by Clare Mulley
59 Hajo Herrmann, Eagle’s Wings: The Autobiography of a Luftwaffe Pilot (Airlife, 1991), pp. 227, 231.
60 Gerhard Bracke archive, Melitta’s diary (24.07.1944).
61 Ibid. (25.08.1944).
62 Robert Loeffel, Family Punishment in Nazi Germany: Sippenhaft, Terror and Myth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 146.
63 Nina von Stauffenberg quoted by Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), privately translated, p. 223.
64 Peter Hoffmann, Stauffenberg: A Family History, 1904–1944 (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2008), p. 279.
65 Archive Reinhart Rudershausen, Klara Schiller, ‘Memories of Klara Schiller’ (nd).
66 Ursula von Kardorff, Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin 1942–1945 (Rupert Hart-Davis, 1965), p. 152.
67 Konstanze von Schulthess, Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg: Ein Porträt [A Portrait] (Piper, 2009), p. 143.
68 Dorothee von Meding, Courageous Hearts: Women and the anti-Hitler Plot of 1944 (Berghahn, 2008), p. 193.
69 Berthold von Stauffenberg, ‘A Childhood in the Third Reich – from System Conformist to Traitor’s Child’. Lecture delivered to the AV Rheinstein Köln-Lindenthal (14.04.2008).
70 Ibid.; Melitta to Nina von Stauffenberg (30.12.1944) quoted in Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), privately translated, p. 222.
71 Berthold von Stauffenberg, ‘A Childhood in the Third Reich – from System Conformist to Traitor’s Child’. Lecture delivered to the AV Rheinstein Köln-Lindenthal (14.04.2008).
72 Bundesarchiv Berlin, R58/1027, quoted in Robert Loeffel, Family Punishment in Nazi Germany: Sippenhaft, Terror and Myth (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), p. 178.
73 Berthold von Stauffenberg, Mulley interview (05.11.14).
74 Elisabeth zu Guttenberg, Sheridan Spearman: Holding the Stirrup (Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little, Brown, 1953), p. 212.
75 Ibid.
76 Ibid.
77 Ibid. p. 215.
78 Ibid. p. 215.
79 Anne Voorhoeve private archive, Berlin, Otto-Philipp von Stauffenberg, ‘Memories of the time after 20 July 1944, the day of the attempted assassination of Hitler’.
80 Fey von Hassell, A Mother’s War (Corgi, 1991), p. 158.
81 Ibid. pp. 161 and 163.
82 Ibid. p. 161.
83 Ibid. p. 161.
84 Ibid. p. 166.
85 Ibid. p. 168.
86 Ibid. p. 168.
87 Ibid. p. 163.
88 Karl Christ, Der Andere Stauffenberg: Der Historiker und Dichter Alexander von Stauffenberg [The Other Stauffenberg: Historian and Poet Alexander von Stauffenberg] (C. H. Beck, 2008), privately translated, p. 161.
89 Fey von Hassell, A Mother’s War (Corgi, 1991), p. 166.
90 Ibid. p. 173.
91 Ibid. p. 174.
92 Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 180.
93 Ibid. p. 75.
94 Ibid. p. 183.
95 Ibid. p. 146.
96 Ibid. pp. 185, 188.
97 Ibid. p. 189.
98 Ibid. p. 196.
99 Ibid. p. 197.
100 Ibid. p. 197.
101 Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of ‘The Most Dangerous Man in Europe’ (Greenhill, 2006), p. 129.
102 US National Archives, Hanna Reitsch interrogation summary, ‘Condemnation of Göring by Hanna Reitsch’ (16.11.1945), p. 6.
103 Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of ‘The Most Dangerous Man in Europe’ (Greenhill, 2006), p. 216.
104 Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 197.
105 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 218; Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 197.
106 Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 197.
107 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/109, Hanna Reitsch letter to Peter Riedel (27.11.1972).
108 Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 198.
109 Ibid.
110 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 219.
111 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/109, Hanna Reitsch letter to Peter Riedel (November 1972).
112 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/101, Walter Stender, ‘Politische Erklärung’ [Political Statement] (01.07.1947).
113 Martin Simons, German Air Attaché: The Thrilling Wartime Story of the German Ace Pilot and Wartime Diplomat Peter Riedel (Airlife, 1997), p. 208.
114 Fey von Hassell, A Mother’s War (Corgi, 1991), pp. 175–6.
115 Ibid. p. 179.
116 Ibid. p. 179.
117 Elisabeth zu Guttenberg, Sheridan Spearman, Holding the Stirrup (Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little Brown, 1953), p. 22.
