The Herd Reich: A farmer's battle with Nazi cows

The once-extinct Aurochs were brought back to life by Adolf Hitler's scientists in the 1930s after officially dying out 4,000 years ago. They arrived in Britain for the first time in 2009 when a farmer imported 13 cows.

They were a symbol of the Fuhrer's vision for world domination, produced a lot of dung down in deepest Devon...and now, it turns out, have ended up in some 'very tasty' sausages.

The mouth-watering, if unfortunate, end of half of the only herd of 'Nazi' cattle in England was revealed yesterday as the farmer who owns them told how he was forced to send seven to the abattoir because they were "incredibly aggressive".

Derek Gow, 49, said: "The ones we had to get rid of would just attack you any chance they could. They would try to kill anyone. Dealing with that was not a lot of fun at all."

The cows in question are a relic of Adolf Hitler's support for a scheme to revive the mighty auroch - a huge beast which featured heavily in Teutonic folklore. The aurochs had been hunted to extinction in Europe by 1627, but two zoologist brothers decided to 'bring them back to life' in a breeding plan which later won Nazi support.

Heinz and Lutz Heck mixed animals from the Scottish Highlands, Corsica and the French Camargue, as well as Spanish fighting bulls. After the fall of the Nazis, the Heck cattle were seen as an unwanted reminder of German oppression and efforts to build a master race, and almost all of them were destroyed.

But a few survived, and 13 were shipped from a conservation park in Belgium to Mr Gow's farm at Broadwoodwidger on the Devon-Cornwall border in 2009.

It was the first time the beasts had been seen in Britain for more than 4,000 years.

But yesterday Mr Gow said he "couldn't handle" the rogue members of the herd, adding: 'What the Germans did with their breeding programme was create something truly primeval. The aurochs were wild bulls.'

The Hecks' programme was so successful the cows flourished and were used in propaganda material during the Second World War. Mr Gow said they were shorter than the aurochs, but retain their half-ton ancestors' muscular build and lethal horns.

He added: "As far as being a commercial breed is concerned, they have little value, but they are a significant animal from a conservation point of view. For instance, each cow can produce its own weight in dung every year, which is a great source of food for insects and bugs and nutrients for the environment."

But he added of the aggressive ones: "I have worked with a range of different animals from bison to deer and I have never come across anything like these.

"To get them into the trailer to get them off the farm we used a young and very athletic young man to stand on the ramp and they charged at him before he quickly jumped out the way.

"When the Germans were selecting them to create this animal they used Spanish fighting cattle to give them the shape and ferocity they wanted.

"The reason the Nazis were so supportive of the project is they wanted them to be fierce and aggressive.

"Since they have gone it is all peaceful again. Peace reigns supreme on the farm.

"Despite these problems, I have no regrets at all. It has been a good thing to do and the history of them is fascinating."

The meat from the slaughtered cows was turned into sausages which Mr Gow said were "very tasty' - and a bit like a cross between venison and beef. They will be sold in Europe, he said, but probably not marketed as 'Nazi sausages".

He explained: "I'm not sure how appealing Third Reich sausages would be but they might be popular with some.

"They are very tasty though and taste like a cross between beef and venison and are sought after in Austria and Germany. They are a different product with low fat and cholesterol.

"I don't imagine any of them are sold locally but we are looking in the future to create a speciality market for them.

"But we need to get to a stage where it is a manageable herd that can be used for normal farming."

Hitler saw the "super cows" as a symbol of German and Aryan might and tasked leading geneticists, brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck, to bring the Aurochs 'back into existence'.

The pair traced the species' descendants to domestic breeds and managed to 'pull the wild genes out' in a Jurassic Park-style experiment.

The Hecks' programme at zoos in Berlin and Munich was so successful that the new Aurochs flourished and were used in propaganda material during the Second World War.

Mr Gow, a father of two, said his cows were slightly shorter than the original Aurochs, but retain their ancestors' muscular build, deep brown complexion, and shaggy coffee-coloured fringe.

He added: 'Importing the cattle has been an interesting project for us - they have such an unusual history.

"There was a thinking around that time that you could selectively breed animals for Aryan characteristics, which were rooted in runes, folklore and legend.

"Heck cattle were the product of an attempt to back-breed using a number of existing older species, including Spanish fighting bulls, Fresians and Simmentals."

The cattle, which have lethal-looking horns and a muscular build, are unlike any modern commercial breed of cow.

They were almost destroyed following the defeat of Nazism in 1945, but some survived after they were shipped to game parks in Western Europe.

Mr Gow said: "As far as being a commercial breed is concerned, they have little value, but they are a significant animal from a conservation point of view.

"For instance, each cow can produce its own weight in dung every year, which is a great source of food for insects and bugs and nutrients for the environment.

"The Auroch was extinct, but domestic descendants - Friesians, Simmentals and everything else - were still kicking around the countryside.

"The two brothers argued that if the one wild animal that spawned all of these had gone, through a process of back-breeding domestic cattle, you could pull the wild genes out and recreate the ancestor.

"Between the two wars, there was a thinking that you could selectively breed animals - and indeed people - for Aryan characteristics, for characteristics that were rooted in runes, folklore and legend."

- Daily Mail