They Asked Reitsch Who Betrayed Hitler. She Named One Man.

In the autumn of 1945, an American captain who was born in Germany sat down across from Hanna Reitsch, the famous pilot who had flown into Hitler's bunker six months earlier. The Americans asked who was to blame. She named one man, and her own words kept pointing at another. CHAPTERS 0:00 The captain from Celle 1:10 The heroine of the Reich 1:36 The telegram and the flight into Berlin 2:42 Inside the bunker 4:21 The night of April 28 5:36 After Berlin 6:24 The woman across the table 7:02 The report 7:53 One more line in the record 9:00 The Goebbels letters 9:44 The reports she later denied 10:27 Which Hanna Reitsch was real? SOURCES - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Robert E. Work collection: biography of Robert E. Work (born Heidolf Vierk in Celle, 1916; Chief Interrogator of German prisoners of war) and his interrogation report of Hanna Reitsch of November 1, 1945, with the Goebbels letters of April 28, 1945 - Imperial War Museums, "Interrogation reports on Hanna Reitsch, 1945" (Air Interrogation Unit, Headquarters United States Air Forces in Austria; four reports, October-November 1945) - "Summary of Interrogation of Hanna Reitsch," October 8, 1945 (Nuremberg document 3734-PS): Hitler's words about the vial of poison, Göring and Himmler, the departure from Berlin, and the interrogator's assessment - "Condemnation of Goering by Hanna Reitsch," U.S. Army Command and General Staff College Library, Combined Arms Research Library digital collection (no. 8) - The Evening Star (Associated Press), December 5, 1945: report on Reitsch's account of Hitler's last days - Hanna Reitsch, Wikipedia: dates of the Berlin flights, capture near Kitzbühel, her later disputes of the interrogation reports, and her late-life interviews (the statements about the reports and about National Socialism are hers, quoted as reported) Sources & Archives U.S. National Archives Internet Archive Wikimedia Commons Periscope Film Archival Footage Archival footage: U.S. National Archives, Prelinger Archives, Die Deutsche Wochenschau; some scenes use illustrative footage of the period not the people named. How This Episode Was Made Original research and script by World War 2 Desk. Archival film, photographs, documents and other historical material from the U.S. National Archives, Prelinger Archives and other collections are re-edited to match the narration and combined with our own maps, document reconstructions and graphics. Some scenes use illustrative footage of the period to represent locations, events, equipment and environments described in the narration and are not necessarily footage of the specific people named. Sources are listed above. If someone in your family flew in the war, or served in Europe in 1945, tell us about it in the comments. Subscribe to World War 2 Desk for the next story. #WW2 #HannaReitsch #Luftwaffe