Ludwig Nitsch 38 "kills"...?

[Alfred.MONZAT]

Kracker's archive mention 2 victories on 7 May 1945 over Pe-2s. Look like the 38 victories came from the interrogatory (and we all know german pilots told a lot of things, mostly wrong, in them).

[sveahk]

Thanks Alfred - my view entirely...just find 2 "kills" for real and 36 made up quite a daring fantasy game. One wonders why he took that risk...?

Of course assuming his 36, or close to that number, don't pop up in some unknown documents!

Hans K

[Alfred.MONZAT]

Originally Posted by sveahk

Thanks Alfred - my view entirely...just find 2 "kills" for real and 36 made up quite a daring fantasy game.

Well and we should be cautious with victories claimed (or claimed to have been claimed, as I am not sure of the source of these 2 victories) in 1945, particulary the late ones.

Originally Posted by sveahk

One wonders why he took that risk...?

What risk ? Lying to a foreign officer ?
We don't know if he continued to perpetuate this post-War.

[sveahk]

Originally Posted by Alfred.MONZAT

What risk ? Lying to a foreign officer ?
We don't know if he continued to perpetuate this post-War.

In this case, Sweden eventually permitted him to stay and gave him Swedish citizenship, he got married and stayed in Sweden until his death - so the "risk" would have more been one of reputation. Furthermore, post-war he was interviewed at least once regarding his Luftwaffe time(1990) - obviously making no change in his wartime story...
Hans K

[Stig Jarlevik]

Hans

I have three books by Widfeldt and in none of them does he say anything about Nitsch claims during the war.
There was a fourth one I did not buy since I assumed it was a direct translation of his work in Swedish, so if it is in there can you advise exactly what Bo says in his book?

This is in fact the first time I come across this claim and I am not at all sure it was made during the interrogation in 1945 after he had escaped to Sweden. It feels more like something said during the interview in 1990 and also somehow feels either like a misunderstanding or an old man not having come to terms with himself.

Cheers
Stig

[sveahk]

Originally Posted by Stig Jarlevik

Hans

I have three books by Widfeldt and in none of them does he say anything about Nitsch claims during the war.

True, bad formulated from my side. Widfeldt has Nitsch in his books, but the 38 kills claim are in the above mentioned FLC-article. Thanks Stig for the correction.

AFAIK one connection between Widfeldt and the Forced Landing Collection exists: The Widfeldt collection of documents have, if I'm right, been taken over by FLC. I've asked FLC per e-mail, no answer yet.

In those documents we can possibly find out if Ludwig Nitsch talked about his 38 kills already in 1945 or if that came later...

Greetings Hans K

[Stig Jarlevik]

Thanks Hans

It would, incidentally, be interesting to know if Nitsch wife actually was present during that interview in 1990. From what I could read it seems she was....

Cheers
Stig