Hitler's Heroine: Hanna Reitsch (33 page)

14 The day after Kristallnacht the streets were littered with glass from the broken windows of Jewish shops. Observers look on in this scene while a Nazi flag is reflected in the background. Hanna was questioned over her support for the Jews in the aftermath of that night.

15 In the early days of the war Hanna became a heroine in her hometown of Hirschberg. Here she gives a Nazi salute to well-wishers greeting her on a visit home. Hirschberg celebrated Hanna in many ways, including giving her a glider. (German Federal Archives)

16 A great deal of misinformation has circulated about Hanna’s relationship with Hitler. She only met him on a handful of occasions and not until the last days in the bunker was she really able to talk to him in any depth. She didn’t really like him, but could not reconcile this feeling with her belief in him as a leader. (German Federal Archives)

17 Hanna is seen receiving her title of Flugkapitän, with Göring grinning inanely to himself in the background. Hanna was disappointed by her first meeting with the Führer – he picked his nose and talked poorly. She cried for several days after the meeting. (German Federal Archives)

18 Hanna’s favourite plane to fly was the Dornier 17. She flew various Luftwaffe officers in just such a plane. Hans Baur, Hitler’s pilot, also liked the Dornier. (German Federal Archives)

19 The Gigant was an enormous glider that pushed the limits of what gliding could achieve. In fact, it was too big and, as Hanna discovered, very heavy to handle. Ultimately, the Gigant proved ungainly and was fitted with its own engines to operate as a transport carrier.

20 This is a rare old still of the Me 163b or Komet, famous for both its great speed and manoeuvrability, and also the high death toll it took on its own pilots. It was long thought that no original images of the Komet had survived, but grainy images such as this have emerged relatively recently.

21 A beautiful Komet now resides at the United States Air Force Museum in America. Komets were found by the Americans, after Germany capitulated, in various states of build. Many had not flown. All built by slave labour, these surviving Komets are now to be found in aeronautical museums across the world. (USAF)

22 Handsome rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the only man in this image in a dark suit, stands among various Luftwaffe officials in 1941. Despite his later denials, von Braun willingly worked on rockets for the Nazis. His various designs were usually constructed by slave labourers. (German Federal Archives)

23 Rockets, including the V1, were tested at Peenemünde. Hanna went there to test the Komet, and was present when the site was first bombed by the Allies and largely destroyed, forcing rocket tests to be moved elsewhere. (German Federal Archives)

24 Hanna had little good to say about Hermann Göring, who she believed had let down the Luftwaffe. She was dismayed when she had lunch with him to discover how ill informed he was about various new projects. His betrayal of Hitler sparked Hanna’s daring flight to the Führerbunker. (German Federal Archives)