118 Fey von Hassell, A Mother’s War (Corgi, 1991), p. 182.
119 Ibid. p. 179.
120 Ibid. p. 185.
121 Elisabeth zu Guttenberg, Sheridan Spearman, Holding the Stirrup (Duell, Sloan and Pearce/Little Brown, 1953), p. 228.
122 Ibid.
123 Anthony Beevor, Ardennes 1944, Hitler’s Last Gamble (Viking, Penguin Random House, 2015), pp. 80–81.
124 Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of ‘The Most Dangerous Man in Europe’ (Greenhill, 2006), p. 162.
125 Ibid.
126 Ibid.
127 Fey von Hassell, A Mother’s War (Corgi, 1991), p. 184.
128 Ibid.
129 Gerhard Bracke archive, Melitta’s diary (05–06.12.1944).
130 Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), p. 217.
131 Ibid.
132 Ibid.
133 Gerhard Bracke archive, Melitta’s diary (22.12.1944).
134 Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), p. 215.
135 Hans W. Hagen, Blick hinter die Dinge – 12 Begegnungen [Behind the Scenes – Twelve Encounters] (Türmer-Verlag 1962), quoted by Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), pp. 215–18.
136 Berthold von Stauffenberg, ‘A Childhood in the Third Reich – from System Conformist to Traitor’s Child’. Lecture delivered to the AV Rheinstein Köln-Lindenthal (14.04.2008).
137 Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig Verlag, 2013), p. 219.
138 Gerhard Bracke archive, Melitta’s diary (23–25.12.1944).
139 Melitta to Nina von Stauffenberg (30.12.1944), quoted in Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), p. 220; Gerald Posner, Hitler’s Children: Inside the Families of the Third Reich (Mandarin, 1991), p. 184.
140 Gerald Posner, Hitler’s Children: Inside the Families of the Third Reich (Mandarin, 1991), p. 184.
141 Ibid.
142 Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), privately translated, p. 220.
143 Gerhard Bracke archive, Melitta’s diary (26.12.1944).
144 Melitta to Nina von Stauffenberg (30.12.1944) quoted in Gerhard Bracke, Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin [The Life of an Aviatrix] (Herbig, 2013), p. 219.
145 Ibid.
146 Ibid.
147 Ibid.
1
48 Konstanze von Schulthess, Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg: Ein Porträt [A Portrait] (Piper, 2009), p. 90.
13: IN THE BUNKER
1 Anthony Beevor, Ardennes 1944: Hitler’s Last Gamble (Viking, Penguin Random House, 2015), p. 219.
2 Nicolaus von Below, At Hitler’s Side: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937–1945 (Frontline, 2010), pp. 223–4.
3 Ron Laytner, Edit International Articles: A portfolio of some of Ron Laytner’s greatest stories, ‘Hanna Reitsch: Greatest Nazi Test Pilot and World’s First Astronaut’ (2010).
4 Anthony Beevor, Ardennes 1944: Hitler’s Last Gamble (Viking, Penguin Random House, 2015), p. 219.
5 Ron Laytner, Edit International Articles: A portfolio of some of Ron Laytner’s greatest stories, ‘Hanna Reitsch: Greatest Nazi Test Pilot and World’s First Astronaut’ (2010).
6 Dennis Piszkiewicz, From Nazi Test Pilot to Hitler’s Bunker: The Fantastic Flights of Hanna Reitsch (Praeger, 1997), p. 87.
7 Ron Laytner, Edit International Articles: A portfolio of some of Ron Laytner’s greatest stories, ‘Hanna Reitsch: Greatest Nazi Test Pilot and World’s First Astronaut’ (2010).
8 Nicolaus von Below, At Hitler’s Side: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937–1945 (Frontline, 2010), p. 229.
9 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 253.
10 Ibid. p. 240.
11 Anon., A Woman in Berlin, introduction by Antony Beevor (Virago, 2011), p. 1.
12 Otto Skorzeny, Skorzeny’s Special Missions: The Memoirs of ‘The Most Dangerous Man in Europe’ (Greenhill, 2006), p. 195.
13 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 241.
14 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
15 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 241.
16 Ibid. p. 242.
17 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 244.
22 Ibid.
23 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
24 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 245.
25 Ibid. p. 245.
26 Ibid. p. 245.
27 Ibid. p. 245.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
32 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 247.
