During the last days of World War 2, as American soldiers faced the horrors
of the Nazi concentration camps, liberating one after the other,
a unique group of soldiers opted to defy the soul-wrenching events taking place all
around them by putting together a highly unusual mission to save a group of exceptional horses.
The stallions belonged to a unique breed of racing horses known as the Lipizzaner.
The last of these invaluable animals were now in the Czechoslovakian village of Hostau, right
in the middle of the destructive path of the Red Army, which would soon raze through the region.
Knowing the mercilessness of the Russians, the American and German soldiers joined
forces to save the unique beasts and their Spanish Riding School in Vienna.
With the help of the exiled Russian prince and his riders, the daring team secured the town
and the horses within. But the newly formed alliance would soon be tested when an enraged
rogue group of SS troopers assaulted the defenders with everything they had.
Soon, the Americans, Germans, and Russians found themselves fighting
side by side, only one of two such instances during the entire war…
German Stallion Reborn
As with all other aspects of military development, the Western Allies severely limited Germany’s
ability to keep horses after World War 1 and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The agreement forced them to export most of what they bred to hamper any efforts
to rebuild a military force. As such, horses became a rare commodity in post-war Germany.
Meanwhile, a strong horse breeding culture was flourishing in Austria,
sponsored by the monarchy and the local aristocrats. The Austrians
invested heavily in the Spanish riding school in Vienna, where spectacular equestrian shows
would be hosted in lavishly decorated arenas equipped with exuberant chandeliers hanging
from their ceilings and a colossal portrait of Emperor Charles the Sixth hanging on the wall.
As soon as Adolf Hitler consolidated his power, he ordered to increase the
horse breeding programs for both military and civilian purposes,
appointing famed German hippologist Gustav Rau as the master of horses of the German Army.
The scheme was highly successful, and Germany was soon breeding significant amounts of horses.
Then, when World War 2 broke out, the Germans pushed their horse reserves to the very limit,
getting to a point in which they were replacing
6,000 horses each month due to the heavy losses. During the entirety of the war,
the Germans used close to three million horses, with 60 percent losing their lives.
The Perfect Horse
Hitler had revitalized Germany’s horse breeding capabilities during the war,
and he eventually sought to take that idea one step further.
Just as the Nazi party had become viciously obsessed with creating the
perfect German man through eugenics, German horse breeders also decided
they could breed a unique horse capable of surpassing any other in the world.
It would be the perfect horse for the ideal German man.
With the annexation of Austria, Hitler had access to more breeding grounds and dominion
over the renowned Janow Podlaski Stud Farm in Poland and the Spanish Riding School of Vienna.
As such, Hitler’s chief of breeding, Gustav Rau,
traveled the world looking for the finest racing horse specimens to begin his work.
Meanwhile, the German breeders gathered dozens of Lipizzaner horses and began reproducing them
in large numbers to eventually breed them with others and create the perfect species.
Horse Town
By the spring of 1945, the war had torn through eastern Europe, Austria, and parts of Germany,
and most of the breeding farms in war-torn Europe had been destroyed long ago.
One of the last remaining bastions of safety for thoroughbred horses was a
farm in the Czechoslovakian village of Hostau,
where Gustav Rau had appointed veterinarian Rudolf Lessing to care for the prized beasts.
Lessing’s farm and its approximately 300 pureblood
horses were amid Europe’s last Lipizzaner breeding grounds, but the roaring thunder
of the Soviet artillery could be constantly heard in the distance.
In a last desperate letter, Rau wrote to Lessing relaying instructions listing specific officers
in the American and Soviet armies he should plead to if the war was lost to save the horses.
By April, the German command structure was fractured beyond repair as communications
faltered and loyalties waned. As such, many German pockets of resistance were
now operating independently, with little contact with the German High command.
Amid such chaos, Lessing decided to risk being shot as a traitor before
witnessing what the Russians would do to the horses. His fears were not unfounded,
as there were plenty of reports of priceless racing breeding horses being shot by Soviet
soldiers when they refused to haul cargo, or even being eaten by the starving Red Army.
Leaving all patriotism behind, Lessing sneaked west to find the American battlefront line,
where he had stumbled upon Charles Hancock “Hank” Reed,
Colonel of the American 2nd Cavalry Group under General George Patton.
The American horseman became immediately invested in the plight and went directly
to General Patton, explaining the situation and suggesting arranging a
special operation to secure the horses and guarantee their safety. Patton,
a horse lover who had competed in the 1912 Olympic pentathlon, felt sympathy but also
feared the public scrutiny he would face if an operation to save a bunch of horses went south.
