Giro the Nazi Dog

Kai-Petri · #1 (**permalink**) September 24th, 2009, 02:20 PM

Giro the Nazi Dog is the only Nazi memorial in London. Giro was owned by Dr Leopold von Hoesch who was the German Ambassador in London from 1932 to 1936.
Giro died in 1934 from accidental eletrocution (contact with an exposed wire) and although it may seem absurd, he was given a full Nazi burial.

The small tombstone has the German epitaph "Giro: Ein treuer Begleiter" which means "Giro: A true companion".

Giro the Nazi Dog - Find Out About Giro The Nazi Dog in London

Von Poop · #2 (**permalink**) September 24th, 2009, 04:40 PM

Intriguing.
Though I think a misconception may have crept in about the dog being given 'a full nazi funeral' - His owner von Hoesch was indeed given a ceremony in St. James's park on his death, apparently with the Grenadier Guards carrying his coffin.

Quote:

The British Government bid him an impressive farewell. His coffin was taken on a gun-carriage from Carlton House Terrace to Victoria Station. The funeral cortège was led by two companies of the Grenadier Guards while a 19-gun salute was fired in St. James's Park. Among the mourners walking behind the coffin were the Foreign Secretary Sir Anthony Eden, the Home Secretary Sir John Simon, the Lord Chancellor Lord Hailsham and the whole diplomatic corps. This was done in accordance with international diplomatic protocol. But people detected another note, namely a tribute to the last representative of a democratic Germany, since it was fairly obvious that Joachim von Ribbentrop, who had already been a few times in London as Hitler's special envoy and was considered to have the necessary "England experience", would be von Hoesch's successor. In marked contrast was the funeral in Germany where the coffin had been conveyed by the British destroyer "Scout". The Dresden funeral was attended only by the German Foreign Minister von Neurath and the Ambassadors of Britain and France; all representatives of the Third Reich stayed away.

German Embassy London - The Inter-War Years

~A

urqh · #3 (**permalink**) September 24th, 2009, 10:42 PM

and i think their might have been a misconception on the accident mutley...im off to walk me dog and im not taking a bin bag...wheres it buried again...

Mehar · #4 (**permalink**) September 25th, 2009, 03:23 AM

Lol, dogs can't hold political party membership!....can they?

Very interesting find, I'm surprised it has stood all these years, not just during the war but to the "natural elements" as well given the small location of the tombstone.

Heinrich · #5 (**permalink**) September 27th, 2009, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Lol, dogs can't hold political party membership!....can they?

I do know they can be ordered in court and be 'denazified' by court order ,as there was a famous case about a dog called Adolf doing the NAZI salute in public.
( wich is strictly forbidden in Germany , especially when performed in front of 10 policemen ...even when youre a dog! )
Do a quick google search at the words Nazi dog salute and you'll find plenty of articles about the whole thing .
Below theres a pic of the ole purpetrayer :-)

Police dogs are considered officers in my country , theyre full forcemembers.
I know people not like linkies , but this one is funny , its a parody on the whole affair :
TR 3/2004: Y. Satyr: Neo-Nazi Go to the Dogs!
enjoy:-)

Von Poop · #6 (**permalink**) November 3rd, 2009, 09:52 AM

Some footage of Hoesch's funeral here. (Ignore the sensationalist 'documentary' and rather breathless write-up

)
Comment Central - Times Online - WBLG: When Nazis marched through London

~A

Skipper · #7 (**permalink**) November 3rd, 2009, 12:15 PM

interesting but not surprising, the Nazis would do absurdities like this and denie a decent burial to a human being...

redcoat · #8 (**permalink**) November 4th, 2009, 10:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skipper

interesting but not surprising, the Nazis would do absurdities like this and denie a decent burial to a human being...

His owner Dr Leopold von Hoesch wasn't a Nazi, he was appointed ambassador before the Nazi's came to power and due to the disagreements he was having with the Nazi leadership on the conduct of German foreign policy, it is believed he would have been removed from his position sooner rather than later, even though his relationship with the British government was excellent, if it hadn't been for his untimely death.
Taking this into consideration I doubt the dog was buried with full 'Nazi' honours, I suspect that the word 'Nazi' was added just to make it more newsworthy.

Mehar · #9 (**permalink**) November 5th, 2009, 01:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redcoat

His owner Dr Leopold von Hoesch wasn't a Nazi, he was appointed ambassador before the Nazi's came to power and due to the disagreements he was having with the Nazi leadership on the conduct of German foreign policy, it is believed he would have been removed from his position sooner rather than later, even though his relationship with the British government was excellent, if it hadn't been for his untimely death.
Taking this into consideration I doubt the dog was buried with full 'Nazi' honours, I suspect that the word 'Nazi' was added just to make it more newsworthy.

Really?

ARGH! Sometime these "journalists" are just as bad as those damn neo revisionists if not worse!

brndirt1 · #10 (**permalink**) November 5th, 2009, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redcoat

His owner Dr Leopold von Hoesch wasn't a Nazi, he was appointed ambassador before the Nazi's came to power and due to the disagreements he was having with the Nazi leadership on the conduct of German foreign policy, it is believed he would have been removed from his position sooner rather than later, even though his relationship with the British government was excellent, if it hadn't been for his untimely death.
Taking this into consideration I doubt the dog was buried with full 'Nazi' honours, I suspect that the word 'Nazi' was added just to make it more newsworthy.

While the use of the word Nazi is an attention grabber, and a rather revolting ploy by journalists today to "sell a paper", the use of the word to define the era in Germany shouldn't be ignored.

That separates that "period" of German history from other eras, and attempts to NOT tar all Germans with the same brush. In that sense the use of the word is a plus, to use it to appropriate attention for a newspaper article is NOT.

Just my two cents worth. And people will do wierd things for their pets, i.e. pet cemetaries (which are better maintained than many human ones), pet memorial services, pet freeze-drying so "Fluffy" can always grace her ditzy masters couch.

But I wonder at the "full Nazi" part as well.

redcoat · #11 (**permalink**) November 5th, 2009, 10:28 PM

Its interesting to note that at his funeral in Germany, Dr Leopold von Hoesch was buried in a private ceremony, without any senior members of the Nazi party in attendance, though both the British and French governments did send representatives.

Mehar · #12 (**permalink**) November 7th, 2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brndirt1

While the use of the word Nazi is an attention grabber, and a rather revolting ploy by journalists today to "sell a paper", the use of the word to define the era in Germany shouldn't be ignored.

That separates that "period" of German history from other eras, and attempts to NOT tar all Germans with the same brush. In that sense the use of the word is a plus, to use it to appropriate attention for a newspaper article is NOT.

Just my two cents worth. And people will do wierd things for their pets, i.e. pet cemetaries (which are better maintained than many human ones), pet memorial services, pet freeze-drying so "Fluffy" can always grace her ditzy masters couch.

But I wonder at the "full Nazi" part as well.

I partially agree but I also disagree as well.

The term Nazi in today's society unfortunately does paint everyone in Germany from that era with the same brush. A Nazi by definition is a member of the National Socialist Party, not all Germans were members of the party, infact, very few were in the grand scheme of things! While the term "Nazi Germany" can be used to describe a period in history (I agree) but thanks largely to revisionists (both intentionally and unintentionally) the terms have gained some ugly stereotypes.