Documents that were found more recently show that Nazi scientists were working on more than just a nuclear bomb. Among the projects of weapons of mass destruction, biological weapons were also actively developed, which could become much more dangerous - as a tool of biological warfare, the Third Reich was going to use malaria mosquitoes.
The origins of fascist biological weapons
And in ancient times and in the New Age, the strongest armies in the world have always had the same problem - deadly diseases brought more damage to the troops than any major battles. Realizing the potential and destructiveness of such weapons, the Japanese, British and Americans during World War II actively worked on the development of biological weapons, conducting experiments with insects and poisons that occur in nature. Modern researchers are convinced that such classified work was carried out during the heyday of the Third Reich, even though Adolf Hitler banned such work and experiments in Germany.
The main initiator of work on biological weapons in the Third Reich was Heinrich Himmler. Rumor has it that the project began with the fact that during his business trips in 1941 and 1942, Himmler was very often reported that lice and bedbugs were spreading typhus. After that, the SS leader ordered the founding of an entomological institute, which would be engaged in the development of such weapons and was subordinate to the SS-vskiy occult research institute "Annenerbe".
In his dissertation "Das Ahnenerbe der SS" American Michael Carter mentions that a similar institute functioned on the territory of the fascist concentration camp Dachau. Until now, more detailed information about this institute has not been made public. On the pages of the Endeavor magazine, the German biologist K. Reinhardt (University of Tübingen) published an article in which he shared with the readers a previously unknown history of the development of biological weapons in Nazi Germany. The information that he received was able to collect thanks to work in the archives of Berlin and Munich and the help provided by the director of the Salzburg Institute of Nature, P. Trautz.
Dachau concentration camp plan.
The main "nominee" for the post of head of the entomological institute was considered Karl von Frisch, a scientist who later became a Nobel Prize laureate. He received it for his work on deciphering the dance of the bees and became the 3rd biologist in history to receive such an award. Reinhardt himself believes that the choice of a biologist far from medicine as the manager of such a project is due to the unfriendly climate in the Annenerbe - it is known that intrigues and squabbles flourished in the scientific community. But, in the end, the position was taken by Eduard May, who dealt with dragonflies and was also far from medicine.
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Nazi experiences at Dachau
The researchers managed to find out exactly what exactly the employees of the institute were doing as part of the project in the Dachau concentration camp. The main task was to conduct research and experiments on the use of the latest pesticides against various insects and study their reactions. In his dissertation, Reinhardt points out that experimental reports in 1944 indicate detailed studies of a species of mosquito that can actively transmit destructive diseases, including malaria. From this we can conclude that mosquitoes were to become the new deadly weapon of the Third Reich.
Liberation of the prisoners of the Dachau camp.
The staff of the Entomological Institute found that the species Anopheles maculipennis is most suitable for such purposes - it is perfectly adapted for transportation by air to distant territories and does not need food. Unfortunately, the documents found do not disclose information regarding mosquito breeding and transportation technologies.
Mosquitoes of the species Anopheles maculipennis.
Obviously, mosquitoes could not have been grown in Germany, since the winters are cold here and the insects could not survive in such conditions. According to Reinhardt, the only reason that prevented the successful completion of biological weapons development was the amateur primitive infrastructure of the institute in the Dachau concentration camp. This opinion is confirmed in the book by Frank Snowden (Yale University), who indicates that the entomologist E. Martini (Reinhardt also mentions him in his article) in 1943 set the task of the Nazi troops to break up a mosquito nursery near Rome, in a swampy area …
Until now, there is no consensus among historians and scientists from all over the world about the work of the entomological institute in the Dachau concentration camp. It is not clear what was the goal of the employees involved in the project. This could be "defensive" work related to countering the spread of typhus and lice, because prisoners worked in the camp, the death rate of which increased with each new day of the war. Perhaps the program employees were busy developing a deadly biological weapon - today it is not possible to establish this.