World War Wednesdays: Female Flyers of Nazi Germany

Hanna Reitsch's Indoor Flight, www.ww2gravesite.com

     This week's post is a bit different for me; definitely not in subject matter but in terms of the nature of its material. I listened to my first historical podcast, which is a medium that's quite popular among historians and public historians, and it was great to finally jump aboard the non-print material bandwagon! This information comes from a History Extra podcast called "Female Flyers in Nazi Germany," in which author and biographer Clare Mulley discusses her new book The Women Who Flew for Hitler, which explores the lives of two remarkable women who became leading aviators in the Third Reich. To begin, I'll provide some basic information about the two women Ms. Mulley discusses, before outlining the information she shares during her interview. 

Hanna Reitsch

      Born on March 29, 1912 in Hirschberg, Silesia to an upper-middle class family, and began her career studying medicine with the dream of becoming a flying doctor in North Africa. 

Melitta Gräfin von Schenk von Stauffenberg

       
     Born on January 9, 1903 in Krotoschin (then Prussia, now Poland), her father, Michael Schiller, was the son of a Jewish fur-trading family who had converted to Protestantism at a young age.

     To begin, Mulley introduces the subjects of her work as being women who had both learned to fly in Silesia (then Germany). Both were trained in gliders, which became a popular sport and symbol of regeneration and freedom after commercial flight was banned in Germany following the First World War. The atmosphere of patriotism and pride surrounding gliding in the postwar years attracted both Hanna and Melitta, who were naturally talented in the cockpit. Mulley says that while women were not encouraged to fly at that time, it "was a very glamorous time for flight," and these women became associated with that image.

     Mulley then offers a brief description of Hanna Reitsch's life and career. She reflects that Hanna was the first woman to fly a helicopter and the first person to fly a helicopter inside a building (see above). As the Nazi party came to power in 1933 and restored the German air force, she was proud of her blond hair and blue eyes and "delighted to be associated with the Nazi regime." She regarded the party as being capable of restoring pride, commerce, and jobs in Germany, and eventually began undertaking a great deal of public relations work on its behalf in large part due to her flying. During the war, she became a test pilot and would fly planes with special fittings on their wings that would cut steel cables on the zeppelin balloons that were barricading London. This meant that she was required to deliberately fly into the balloon cables at great risk. She also became the first of very few women to pilot a Messerschmidt 163 (a jet rocket plane) and survived a horrible crash, later becoming an early pioneer of plastic surgery. In recognition of her contributions to the Nazi regime, she was awarded the prestigious Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class. 

     In contrast, Mulley describes Melitta Gräfin von Schenk von Stauffenberg as being much less bubbly and confident than Hanna. Dark-haired and shy, she adored flying and physics and was a university graduate in aeronautical engineering. Given her expertise, she developed pioneering advancements for the Luftwaffe and tested her own devices. Specializing in dive bombing, she worked on Stukkas and Junkers JU 87/88s, which necessitated steep dives at high speeds. She also was involved in highly dangerous targeted pinpoint bombing without the pressurized suits with which the Allies were providing their test pilots, meaning  she faced a high danger of blacking out. In total, she undertook an unbelievably impressive 15,000 dive bombs, and also headed one of the most significant technological research centers for the Nazi regime. 

     Mulley explains that The Women Who Flew for Hitler is formatted as a double biography because of the vast differences between the two women but their shared commonality in the theme of proud German patriotism and sense of duty. She describes Melitta as being a conservative from an old German family, who was deeply committed to the pre-Nazi Germany, while Hanna was more committed to the new Nazi regime. Together, their stories provide "a much greater insight into the insanity of the Nazi regime" according to Mulley, which she argues is evidenced by its claim that there was no place for Jews in Germany, and that women were expected to assume a traditional domestic role; but both Hanna and Melitta were celebrated for flying and Melitta's Jewish background was ignored. Indeed, the Nazis were well aware of Melitta's Jewish heritage, since she had applied for Equal to Aryan status for herself and her whole family while she worked on making herself indispensable enough to spare them all. This evidences the contradictory Nazi policies and a willingness to compromise for which they are not often known, and demonstrates that there was no uniformity in the regime's belief system. 

Glider of the Berlin Segelflugverein at the Rhönwettbewerb 1923, Deutsches Museum

     Mulley then discusses the importance of flying to Nazi rise to power. After the First World War and removal of the German Air Force, crowds 30,000-strong would attend gliding shows. Melitta made her first flight at one such event in 1920, which also happened to be the same year that Hitler flew for the first time. In so doing, he recognized the potential that flight held not just for sport and commerce, but also in symbolism: "it was a political machine ," says Mulley, and he appreciated the technology's connotations with freedom and power. In 1922, Hitler became the first leader to undertake an airborne election campaign, flying around the country to address people rather than using the government-controlled radio waves. In true Hitler fashion, he employed theatrical landings and departures at dusk to maximize the full effect of the spectacle. 

     Similarly, Hanna also enjoyed the dramatics and notoriety associated with the regime. She quickly became a celebrity, and is often seen in footage from Nazi leaders' birthdays and special events where the camera zooms in to acknowledge her. During the 1938 Motor Show, an international fair hosted by Germany, numerous leading celebrities and Grand Prix winners were featured in order to showcase Germany's return to power on the world stage. The event included a helicopter display in the Deutschlandhalle, which was the biggest stadium in Europe at the time, where Hanna flew the craft inside while giving the Nazi salute. Melitta was often asked to do similar appearances but regularly found excuses not to, and once gave a speech in Stockholm during the war that never once mentioned Hitler or the regime and only referred ambiguously to her country. In regards to Hanna, Mulley notes an implicit propaganda of glamorous female empowerment which was used to suggest dedication to the regime and not for recruitment. She was a patriotic figure to rally behind, and was even taken to meet people on the Eastern Front during the last days of the war to boost morale. 

Adolf Hitler awards Hanna Reitsch the Iron Cross 2nd Class in March 1941

     In terms of the two women's personal relationships with each other, Mulley says that they did know one another and shared a mutual loathing which is not surprising given their differences. She indicates that the two were at some of the same test centers at the same time (they were simultaneously at the Berlin Aero Club, for example), and that Hanna was suspicious of Melitta and her political opinions. She is known to have written in letters about the possibility of Melitta trying to sabotage the war effort and work for the other side. After the war and Melitta's death in a crash landing, Melitta's sister Klara tried to compile a memoir of her sister and asked people for their reflections. In response, Hanna immediately wrote her that there was nothing remarkable about what Melitta had done, that her success was motivated an unhealthy kind of ambition driven by inner despair as a result of trying to prove herself despite her Jewish heritage, and that her Iron Cross was not valid.

     Mulley's own interpretation of Hanna and Melitta is that Hanna can be seen as an early protofeminist, while Melitta was more of an exception to a rule. Hanna was willing to look the other way regarding Nazi actions and policies, but Melitta was critical of the regime from the start. In that regard, Mulley observes two women who worked very closely in a small sphere, but their mindsets and decisions led to their two very different paths. After the war, Hanna claimed herself to be apolitical, but Mulley argues that as a woman she was actually much more political because she made the active choice to be involved and support the regime. In truth, she was deeply anti-Semitic her whole life and supported the Nazis to the end. 

     If you're interested in more biographical information on Hanna and Melitta, I encourage you to read more. Some of the most significant aspects of their lives are not included in the scope of Mulley's work, but can be easily uncovered online. 
     Thanks for reading,
Delany (@DLeitchHistory on Twitter)