A heifer comes on board the S.S. Charles W. Wooster in January 1946 to begin its journey to Czechoslovakia. Photo credit: Christian Kennel.
January 7, 1946, the S.S. Charles W. Wooster, left Baltimore, Maryland, with 325 heifers on board. The cattle were on their way to help families in Czechoslovakia recover from the trauma of World War II. 175 of the heifers were gifts of American Christians sent by the Heifer Project for the neediest farmers in Upper Silesia. The remainder were sent by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration which made numerous shipments of horses and heifers to Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1945 to 1947.
The S.S. Charles W. Wooster docked in Bremen, Germany, to offload heifers to be sent to Czechoslovakia in January 1946. Photo credit: Christian Kennel.
This week, in Ratingen, Germany, the Upper Silesia Museum (Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum) has opened an exhibit, “For Body and Soul: from the culture of food and drink,” in which this history is remembered. One of the topics covered in the exhibition is strategies of providing nourishment in times of shortage and crisis, and it’s in that context that the seagoing cowboys and the Heifer Project are being introduced to museum goers. It has been my pleasure and privilege to provide the museum with the images to tell this piece of their history.
Seagoing cowboy display at the Upper Silesia Museum, Ratingen, Germany. Photo courtesy of Oberschlesisches Landesmuseum.
Heifer Project brochures on display at the Upper Silesia Museum. Photo courtesy of Oberschesisches Landesmuseum.
The exhibit runs through October 15, 2016, so if you’re in Germany between now and then, stop in and take a look!
A recipient expresses thanks for their heifer. Courtesy of Heifer International.
Thank you letter translation. Courtesy of Heifer International..
The Seagoing Cowboys 
Peggy, your research is so impressive and I know it must be such an honor to provide this museum with these images. I loved reading that letter from the widow who received the cow. It puts a face and a family to the receiving end of the cowboy journey. It’s easy for me to imagine this repeated many times to so very many families in war torn Europe.
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Thanks for your lovely reflection, Joyce. I’ve been at the Heifer International archives these past two weeks researching the shipments that went to Germany throughout the decade of the 1950s helping the people of German heritage who were expelled from Eastern European countries and sent back to Germany after the war. I’m finding a multitude of stories such as this one. You’re right, the impact of the Heifer Project is exponential. Add to that the fact that the first female offspring of the gift animal is passed on to another family in need, and it’s all the more impressive. We need stories like this in our world right now. Blessings to you, dear sister at heart.
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