Nazi Science and the Heck Horse

Nazi science was quackery, unspeakable cruelty and sadism, along with an occasional flash of brilliance. Yes, among the crackpots and monsters, there were also genius scientists of the caliber of Heisenberg and von Braun who remained in Germany and rolled over for the Third Reich's endorsements. After the war, most often hid behind the flimsy excuse of being apolitical. Some of these scientists dabbled in genetic experiments. Some of these experiments were conducted with concentration camp prisoners as guinea pigs, often without benefit of anesthesia.

Heinz and Lutz Heck

German zoologist brothers Heinz and Lutz Heck dreamed of reviving animal species and breeds long thought to be extinct. To do this, they rearranged genes from existing breeds. Their genetic crossbreeding experiments remarkably yielded physical characteristics similar to the extinct breed or species.

Heinz Heck wasn't just a geneticist. He was also the director of the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich. Brother Lutz was a zoologist and the director of Berlin's largest zoo. Even thought they received the Third Reich's support, the Heck brothers' experiments began in 1928, a few years before Hitler's rise to power.

The Tarpan

One of Heck brothers' most notable experiments was aimed at reviving the tarpan, a horse breed extinct since 1887. Human hunters were cited as the prime reason for their demise.

Tarpan had run wild in the forests of Poland for many centuries. They were the horses of primitive Neanderthal cave paintings. The Heck brothers were drawn to the tarpans because of their prehistoric origins. They were among the wild ancestors of modern horse breeds. Above all, the Hecks believed that the bloodline of modern horses could be strengthened by cross-breeding with heartier wild ancestors like the tarpan.

The region where most of tarpans had lived was a forest near the Polish town of Bialowieza. Eventually the forest became a regal hunting area used primarily by royalty. Back then, tarpan meat was considered a delicacy.

By the 18th century, most of this horse breed had been slaughtered. The last living tarpan died in a Moscow zoo in 1887.

"Back-breeding"

"Back-breeding", as the Heck brothers' scientific process was known, was considered by some members of the science community to be a cheat. Any bred-back breed or species deemed "revived" was in actuality a creature possessing a completely different genetic makeup than the original extinct breed or species. As a result, the science community never really gave the "revived" tarpans (or "Heck Horses" as they were called) much credence.

In the Heck brothers' experiments, they used living breeds that had strong physical similarities to the tarpans. These included Koniks, Icelandic ponies, and Polish Przewalski horses. The "Heck Horses" were the cross-bred offspring of these horses.

Warsaw Zoo

Many of these horses used in the experiments were looted from zoos across Eastern Europe by invading Nazi forces. Warsaw Zoo head Jan Zabinski claimed that Lutz Heck, a former friend, accompanied the soldiers and took all of his zoo's animals and called it "a loan." Zabinski also claimed that accompanying Nazi soldiers went on a "hunting expedition" in the Warsaw Zoo, killing off remaining animals for easy sport.

Aurochs

Besides tarpan horses, Lutz and Heinz Heck also tried to revive an extinct (since the 17th century) breed of ox called the auroch, getting its body size from one living ox breed and its coloring from another.

As of 2008, Heck Horses and Heck Cows (bred-back aurochs) are still in existence.

Heinz Heck died in Munich in 1982. Lutz Heck died in Berlin in 1983.