Hermann Lesser writes to the Reich Association of German Small-Animal Breeders on 27 April 1937 to propose the establishment of a Jewish dog breeders’ organization1BArch, R 3601/1859, fol. 317. This letter has been translated from German.
Letter from Hermann Lesser, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 53/8 Rudolstädterstraße, to President K. Vetter,2Karl Wanfried Vetter (b. 1895), farmer; joined the SA and the NSDAP in 1929, and the SS in 1934; main department head in the Reich Food Estate, 1933–1935; inspector general of the Reich Food Estate, 1935–1937; president of the Reich Association of German Small-Animal Breeders from 1933. Reichstag delegate, Reich Association of German Small-Animal Breeders, Berlin SW 11, 5 Hafenplatz, dated 27 April 1937 (copy)3Parts of the original have been underlined by hand. The copy was sent by the Reich Association of German Small-Animal Breeders to the Deputy of the Führer on 13 Dec. 1937 with a request for comments: ibid., fol. 316.
Dear Mr President,
By order of the previous Reich head official of the Reich Kennel Club, non-Aryan members were urged to resign from the Reich Kennel Club with effect from 1 January 1937.4In comparison to many other organizations, the Reich Kennel Club excluded Jewish members at a very late stage and obviously under pressure from the Supreme SA Command. Max Jüttner (1888–1963) had forbidden the SA in late 1936 to hold joint events with the Reich Kennel Club until the latter ‘completely eliminated Jews and persons of Jewish descent from its ranks’: circular letter from the Supreme SA Command, dated 12 Nov. 1936, BArch, NS 23/557.
To prevent harm to the breeding programme as a result of uncontrolled breeding of dogs by non-Aryans, I immediately approached Mr Glockner at that time and enquired whether the founding of an association of non-Aryan dog-lovers might not be a possibility. This association should be completely independent and, without any burdening of the Reich Kennel Club, should monitor the breeding of dogs by non-Aryans and facilitate the recording of these breeding products in the breed registries of the Reich Kennel Club. Thereby, in my view, any harm to dog breeding in Germany would be avoided. – According to my enquiries, many breeding animals are in the hands of non-Aryans.
In addition, the training of service-dog breeds, such as German shepherds, of which I myself own three specimens, is completely prevented by the exit of non-Aryans from the Reich Kennel Club, because work done jointly by those who have resigned would potentially be regarded as prohibited assembly.
Mr Glockner informed me on the 19th of this month that I should contact you on this matter.
For ten years I was a member of the current Section for German Shepherd Dogs, formerly the Society for German Shepherd Dogs.
Should the aforementioned establishment be a possibility, I am ready to providemore detailed explanations to you at any time.
Awaiting your valued communication in this regard,
I remain with the highest esteem