Read Hitler's Heroine: Hanna Reitsch for Free Online Page B
Authors: Sophie Jackson
Communists, Social Democrats and trade unionists, along with the Poles and Jews. It was now illegal to speak Polish in public and anyone who looked Jewish was in constant danger; many were herded together and sent to concentration camps. One of these camps was Gross-Rosen, originally a satellite camp to the notorious Sachsenhausen before it became independent in 1941 and started to create its own sub-camps. One of these sub-camps was at Hirschberg, Hanna’s hometown.
While specific evidence of anti-Semitism in Hirschberg is mostly unrecorded, we can infer the atmosphere of the town from examples of what was happening all around it in Silesia. With Breslau very close, the Nazi influence in the area was strong and tension was high among the various ethnic groups. Hitler whipped up resentment that had been festering away just beneath the surface. Hanna’s mother complained of the Jews, blamed them for the bad that had happened to Germany. She might not have resorted to violence against them, but many of her neighbours would have. Mostly it started with bullying tactics: dead cats and pigeons thrown into Jewish gardens, the beards or hair of Jewish men being pulled on the street. This was simply an escalation of the vague anti-Semitism that had existed before Hitler. Jews had been called ‘Christ killers’ before 1933, only now such abuse was authorised by the state.
Name calling was one thing, but the situation was rapidly to get worse. Abuse became more violent, Germany imposed more and more restrictions on Jews and it became noticeable to the public that there was a widespread persecution of Jewish culture happening under their very noses. Yet neither Hanna nor her mother discussed the crisis spreading all across Silesia. No mention was made of the sub-camp to Gross-Rosen being built at Hirschberg. When vast numbers of people vanish, all from the same population, it has to be noticeable. Businesses were inexplicably closed; the Jewish owners disappeared. Yet still Hanna noticed nothing. Her home, her country was falling apart, but her only priority was a selfish one – getting to fly again. In fact, not even her beloved gliding escaped Hitler’s grasp. After the First World War and the ban on powered flight in Germany, the only means any dictator had of building an air force of new, young pilots was to train them in gliding.
While Hanna was learning of the freedom gliding could bring her, Hitler was using the sport to further his plans for world domination. The Hitler Youth was already bringing military discipline and training to the young boys who would be future members of the Wehrmacht or SS. The Flieger-Hitlerjugend or Flying Hitler Youth was training future members of the Luftwaffe. They started by building and flying model gliders, gaining a basic grounding in the principles of flight. They moved on to a short flight in a glider, much the same as Hanna had done in her training, before progressing to longer flights and, eventually, to powered aircraft at secret airfields in Russia. By the time Hitler was ready to unveil his Luftwaffe to the world he had several units of young pilots trained in this manner, all under the pretext of healthy fun and games. Not only were they ready to fly, but their early experiences had instilled a passion and enthusiasm vital for the numerous dangerous missions they would soon be involved in.
In May 1933 Hanna was busy with the ‘Grunau Baby’, the very latest in training gliders and the pride and joy of Wolf Hirth. Hanna was home in Hirschberg, having just scraped through her medical examinations, by luck rather than judgement – she had spent far more time studying plane physiology than she had human. The invitation to fly the Grunau Baby was both unexpected and exciting. Hirth was interested in filming Hirschberg from the air using the Baby and saw no reason why Hanna might not try the glider. Dressed in a light summer frock and without goggles or helmet, Hanna climbed
While specific evidence of anti-Semitism in Hirschberg is mostly unrecorded, we can infer the atmosphere of the town from examples of what was happening all around it in Silesia. With Breslau very close, the Nazi influence in the area was strong and tension was high among the various ethnic groups. Hitler whipped up resentment that had been festering away just beneath the surface. Hanna’s mother complained of the Jews, blamed them for the bad that had happened to Germany. She might not have resorted to violence against them, but many of her neighbours would have. Mostly it started with bullying tactics: dead cats and pigeons thrown into Jewish gardens, the beards or hair of Jewish men being pulled on the street. This was simply an escalation of the vague anti-Semitism that had existed before Hitler. Jews had been called ‘Christ killers’ before 1933, only now such abuse was authorised by the state.
Name calling was one thing, but the situation was rapidly to get worse. Abuse became more violent, Germany imposed more and more restrictions on Jews and it became noticeable to the public that there was a widespread persecution of Jewish culture happening under their very noses. Yet neither Hanna nor her mother discussed the crisis spreading all across Silesia. No mention was made of the sub-camp to Gross-Rosen being built at Hirschberg. When vast numbers of people vanish, all from the same population, it has to be noticeable. Businesses were inexplicably closed; the Jewish owners disappeared. Yet still Hanna noticed nothing. Her home, her country was falling apart, but her only priority was a selfish one – getting to fly again. In fact, not even her beloved gliding escaped Hitler’s grasp. After the First World War and the ban on powered flight in Germany, the only means any dictator had of building an air force of new, young pilots was to train them in gliding.
While Hanna was learning of the freedom gliding could bring her, Hitler was using the sport to further his plans for world domination. The Hitler Youth was already bringing military discipline and training to the young boys who would be future members of the Wehrmacht or SS. The Flieger-Hitlerjugend or Flying Hitler Youth was training future members of the Luftwaffe. They started by building and flying model gliders, gaining a basic grounding in the principles of flight. They moved on to a short flight in a glider, much the same as Hanna had done in her training, before progressing to longer flights and, eventually, to powered aircraft at secret airfields in Russia. By the time Hitler was ready to unveil his Luftwaffe to the world he had several units of young pilots trained in this manner, all under the pretext of healthy fun and games. Not only were they ready to fly, but their early experiences had instilled a passion and enthusiasm vital for the numerous dangerous missions they would soon be involved in.
In May 1933 Hanna was busy with the ‘Grunau Baby’, the very latest in training gliders and the pride and joy of Wolf Hirth. Hanna was home in Hirschberg, having just scraped through her medical examinations, by luck rather than judgement – she had spent far more time studying plane physiology than she had human. The invitation to fly the Grunau Baby was both unexpected and exciting. Hirth was interested in filming Hirschberg from the air using the Baby and saw no reason why Hanna might not try the glider. Dressed in a light summer frock and without goggles or helmet, Hanna climbed