering for millions of people, could care about these things??

However, the Nazis' 'care' when putting to sleep thousands of Jewish pets (as Jews were not allowed to have pets) -extended only to humane euthanasia.....
What a twisted mixed up bunch!
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#2
That is weird. Hitler was really mixed up in his thinking. He was for animal rights, but he killed Jewish pets and then went on to kill Jews themselves.
He might well have been a vegetarian, but that doesn't mean it was a well thought out life style for him.

Even the worst person does something good at some point in their life.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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#3
(10-20-2015, 03:34 PM)Catherine Wrote: Even the worst person does something good at some point in their life.
Yes, that brings the point home....

We must be forthright in rejecting totally the genocide and incredible suffering caused by the Nazi regime. It is perhaps incredible that a whole nation blindly followed, idolised, such a person. There were exceptions, however, especially the brave and moral Bonhoeffer (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer).

But even in a person whose actions are the most repugnant morally, there can be glimpses of goodness somewhere. This does not in any way excuse their actions; it merely shows that no-one is 100% negative.

Hitler's regime enacted many good laws to protect animals. That is just a historical fact. It does not in any way excuse all his other views. As the original article states:
"Needless to say, the fact that Hitler loved animals does not in any way undermine the validity of the case for animal protection."
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#4
Yes you are right, LPC.
Hitler, and the high-ranking members of his "team" were not on an honourable course. They cared -or appeared to care -about the fate of animals, but did not care in the slightest about their skewed judgements concerning innocent people.
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#5
It is Important to focus on the issue of animal rights itself. If we did a search of history we might find some very odd people were concerned about some aspect of animal rights. You can never judge a cause by the ones who seem to support it.

I use the word seem to support it because we do not know why he put in animal protection laws and we do not know why he was vegetarian.

I doubt it was a well thought out decision to respect life. His actions in other areas certainly show he only respected the lives that he valued.
He valued a very narrow range of people. The rest he discarded cruelly.

Hitler rejected animal testing, but used human subjects instead.

Bonhoeffer was a good man wasn't he. We studied him and read his writings.
[Image: IMG_9091.JPG]
Catherine

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