Even so, he responded with five words: (QUOTE) “Get them, make it fast.”
Ragtag Team
Reed sent Tom Stewart, a Tennessee senator’s son and experienced horseman, with Lessing.
Together, the two men embarked on the dangerous and ambitious diplomatic
mission of convincing the German troops to work with them for the horses’ sake.
Most of the local German commanders refused, alleging that working with the Americans
would be an act of treason and that every German involved would end up being shot.
Nevertheless, after continuous insistence, the commander in charge of the Hostau region
reconsidered and returned a message to Stewart asking: (QUOTE) “How many Panzers can you bring?”
The commander was willing to surrender to a large enough American force to avoid suspicions.
Despite Patton’s unwillingness to commit a sizeable American force to the cause, Reed
and Stewart assembled a group of two small cavalry reconnaissance troops with M8 scout cars, some M8
Howitzer motor carriages, two M24 Chaffee light tanks, and a screening infantry force of 325 men.
As the force stormed Hostau, the Germans quickly emerged waving a white bedsheet as a flag.
A formal surrender ceremony took place, the Nazi flag went down,
and the American one was flown over the village.
The small town and farm were liberated, the horses secured, and 300 prisoners of war were freed.
The first part of the operation was over,
but now came the matter of moving 300 horses out of the area before the Soviets arrived.
Escaping
The area was within what the Allies had deemed Soviet territory, so they would
need to move fast before the Soviets claimed the farms and all the rescued horses within.
However, the region was still plagued with dozens of pockets of German resistance, and the small
American force would need reinforcements if it was to succeed. Fortunately, many of the
liberated prisoners decided to join the fight, increasing the size of the defenders’ team.
To increase the number of men helping with the cause, Steward also contacted a group
of anti-communist Russian Cossacks who had been operating in the area
commanded by a Russian prince who wanted to free his country from the Bolsheviks.
The group of skilled riders was fleeing from the Soviets after the prince helped the Axis powers
when the German invasion of the USSR began. The odd group of misfits willingly accepted
to join and save the horses without realizing their uneasy alliance was about to be tested.
The Battle
As the American-led task force prepared for evacuation from the breeding farm,
their outpost was suddenly attacked by a large group of light infantry troops
using guerrilla tactics. The attackers were the remnants of the SS regiment Deutschland,
a group of Nazi fanatics enraged to see the Germans and Americans fighting together.
Bullets rang throughout the rural village as soldiers took cover behind stables and farmhouses.
The SS troopers carried out their assault aggressively but quickly, constantly moving
from one point to the next to avoid being cornered by the Americans and their allies.
At that point, American soldiers, German troopers, and Russian Cossacks at war with
each other fought side by side to repel the attack of the SS force.
The fierce battle lasted over five hours, with the SS soldiers carrying out several attacks during
the encounter. Nevertheless, the SS troopers’ lack of armor support put them at an enormous
disadvantage, and they were forced to retreat before the advancing might of the American tanks.
The task force was forced to delay the evacuation because of the battle, but the Russians were now
just a few miles away. Moreover, the farm was running out of food for the stallions.
For Steward and Lessing, the fear of losing the horses to the Soviets was more significant
than ever, and Lessing was also worried that the nearby Spanish Riding School of Vienna, where many
of his Lipizzaner horses were trained, would be ransacked and destroyed by the Soviet onslaught.
Patton’s Command
Alois Podhajsky, the director of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, found out that Patton
was approaching and invited the General for a personalized show and tour of the facilities.
Podhajsky then showed the General a particular purebred horse that had
been selected personally by Hitler as a gift for the Japanese Emperor.
Patton then asked to ride the iconic horse and even had his picture taken.
Podhajsky then took off his hat and said: (QUOTE) “The great American nation,
which had been singled out to save European culture from destruction, will certainly
interest itself also in this ancient academy so I’m sure ill not plead in vain in asking
you General for your special protection and help for the protection for the Spanish Riding School.”
Moved by everything he had witnessed, Patton officially declared the farm at
Hostau and the Spanish Riding School of Vienna as specially protected territories of the US Army.
Not even the invading Soviets could claim the cultural sites or the horses within them,
even if they were within their territories.
Soon after, the 300 Lipizzaners were taken back to US controlled-German territory,
and 150 were selected and shipped to the US as spoils of war.
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