[excerpts from book] SS LT GEN Hans Baur stayed in the bunker complex until his friend Hitler killed himself on the afternoon of 30 April. Before he killed himself, Hitler gave Baur his favourite painting from his office wall. When Baur got shot by Soviets after the break out failed, he was shot while carrying this huge painting in his hand
Nazi Germany's Air Force One
Hitler and his Pilot SS LT GEN Hans Baur
Hitler's personal pilot
Hitler was the first politician to campaign by air travel,
deciding that travel by plane was more efficient than travel by railway. Baur
first served as his pilot during the 1932 General Election.
Hitler obtained his first private aeroplane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m with
registration number D-2600 (Werk Nr. 4021), in 1933, after becoming German Chancellor.The same
registration number continued to be used for all aircraft used by Hitler, even
during the war years. The Ju 52 was named Immelmann II after the First
World War pilot Max Immelmann.
Baur was personally selected by Hitler to be his official pilot in 1933 and was
consequently released from service by Luft Hansa.
SS-Obergruppenführer Baur (SS LT GEN Hans Baur)
Adolf Hitler's personal Fw 200 Condor (Hitler’s Air
Force One)
Baur was appointed head of the Hitler's personal squadron,
initially based at Oberwiesenfeld,
Munich. As the Luftwaffe
was not yet officially established, Hitler wanted Baur to be able to command
sufficient power and respect to assure his security, therefore, Baur was
commissioned a Standartenführer
(colonel) in the Schutzstaffel
(SS No. 171,865) by Heinrich Himmler
in October, 1933.
Baur was given the task of expanding and organising Hitler's
personal squadron and the government "flying group". In 1934, Baur
was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberführer.
Hitler allowed Baur to fill his squadron with experienced Luft Hansa pilots,
including Georg Betz
who became co-pilot for Hitler's aircraft and Hans Baur's substitute. By 1937,
Hitler had three Ju 52 airplanes for flight use.
Then in 1937, Hitler obtained
a new aircraft, the Focke-Wulf Fw
200 Condor which was named, "Immelmann III". The Condor had a
much greater range and was faster than the Ju 52. In 1942, an improved model of
the Condor was put into use for Hitler's travels and Baur continued to be his
primary pilot. A Ju 290
was assigned to Hitler's renamed squadron, Fliegerstaffel des Führers
(FdF) in late 1944. Modifications were completed by February 1945 at the FdF's
base at Pocking, Bavaria.
Baur tested the
aircraft, but Hitler never flew in it. Still by the end of the war, Baur
commanded a total of 40 different aircraft, including Ju 52, Condors, Ju 290
and the little Fieseler Fi 156
Storch.
In this book, it is interesting to read that Hitler ate same identical meals at breakfast and lunch all his life until the last day. He always got up late in the morning. If it was emergency, Hitler's Adjutant had to wake him up
On 31 January 1944, Baur was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer
(brigadier general) and major general of the police; and on 24 February 1945,
he became an SS-Gruppenführer
(major general) and Generalleutnant
of the Police
During the last days of the war, Baur was with Hitler in the Führerbunker.
Baur had devised a plan to allow Hitler to escape from the Battle of Berlin; a
Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was held on standby which could take off from an
improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten,
near the Brandenburg Gate.
However,
Hitler refused to leave Berlin. On 26 April 1945, the improvised
landing strip was used by Hanna Reitsch
to fly in Colonel-General Robert Ritter
von Greim, appointed by Hitler as head of the Luftwaffe after Hermann Göring's
dismissal. During the evening of 28 April, Reitsch flew von Greim out on
the same road-strip to Plon.
On 29 April 1945, the Soviet Red Army launched an
all-out attack on the centre of Berlin. The Soviet artillery opened up with
intense fire in and around the Reich Chancellery area.
That evening in the bunker complex below the Chancellery garden, Hitler said
his farewell to his personal pilots, Baur and Betz. Baur pleaded with Hitler to
leave Berlin. The men volunteered to fly Hitler out of Germany in a Ju 390 and to safety. It
was in vain as Hitler turned Baur down, stating he had to stay in Berlin.
Baur stayed in the bunker complex until Hitler killed himself
on the afternoon of 30 April. Before he shot himself Hitler gave Baur his favourite painting from his office wall (when he got shot by Soviets after the break out failed, he was shot with that painting in his hand) After Hitler's suicide, Baur found the improvised
road-strip too pot-holed for use and overrun by the Soviet 3rd Shock
Army. A plan was devised to escape out from Berlin to the Allies on
the western side of the Elbe or to the German Army to the North. SS-Brigadeführer (Maj Gen) Wilhelm Mohnke (Commander of Hitler's Bodyguard Division) split up
the Reich
Chancellery and Führerbunker soldiers and personnel into ten
main groups. Baur, Betz and Martin Bormann left the
Reich Chancellery as part of one of the groups. During the escape attempt, Baur
was shot in the legs
Baur was of great interest to his captors, who believed he might
have flown Hitler to safety before the fall of Berlin. They also believed he
had information concerning stolen art, specifically about the plundering of the
Amber Room (Bernsteinzimmer)
in Leningrad. He was taken to
the Soviet Union
and imprisoned there for ten years before being released on 10 October 1955.
The French then imprisoned him until 1957.
Later life and book
Baur returned to West Germany and in 1957
wrote his autobiography Ich flog mit Mächtigen, which liberally
translates as "I flew with [the] mighty." The book was later
lengthened and the title was changed to Mit Mächtigen zwischen Himmel und
Erde, which translates as "Between Heaven and Earth with [the]
Mighty." The French
translation is more softly titled J'étais pilote de Hitler: Le sort du monde
était entre mes mains, which translates to "I was Hitler's pilot: The
fate of the world was in my hands."
Good Book to read
The book contains a collection of eyewitness accounts of
Hitler's daily activities and conversations and is unique because Hans Baur, as
his private pilot and personal friend, was in Hitler's presence practically
every day from 1933 to 1945. The book contains an account of the events
surrounding the arrest of Ernst Röhm, by Hitler
himself, on 30 June 1934 at Bad Wiessee
in which Baur took part.
The book also tells of Baur's attitude towards Hermann Göring
(whom Baur describes as a "thick headed glutton"). Hans Baur was one
of the few people who was truly close to Hitler and was one of the last people
to see Hitler alive in the Berlin bunker. The book
has since been translated into English - with the title
"I was Hitler's Pilot" - and is an insider look into Hitler's daily life
and doings as leader of the German Reich.
SS Lt GEN Baur died in Germany on 17 February 1993.
Personal life
SS Lt GEN Hans Baur married Elfriede Braur in 1923. Their only
daughter, Ingeborg, was born the following year. After Elfriede Baur's death
from cancer in 1935, Baur married again, with Hitler as his best man. His
second wife, Maria, by whom he had two daughters, died while he was in
captivity in the Soviet Union.
His third wife, Cresentia, survived him
No comments:
Post a Comment