The last Luftwaffe operastions of WW2.

Question

The second fighter pilot in the clip, Erich Hartmann, had 352 kills to his credit. Amazing.

He spent about 10 years in Soviet prison camps after the war for "war crimes" (shooting down 'valuable' Soviet planes). The judgment was rescinded after the Soviet Union collapsed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Hartmann

Answer 1

Tink that video is just utterly gripping...I have pacifist tendencies, however cannot help but honor the soldiers; and the courage of those pilots -- shooting down one or two more on your way to surrender!

I am glad the pilot survived those ten years, and finally released I hope with honor he certainly merited.

Answer 2

Aw, the final demise of the Luftwaffe! The ME-262 was quite the plane and might have made a difference if not for Hitler's insistence on it being a fighter-bomber.

It was not a good thing for any German at that time to fall into Russian hands. Like at Stalingrad. Close to 100,000 prisoners and less than 5,000 ever saw Germany again.

Comments

According to the Wiki article, the Soviets offered to give Hartmann an important position in the East German air force, but he refused.