33 Ibid.
34 Ibid.
35 Albert Speer, Inside the Third Reich (Sphere, 1971), p. 631.
36 Hanna Reitsch in Die Welt, ‘Wie klein Mäxchen such den Untergang des Dritten Reiches vorstellt’ [How the Little Maxes Imagine the Downfall of the Third Reich] (02.08.1973).
37 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 247.
38 Gerhard Boldt, Hitler’s Last Ten Days (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1973), p. 178; Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 248.
39 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 248.
40 Ibid.
41 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
42 Ibid.
43 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 248.
44 US National Archives, Hanna Reitsch interrogation summary, ‘Condemnation of Göring by Hanna Reitsch’ (16.11.1945), p. 1.
45 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
46 US National Archives, Hanna Reitsch interrogation summary, ‘Condemnation of Göring by Hanna Reitsch’ (16.11.1945), p. 3.
47 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
48 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 248.
49 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
50 Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary (Phoenix, 2002), p. 174.
51 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 249.
52 Fred Taylor (trans., ed.), The Goebbels Diaries, 1939–1941: The historic journal of a Nazi war leader (Sphere, 1983), p. 13.
53 Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary (Phoenix, 2002), p. 175.
54 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 250.
55 Ibid.
56 Ibid.
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 US National Archives, Air Division HQ United States Forces in Austria, Air Interrogation Unit, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch: ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945), p. 6.
61 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
62 Ibid.
63 Nicolaus von Below, At Hitler’s Side: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937–1945 (Frontline, 2010), p. 233.
64 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
65 Ibid.
66 Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven, In the Bunker with Hitler: 23 July 1944–29 April 1945 (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005), p. 164.
67 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
68 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 251.
69 Traudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary (Phoenix, 2002), p. 179.
70 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 251.
71 Mano Ziegler, Rocket Fighter: The story of the Messerschmitt Me-163 (Arms & Armour, 1976), p. 137.
72 Dennis Piszkiewicz, From Nazi Test Pilot to Hitler’s Bunker: The Fantastic Flights of Hanna Reitsch (Praeger, 1997), p. 98.
73 Karl Koller, Der Letzte Monat: Die tagebuchaufzeichnungen des ehemaligen Chefs des Generalstabes der deutsche Luftwaffe vom 14 April bis zum 27 Mai 1945 [The Last Month: The Diaries of Karl Koller, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe, 14 April to 27 May 1945] (Mannheim, 1949), p. 62.
74 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
75 Ibid.
76 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 251.
77 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
78 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 252.
79 T
raudl Junge, Until the Final Hour: Hitler’s Last Secretary (Phoenix, 2002), p. 177.
80 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
81 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 252.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid. p. 253.
84 Ibid. p. 253.
85 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
86 Gerhard Boldt, Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account (Arthur Barker, 1973), p. 170.
87 Nicolaus von Below, At Hitler’s Side: The Memoirs of Hitler’s Luftwaffe Adjutant 1937–1945 (Frontline, 2010), p. 238.
88 Gerhard Boldt, Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account (Arthur Barker, 1973), p. 170.
89 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
90 Deutsches Museum archive, 130/123, letter Hanna Reitsch/Kurt Reitsch (1946).
91 Gerhard Boldt, Hitler’s Last Ten Days (Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1973), p. 178.
92 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 253.
93 Ibid. p. 254.
94 US National Archives, Air Division HQ United States Forces in Austria, Air Interrogation Unit, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch: ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945), p. 11.
95 Hanna Reitsch, The Sky My Kingdom: Memoirs of the Famous German World War II Test Pilot (Greenhill, 2009), p. 255.
96 Hugh Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler (Macmillan, 1947), p. 158.
97 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, ‘Last Letters from Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (01.11.1945).
98 Ibid.
99 Ibid.
100 Hugh Trevor-Roper, The Last Days of Hitler (Macmillan, 1947), p. 152.
101 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, ‘Last Letters from Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (01.11.1945).
102 Cornell University Law Library: Donovan Nuremberg Trials Collection, Robert E. Work, interrogation of Hanna Reitsch, ‘The Last Days in Hitler’s Air Raid Shelter’ (08.10.1945).
14: FINAL FLIGHT
1 Fey von Hassell, Niemals sich beugen: Erinnerungen einer Sondergefangenen der SS [Never Bow Down: Memories of the Special Prisoners of the SS] (Serie Piper, 1995), p. 172.