Arming the Luftwaffe

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Ed,

My view on Kammler's assignment represented a total frustration by Hitler that what he wanted to get accomplished simply wasn't happening fast enough for him with the existing structure. To some extent, this frustration was justified. Take, for instance, the Organization Todt (OT). The OT was so heavily burdened with bureaucratic red tape that simply getting lumber supplied to finish off the Me 262 Waldwerk at Schwäbisch Hall took months.

I regret to hear of your own family's involvement. Some of my own relatives perished in the camps or were hunted down and killed. It was a pretty dark side to the Third Reich.

Two other worthy books on the subject are:

The Business of Genocide: The SS, Slave Labor, and the Concentration Camps, by Michael Thad Allen.

Die Illusion der Wunderwaffen: Düsenflugzeuge und Flugabwehrrakaten in der Rüstungspolitik des Dritten Reiches, by Ralf Schabel

I think it is Allen's book in which the schizophrenia of the Third Reich on this topic is clearly laid out. On the one hand, as you say, Germany needed laborers to replace those siphoned off by the war, while on the other hand, extermination of the Jews, the Final Solution, was in direct conflict with production needs. Even Göring was pretty powerless to stop the bleeding off of men to the fronts, as conscriptions would take place in the middle of the night before any legal actions could be put into place to prevent them. And, arguments to prevent the killing of the needed manpower likely were only partially successful. I believe, too, that there was a distinction between slave laborers and forced laborers.

Dénes, the German aviation effort wasn't just about aircraft types, subtypes, numbers built, Werknummern, and the like. Real people were involved in very difficult situations. Their story is as much an important part of the history of the Luftwaffe as the aircraft. The politics involved makes for very fascinating reading.

Regards,
Richard