The Angora project or Angora rabbit project was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

SS endeavor in

cuniculture Cuniculture is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising domestic rabbits as livestock for their meat, fur, or wool. Cuniculture is also employed by rabbit fanciers and hobbyists in the development and betterment of rabbit breeds and the ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

that bred

Angora rabbit The Angora rabbit ( tr, Ankara tavşanı), which is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, is bred for the long fibers of its coat, known as ''Angora wool'', which are gathered by shearing, combing or plucking. Because rabbits do not possess ...

s to provide Angora wool and fur, as well as meat. The Angora rabbit's hair and pelt is known for strength and durability, and it was also "associated with luxurious evening wear, ndwould be an elegant solution for keeping SS officers and the German military warm and able to endure rough wartime conditions". Angora rabbits were raised in

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

s, including Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, and

Trawniki Trawniki is a village in Świdnik County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It is the seat of the present-day gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Trawniki. It lies approximately south-east of Świdnik and south-east of the regio ...

. A bound volume entitled ''Angora'' that belonged to

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

, chief of the Nazi SS, was discovered in a farmhouse with his other papers near the end of World War II. It tells the story of the Angora rabbit project that operated in the Nazi death camps. ''Chicago Tribune'' war correspondent Sigrid Schultz found the book in its hiding place near Himmler's alpine villa, and described the significance of the Angora project:

"In the same compound where 800 human beings would be packed into barracks that were barely adequate for 200, the rabbits lived in luxury in their own elegant hutches. In Buchenwald, where tens of thousands of human beings starved to death, rabbits enjoyed beautifully prepared meals. The SS men who whipped, tortured, and killed prisoners saw to it that the rabbits enjoyed loving care."

The rabbits were raised for their soft, warm fur, which was shaved and used for, among other things, the linings of jackets for Luftwaffe pilots. Himmler, in a 1943 speech (referring to the prisoners that endured forced labor), stated:

"We Germans, who are the only people in the world who have a decent attitude towards animals will assume a decent attitude toward these human animals; but it is a crime against our blood to worry about these people."

Today, Himmler's ''Angora'' book is housed at the

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

. Photographs, charts and maps from the book are among the more than 27,000 images available in the Wisconsin Historical Society's digital collections. ''Angora'' was featured in a Wisconsin Historical Images online gallery in March 2007.

References

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External links

Angora: Rabbit Raising in German Concentration Camps
– The Angora project was an SS-administered program to breed rabbits for their soft fur. Discovered by journalist

Sigrid Schultz Sigrid Schultz (January 15, 1893 – May 14, 1980) was a notable American reporter and war correspondent in an era when women were a rarity in both print and radio journalism. Working for the ''Chicago Tribune'' in the 1920s, she was the fir ...

, the album serves as a stark reminder of a brutal regime that valued animals more than its people. Available on Wisconsin Historical Images, the Wisconsin Historical Society's online image database.
"Angora" album on WHS Images
– Wisconsin Historical Society digital collection of photographs documenting the angora rabbit wool raising projects operated by the Nazi SS corps at each of the concentration camps throughout German-occupied territory where the corps was in charge.
Wisconsin Public Radio Online Feature: Himmler's ''Angora''
Economy of Nazi Germany Leporidae