What sounds like a shabby cinema movie from the late seventies is in reality a project realized by the Nazis in 1941. The so called Reichsführer SS Himmler had the idea of breeding angora rabbits, so that soldiers at the Eastern Front could have warm pants, bomber jackets and coats with angora lining. Of course he planned a new, softer and better breed of German super rabbits having enough wool to supply the whole army.
The bunnies were bred in the concentration camps of Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Ausschwitz and Dachau, where they were treated significantly better than the inmates. Their stalls were spacious, heated and the floors were covered with refined wool, while the inmates had to freeze in their barracks. The small bunnies were fed with special nutrition while the prisoners were executed for eating them. No wonder they hated the rabbits, the SS showed the prisoners that they are worthless on a daily basis. The project failed. Although a few tons of wool were gained, it wasn’t enough and the Nazis had to revert to substitute materials. The project was cancelled and the rabbit’s fate is unknown. When the concentration camp Dachau was liberated in 1945, the US soldiers found empty stalls only- and some really warm leather jackets lined with angora wool.
Source: http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/ss-projekt-angora
Copyright: http://architektur.kaywa.ch/frau-wiki/rote-liste-der-bedrohten-haustierrassen.html
