Knight’s Cross Holder Colonel Hajo Hermann Has Died.
This article is condensed from the efforts of Ursula Haverbeck and many patriots and was translated by Duncan Edmister.
On the morning of the 5th of November, 2010 the highly decorated Luftwaffe pilot Hajo Hermann died at the age of 97. He was studying law in 1959 when he married a singer and university teacher Ingeborg Reichelt, with whom he had two children. He served in the infantry of the army from 1933-1935. Hermann Goering personally selected him and requested that he join the Luftwaffe. From 1936-1937 he served in the Spanish Civil War as a bomber pilot and as an inspector of anti-aircraft weapons used there. He flew missions in the Polish campaign and in the air war against Great Britain. He flew in Malta and had been assigned to numerous other fighter pilot duties.
Hajo Hermann was famous for the invention of the Jagdgeschwader 300 “Wild Sow” night fighting method. German cities came under heavy bombing and night-time fighter-pilots’ efficiency was disrupted by British radar. Hajo Hermann is credited with the unconventional solution to this. Lamp shells and flares were dropped below parachutes and formed an illuminated curtain line in front of the German cities. This made defense by fighter pilots and anti-aircraft fire, which was now correctly able to discern between German defenders and Allied bombers, into a much more efficient method. He rose in rank to wing commander and division commander and at the end of the war held the rank of Colonel. Toward the end of the war he was in charge of the Messerschmidt “ramming hunters” in 1945. He was captured while attempting to help comrades escape the Soviets. In the course of the war, he flew 370 sorties and was shot down four times himself.
Hajo Hermann was one of the last highly decorated pilots of the Luftwaffe from
World War II. He was awarded the:
Iron Cross First and Second Class in
1939
Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross on
October 13, 1940
Oak Leaves to the Knight’s Cross on
August 2, 1943
Swords to the Knight’s Cross on
January 23, 1944
German Cross in Gold on June 5, 1942
Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords
Close Combat Award in Gold
“The god who created iron did not
wish for there to be slaves.” -Arndt
Hajo Hermann was able to inspire young pilots with a deep sense of the value of their fight for the German Reich. He was a flawless officer, self-sacrificing comrade, warrior, and an ardent patriot who was a champion of Germany. His death marks the passing of one of the last three Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross award winners and one of the most decorated soldiers of World War II.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning on the 21st of November, 2010 when we headed towards the Ruhr to honor one of the greatest German war heroes, Hajo Hermann, who was decorated with the Knight’s Cross to the Iron Cross and received many other honors for his courageous defense of his Fatherland during World War II. He was a founding member as well as a longtime supporter and legal advisor of the war memorial association. This extended from the years during to many years after Germany’s involvement in a war in which many millions of their civilians were killed.
He wrote, after ten years of imprisonment:
“Herleshausen, you little, unheard of place, now is time to begin a new life! After ten years in Siberia as a gray stranger suddenly light colorful costumes radiate on stage and jubilant choirs sing and solemn steps are taken! I am amazed at the shining like a stranger and do not understand that it applies to me…”
“There is another round of color and again the bright sound of German voices of mothers and daughters is heard. I enjoy the wonder of the experience…”
He wrote in ‘Als die Jagd zu Ende war’, or ‘When the hunt came to an end’: “I have fought for six years on all fronts… I have forgotten emotion and tears and lift the flowers to my face.”
Gorch Foch said: “Whether we live a short or long life matters little. The group-our circle of life- is always closed. It just depends upon how we have filled this circle.” The radius of the circle Hajo Hermann encompassed is very great, and he has filled it with the essentials.
The commemoration took place in an
appropriately dignified setting. Ursula Haverbeck arrived the night before to
make designs and preparations. The Emperor Quartet in C major, Opus 76
by Joseph Hayden was played in accordance with its being the music which
accompanies the ‘Deutschlandlied’, or German national anthem. Dr. Olaf
Rose used captivating words to describe how it is the role of a real heroic man
like Hajo Hermann to bring honor and dignity to the German Reich. The audience
applauded vigorously to that statement. It was stated that Hermann was asked by
Goering to join the Luftwaffe as one of the 6000 members of the Condor Legion to
fight in Spain. He combated Bolshevism there; which was reaching out its’
bloody hand to control Europe. Hermann was always wherever he was needed. He
participated in the battles for Warsaw, Rotterdam, and Coventry and was able to
provide first-hand witness as to what actually transpired. He told of how
pictures attributed to German destruction of Warsaw in 1939 were actually of the
city in 1945 as it resulted from the terrorist Jewish uprising that destroyed
it. The Rolls Royce engine works were in the city of Coventry and unfortunately
some homes which were located close to it were destroyed by the German raid;
however the true number of deaths was no more than 500 and not the thousands
that were claimed. It is always claimed that the attacks on German cities were
a revenge for Coventry; which is a blatant
lie.
The English had previously bombed German residential areas such as
Moenchengladbach and Sylt. Luftwaffe bombing of Rotterdam was an exclusively
military target with bombs rather than firebombs and any residences which caught
fire were as a result of spreading of the burning of the military fuel depot.
He initiated the ‘Wild-Sow hunting method’ and won the many previously mentioned
awards as a result of his innovative and courageous battle. He was a founding
member of the ‘ramming hunters’ using Me Bf 109 Messerschmidts which needed 2000
volunteers for what was viewed as a suicide mission and instead 3000 warriors
came forth! Hajo Hermann was a commander who led by example as to how to wage
battle with flying machines. He once famously said in an interview with the
BBC: “I will never apologize for doing what was right.” He spent over ten
years in Soviet captivity from 1945-1955 being tortured and doing forced labor
in Siberia. Many survivors of this experience returned home as broken men.
Colonel Hajo Hermann took it as a matter of course to stand forth on the
foremost political front in occupied Germany. He began studying law at the age
of 42. He was a defense lawyer for the gas chamber expert Fred Leuchter as well
as Udo Walendy and Otto Ernst Remer. Ralf Tegethoff read a poem to memorialize
Hajo Hermann which was written by Herybert Menzel:
If
one of us is tired,
the other wakes up for him-
If one begins to doubt,
the other instills hope and joy-
If any of you shall fall from us,
the other will do the duty of two-
because each man was a warrior
meant to reach Valhalla.
Udo Walendy, one our greatest historians, came forth to the lectern to report on Hajo Hermann’s important contributions to his work as a historian and publisher to stand up for the German Reich. Ursula Haverbeck read the poem “Death Is Great” by Rainer Maria Rilke after music from the 2nd movement of Piano Concerto in E flat major Opus 73 by Beethoven was played. She also read a short episode from the book by Mr. Mann about his time in Soviet captivity. Ursula Haverbeck emphasized that his experience as a soldier was as always facing a series of life-threatening situations; which he was always ready to do as his duty for the German people and Reich. Approximately 150 guests and companions gladly made the journey and were welcome to honor our great hero. The Deutschlandlied was sung in conclusion.
The German war memorial must be moved and a new site must be found for it.
Donations for the construction of it are asked toward the bank account:
Memorial Association
Stadtsparkasse Bad Pyrmont
Account number: 36 665,
Bank code: 254 513 45,
Keywords: Hajo Hermann