Many effects of the Nazis’ control in Europe still linger today in the descendants of those directly afflicted, including animal descendants. Hitler’s rule was not just limited to mistreatment of human beings: he brought animals into the picture to help him carry out his genocidal plans, specifically cows, or super cows, selectively bred for their strength.
Super cows were engineered by the Nazis to help with many tasks throughout their reign, and these cows, which still exist today, are aggressive to the point of threatening lives. Recently, Derek Gow, a British farmer in Devon, England, has had no choice but to say farewell to his fierce “pets.”
Gow told USA Today the reason behind this decision was that “some of them were incredibly aggressive, and we just couldn’t handle them.” Gow’s staff members weren’t able to tend to these cows because each time the cows were approached, their immediate instincts were to kill.
In the mid-20th century, the Nazi party commanded German zoologists and brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck to create a breed based on aurochs, a type of extinct wild ancient bull. The features of these cows after breeding with aurochs included muscular forms and sharp, deadly horns, all used in propaganda during World War II. The Nazis were incredibly supportive of this experiment because they wanted aggressive animals that could be easily trained to kill.
Gow has said that although most of his cows were extremely aggressive, others were surprisingly calm. And now that the most aggressive of cows are gone, (having been made into “very tasty” sausages), Gow has found that his farm has transformed into a rather peaceful place. While Nazi-bred super cows are clearly very dangerous, they help to teach us a lot about the past, stretching our knowledge about the Nazis’ past having an impact on only the lives of humans.
Take a look at the video below for more on super cows and how similar cows are still being “engineered.”