TheyLovedBloodand Soil but Not the Mind 213suchexperimentsthatthe SS doctorsunderHimmler’s commandconductedon the Jews
in the exterminationcamps.)”^81 TheNSDAPthenissueda pressreleasebragging,“The
NewGermanynot onlyfreespeoplefromthe curseof materialism” and “egotism... but
alsogivesrightsto the tortured,tormentedanduntilnow,completelyunprotectedani-
mals.” What“ReichChancellorAdolfHitlerandPrimeMinisterGöringdid andwilldo
for the protectionof animals,standsas a guidelineto the leadersof all civilizedstates.”^82
Similarlegislationfollowed.In 1936,the governmentdictatedthat restaurateurscouldnot
feedtheirpatronslobstersunlesstheycouldkill thesecrustaceansas quicklypossible,
and that fish wouldhaveto be anesthetizedpriorto beingkilled.^83
As propagandaminister,JosephGoebbelsprovidessomesupplementalinsightinto
his leader’s animal-rightscreed.In his words,“TheFühreris deeplyreligious.. .” The
dominantWesternreligionsanddenominations“haveno pointof contactto the animal
element,and thus,in the end,will be destroyed.The Führeris a convincedvegetarian,on
principle.His argumentscannotbe refutedon any seriousbasis.Theyare totallyunan-
swerable.”^84
Muchof thisthoughtcan be tracedto the GermanbiologistandeugenicistErnst
Haeckel, who,again,coinedecology. According to ArthurHerman, Haeckelhimself
“arguedthat... animalsshouldenjoyequalstatusto menas fellowsentient,social,
and... (in the caseof the highervertebrates)rationalcreatures.Haeckel’s earlyversionof
‘animalrights’ formedpartof his campaignagainstthe anthropocentricviewof nature,
that‘boundlesspresumptionof conceitedman’ that‘has misledhimintomakinghimself
“the imageof God.”’”^85
“As you mightexpect,” addsHal Herzog,“contemporaryanimalactivistsdon’t relish
the ideathatAdolfHitlerwasa fellowtraveler,andsomeactivistsadamantlydenythat
he waseithera vegetarianor an animallover.”^86 As an example,Herzogcitesthe book
Hitler:NeitherVegetarianNorAnimalLoverby animalactivistR. Berry.^87 Nonetheless,
Herzogconcludes,“anthrozoologistBoriaSax has carefullydocumentedthe evidence
that manyleadingNazis,includingHitler,weregenuinelyconcernedaboutthe treatment
of animals.”^88
It is thereforeironic,ThomasDeGregoriopines,thatgangsof activistgroupsthat
RobertProcter“apparentlywouldregardas ‘sociallyresponsible’ or as promoting‘pro-
gressive’ ideals,themselvesequatetheiropponentsandNazis.Animal-rightsadvocates
andvegans,for example,oftenrepresentmeat-eatingandthe use of animalsin medical
researchas a ‘holocaust.’”^89 An exampleof thisis thatof a rovingexhibitionthatthe
organizationPETA(Peoplefor the EthicalTreatmentof Animals)put on in 2003.Titled
“A Holocauston YourPlate,” it juxtaposedphotographsof Naziconcentrationcamps
withthoseof animalsraisedon “factoryfarms.”^90 Whenit was pointedout that one of the
youngJewishprisonersin PETA’s photographswasnoneotherthanNobelPeacePrize-
winningauthorElie Wiesel(b. 1928),and that the entiredisplaywas in poortaste,PETA’s
cofounder-presidentIngridNewkirk(b. 1949)retorted,“Six millionpeoplediedin con-
centrationcamps,but sixbillionbroilerchickenswilldie this yearin slaughterhouses”^91
(emphasishers).As we haverecognizedin chapter3, Anti-DefamationLeague’s execu-
tivedirectorandHolocaustsurvivorAbrahamFoxmanunfortunatelyswallowsthe un-
truthsaboutEnlightenment-erafree-marketersinventingsocialDarwinism.Fortunately,
on the matterof PETA’s Holocaustcampaign,Foxmanexhibitedwiserjudgment,issuing
thisstatement:“Theeffortby PETAto comparethe deliberatesystematicmurderof
millionsof Jewsto the issueof animalrightsis abhorrent.... Abusivetreatmentof
animalsshouldbe opposed,but cannotand mustnot be comparedto the Holocaust.The
uniquenessof humanlife is the moralunderpinningfor thosewhoresistedthe hatredof
Nazisand othersreadyto commitgenocideeventoday.”^92 PETAdeliveredan apologyto