THEY failed more than 60 years ago but Nazis yesterday finally invaded the fields of England, or at least their animal creation have.
A breed of giant cattle created by the Nazis at the orders of Adolf Hitler can be seen in Britain for the first time after a farmer imported the huge creatures to graze conservation land.
The Heck Cattle were created during World War II by Hitler's geneticists because he wanted to bring back to life the aurochs, a legendary breed believed to be the size of a rhino that were hunted to extinction in the early 17th Century.
Zoologist brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck attempted to create the beast, by cross breeding other animals, as a symbol of a master Aryan race.
Many of the Hecks were slaughtered after the war but some survived and yesterday 13 were brought to Devon where farmer Derek Gow hopes to use them for grazing as well as in wildlife photography and film-making courses.
"The Nazis wanted to recreate the auroch to evoke the power of the folklores and legends of the Germanic peoples," the farmer said.
"Aurochs were wild bulls, Julius Caesar recorded them as being bulls as big as elephants.Young men hunted these bulls as preparation for battle and leadership in war, but also to obtain these huge 6ft-wide horns that the bulls had as drinking vessels and war horns."
The Heck was created through cross breeding Scottish Highlands, Corsica and the French Camargue, as well as Spanish fighting bulls.
More…
