Nazi Preservation of Environment and Animals
Under the Nazi regime, mishandling an animal was considered a heinous crime, and if somebody was discovered mistreating an animal, they were sent to concentration camps. As someone with great admiration for animals, Hitler showed great concern for animals native to Germany, and passed laws that ensured their safety and well-being.
In 1934, Hitler passed a law called Das Reichsjagdgesetz (the Reich Hunting Law), which regulated how many animals could be killed per year, and to establish proper ‘hunting seasons’. This law has now been adopted by most western countries.
Animal conservation was included in Primary, Secondary and College levels, and in 1935, the Reichsnaturschutzgesetz (Reich Nature Protection Act) was passed. which placed several native species on a protection list including the wolf and Eurasian lynx. It is likely that this law saved some native forest-inhabiting species from going extinct.
The Nazi’s were also the first to create environmental protection laws in history. The German Imperial Conservation law of 1935 was passed, which protected “remaining portions of landscape in free nature whose preservation on account of rarity, beauty, distinctiveness or on account of scientific, ethnic, forest, or hunting significance lies in the general interest.”
“[It is] useful to know the laws of nature – for that enables us to obey them. To act otherwise would be to rise in revolt against heaven.”– Adolf Hitler
Hitler was a well-known lover of animals.
Hitler Banned Experimentation on Animals (Vivisection)
Nazy Germany was the first country in the world to ban vivisection, or any experimentation on live animals. With its great concern for animal conservation, and human treatment, a complete ban of vivisection was enacted in April 1933.
The Prime Minister of Prussia Hermann Goring has said:
“An absolute and permanent ban on vivisection is not only a necessary law to protect animals and to show sympathy with their pain, but it is also a law for humanity itself…. I have therefore announced the immediate prohibition of vivisection and have made the practice a punishable offense in Prussia. Until such time as punishment is pronounced the culprit shall be lodged in a concentration camp.”
A cartoon showing animals saved from vivisection saluting Hermann Goring. The sign in the window says “Vivisection Forbidden”.
This German cartoon depicts animals that were saved from vivisection saluting Hermann Goring. The sign in the window reads “Vivisection Forbidden”.
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