The Best Friend of the Murderers: Guard Dogs and the Nazi Holocaust

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the exploitation of dogs in the Nazi death camps as a further horror of the Holocaust an exploitation that harnessed the friendliness and willingness to cooperate that is so much a part of the nature of man's best friend (no sarcasm intended) with the drive to control socially, enslave temporarily, and exterminate ultimately the Jewish population of Europe. It also shows that the manner in which dogs were utilized in the death camps is in keeping with Michel Foucault's analysis of modern practices of disciplining social groups. Finally, the chapter demonstrates that the observations of ethologist Konrad Lorenz on the difference between the Lupus dog (i.e., wolf-like domestic breeds) and Aureus dog (jackal-like breeds) provide considerable insight into the use of guard-dogs in the death camps. Keywords:ethologist Konrad Lorenz; guard dogs; Michel Foucault's analysis; Nazi death camps; Nazi Holocaust