According to new research, under Adolf Hitler’s directions, the Nazis tried to train dogs to talk, read and spell to help them win World War II.

According to the research, led by Jan Bondeson of Cardiff University, the Germans viewed canines as being almost as intelligent as humans and they attempted to build an army of fearsome “speaking” dogs.

In fact, Hitler hoped the animals would learn to communicate with their Nazi masters and he had a special dog school set up to teach them to talk.

The dog school, called the Tier Sprechschule ASRA, based in Leutenburg near Hannover, was set up in the 1930s and continued throughout the war years.

One mutt at the dog school was said to have uttered the words “Mein Fuhrer” when asked who Adolf Hitler was. Another “spoke” by tapping letters of the alphabet with his paws and was said to have speculated about religion and learnt poetry.

The Germans hoped to use the animals for the war effort such as getting them to work alongside the SS and guard concentration camps to free up officers.

Story by Elaine Furst for Dog Files