| Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) awards the Iron Cross to Flugkapitän (“Air Captain”) Hanna Reitsch (March 29, 1912 – August 24, 1979) in the Reich Chancellory. Hermann Goering is in the center background. Retisch wrote in her memoir, The Sky My Kingdom: “The following day, Hitler received me in the Reich Chancellery to confer on me the Iron Cross II. His Adjutant led me through a long corridor to the room where Hitler, Hermann Göring (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) and 1 or 2 other people were assembled. This was the 2nd time I had been presented to Hitler, the 1st occasion being in 1937, when the honorary title of “Flugkapitän” had been conferred on me. Hitler greeted me with friendly warmth, while Göring stood beside him, beaming like a father permitted to introduce a prettily mannered child. Then I was invited to seat myself between them at a large, round table, on which, as I vividly remember, there stood a vase of early sweet peas. Hitler questioned me at length about my test-flights, particularly those connected with the experiments on dive brakes. He was also interested in the experimental work done on the cutting of barrage-balloon cables. His knowledge of technical aeronautics, reflected in the searching pointedness of his questions, struck me as remarkable for a layman. At this formal reception it was impossible to obtain any deeper insight into Hitler’s personality and character.” “Hitler greeted me with friendly warmth, while Göring stood beside him, beaming like a father permitted to introduce a prettily mannered child. Then I was invited to seat myself between them at a large, round table, on which, as I vividly remember, there stood a vase of early sweet peas. Hitler questioned me at length about my test-flights, particularly those connected with the experiments on dive brakes. He was also interested in the experimental work done on the cutting of barrage-balloon cables. His knowledge of technical aeronautics, reflected in the searching pointedness of his questions, struck me as remarkable for a layman. At this formal reception it was impossible to obtain any deeper insight into Hitler’s personality and character.” “Since its institution in the year 1813, the Iron Cross (Second Class) had only once before been awarded to a woman, the nursing sister [actually a cross-dressing combat soldier at the Battles of Dennewitz and Waterloo] Johanna [Friederike] Krüger (October 8, 1789 – May 31, 1848), and its conferment on me, the first woman to receive it in this war, was a source of considerable public interest and satisfaction. In the days that followed there descended on me from all parts of Germany a very large number of letters, telegrams and personal congratulations. ” “My native province of Silesia hastened to do honor to its child and on April 4, 1941, a great reception was accorded to me in my home town of Hirschberg. At first I had been reluctant to make an appearance, but the matter was settled in drastic fashion by the mayor, Oberbürgermeister Werner Blasius (June 22, 1899 – committed suicide 1945), who came by car to Berlin to fetch me. Still full of the impressions of the last few days, I was awakened to a realization of the local enthusiasm as soon as we reached the Silesian border. The villages were decked with flags, people at the roadside threw flowers or waved to us from the doors of their houses and before we reached Hirschberg, we had to stop several times while the school children sang songs, shook hands with us and presented me with the gifts which, with much loving care, they had made themselves.” “In all, shone the people’s friendliness and good nature, in the shining eyes of the children, the steady, smiling faces of old men and women, the cheering youths, the flowers and the flags of my native town. Hirschberg itself was an undulating sea of colour and movement. The pupils of the Grunau Gliding School and a Luftwaffe detachment were drawn up at the entrance to the town and, in the streets themselves, thousands of people shouted their welcome while the gusty strains of a brass-band surged and faded on the breeze. So we progressed slowly towards the Town Hall, where, in the Council Chamber, I was presented with the Scroll of Honorary Citizenship, a distinction possessed at that time by one other living person, the world famous poet and playwright, Gerhart Hauptmann. In the afternoon, I attended a celebration in my school, seeing again the faces of old friends and many half-forgotten details of the rooms and buildings where I had spent so many happy years. In the sparkling, eager eyes of the girls I seemed to catch a reflection of my own youth.” “When my decoration had been announced, I learnt that I had been held up to them as the model pupil of my time—industrious, attentive and well behaved. Unfortunately, this was far from the truth. Though I had enjoyed my schooldays and had learned easily and willingly, I had never been nor wanted to be more than an average pupil and, to my parent’s sorrow, my high spirits had earned me each year a rich harvest of black marks in the class-book. A few days before my wartime visit to the school, the girls had discovered this when turning out some old classbooks — need I say that their joy was unbounded? However, the dilemma was solved by the Director, who allowed the offending pages to be removed from the class-books, had them bound and then presented them to me himself as a solemn memento of the occasion! As a conclusion to the festivities, to my great joy the town presented me with a sailplane of the type Schneider Grunau-Baby. Later I placed it at the disposal of the Grunau Gliding School, naming it after the unforgettable [Olympian] Otto Bräutigam (April 4, 1912 – May 28, 1941), who had been killed in action [on Crete].” “I had loved the town of Hirschberg since I was a child, the green slopes of the surrounding hills, its old, gabled houses, the tree-lined walks, the streets and alleyways. Often, when far from home, I had gone back to it in imagination and it was not, therefore, so much the honor done to me that moved me deeply on that day, as the sense of being one with my homeland and its kindly people. This visible demonstration of their love filled me with gratitude, giving me strength and refreshment for many months to come.” | |
| Image Filename | wwii1751.jpg |
| Image Size | 66.14 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 700 x 482 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | April 28, 1941 |
| Location | Neue Reichskanzlei |
| City | Berlin |
| State or Province | Berlin |
| Country | Germany |
| Archive | Bundesarchiv |
| Record Number | B 145 Bild-F051625-0295 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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