Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

There are some puzzles on why the US Forces which
captured Lipfert along with 7./JG52 and yet
unlike Hartmann they did not turn him the Russians
especially that according my info he was captured
on a soil which according Yalta Conf, would be
under Russian jurisdiction .

To the US Forces he indicated that he was not
a Nazi neither he had any close talks with Hitler and
similar other stuff with which he tried to portray his
innocence during WWII except his flying
aspirations in the Luftwaffe- From recently
declassified NKVD files, they sent numerous reminders
to OSS asking for Lipfert which were declined by the Americans

Questions
========
1. Who is the pilot seated left of Hitler along with Lipfert ?

2. On 24.6.1944 at II/JG52 he claimed at 09:20 a B-24 near Stefanesti
though this claim was made by numerous other Luftwaffe and Romanian
pilots while on that day 14 Libs(98, 376, 449 and 450 BG's) were lost
and one more from 459 BG on which there are no records, last which is
of particular interest to me.

3. On what grounds Lipfert was spared POW time and not transf. to the Russians ?

Alex K

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Looks like Hermann Graf to Hitler's left.

David

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

If I remember correctly from his book, his Oak Leaves were awarded in the field in April 1945, and not by Hitler at any of his Headquarters. To my knowledge he never met Hitler and I don't believe that is him in the photograph.

David

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

David

I tend to agree with you , on the right is Graf on the left must be someone
else . got some wrong info .

Alex K

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

According to the Russians, anyone serving in the German forces was a war criminal subject to a sentence of 25 years hard labour.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

I have a feeling the pilot on Hitler's right is Adolf Dickfeld. Both he and Graf were awarded the Oak leaves within days of each other having achieved over 100 victories, so it would make sense that they would be at the same awards ceremony.

David

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

25th May 1942 at Rastenburg. Graf was also awarded the Swords the same day.

David

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

David
No, on the right is Graf , take a good look (nose etc ) Interesting that on post
WWII era Graf was acused by the Luftwaffe Vets Org of cooperating with the
Soviets during the captivity which in fact the latest declassified NKVD files reveal
otherwise . Hartmann did cooperate with the Russians especially in helpping the
post war Soviet VVS aerial combat tactics . Both Hartmann and Graf along with other
German POW's officers joined Soviet anti Hitler movement for a short time
in order overcome starvation and hardship. Stories that Hartmann in one occasion
threw chair and beat a Russian interrogator are nonsense . Hartmann was released
only thanks his cooperation with the Soviets .


Finally is still interesting on why Lipfert was not turned to the Soviets .

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Hi Alex,

On Hitler's right, not to the right of the Hitler, is Dickfeld.

On Hitler's left, or to the right of the picture is Graf. This picture appears in Dickfeld's book.

David

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Depending on how you looking at the photo and yes agreed !

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

I did not deny that Hartmann cooperated or not but still he was not released earlier than most other POW.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Hartmann was released late due numerous reasons one which
he had an advisory role on early stages of Korean conflict
while meeting his old WWII counterparts Kojedub and Pokrishkin .

In the early stage of his captivity and due to what the Germans
caused in Russia he along with other gone through very hard times
however after 1951 his captivity conditions were substantially
improved, while little known about it, even Konrad Adenauer
plegded for his release through Walter Ulbricht with a substantial
financial compensation package which landed on Chrustchev's table.

When I met him in 1990 he even claimed that thanks to his
numerous visits at Monino early 50's where elite Soviets were
trained air combat doctrine the Soviets achieved air superiority
in Korea . While very hard to verify such claims ,I fully believe that
unlike other Luftwaffe pilots he had no choice but do this in order
to save his skin .

Alex K

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Postwar, Graf was made a 'Suendenbock' by the West German media for alleged transgressions whilst a POW. This was clearly a political agenda, and should be clarified.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Vtwin , I fully agree with you. Interesting that few SS Generals which
cooperated with the Russians were released by the order of Stalin and
Berya earlier then regular Luftwaffe pilots.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Researcher, do you have any proofs, that soviet pilots (any of them) had meeting with E. Hartman in 1950's?
What exactly SS_GeneralS_ were released in USSR earlier than 1950s?

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

The politics within Luftwaffe veterans ranks postwar were pretty brutal. Take the case of Graf von Einsiedel, a confirmed member of the National Komittee Freies Deutschland, who tried to attend a meeting of Kameradschaftsverband JG 3. Needless to say, he was not welcome and was branded a traitor.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Vince,

It is appropriate to point out that Einsiedel spent six years collaborating with Stalin's regime, three of those after the war had ended. Veterans of the air force of Nazi Germany were in a very poor position to cast moral judgments, but it is difficult to fault them in instances such as Einsiedel's. It is eminently possible to justify Einsiedel's behaviour before the fall of Hitler's regime, but not after, when a Stalinist dictatorship replaced the Nazi one in East Germany.

Regards,

Dan

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Dan, I believe it's more complicated than that. If you read his book "I Joined the Russians" (Yale:1953) you can see that he was trying to figure out an exit from the Russians. Kinda hard to leave Stalin's service.

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

edited

Re: Helmut Lipfert capture 1945
 

Kaki, thank you for your comment. I have not read that book, so will exercise caution in my reply. It is entirely possible that he found it difficult to escape from East Germany. Nevertheless, in later life he went so far as to become a member of the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism), the successor party to the one that controlled East Germany, in the Bundestag. Not a morally consistent position and one of many events in his life which raise grave questions about his moral character.

If you are interested, there is a recent book about the man by a German academic, entitled Heinrich Graf von Einsiedel. Eine Einzelfallstudie zum Nationalkomitee „Freies Deutschland“. It is available online, see https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bamberg/...ex/docId/45434

Merry Christmas!

Dan