Subordinates' opinions of Hans Dortenmann;

[leonventer]

Originally Posted by matthias74

Trying do correlate pilots' physique to their personalities, and to some extent to their "success potential", seems, well, "Third Reichish".

I agree that it's off-putting. Skawran makes an unreasonably strong correlation between the physical and psychological attributes of fighter pilots. His characterisations are simplistic and he's guilty of some gross stereotyping. There are also some conspicuous omissions in his coverage, e.g. he comments on the role of religion, but he says nothing about the extent of the pilots' adherence to Nazi ideology. This implies that he considers it to be either:

a) the same for all pilots, or
b) unimportant, or
c) taboo.

Whatever the reason for his silence, the book would have been more interesting and valuable if it had discussed this topic.

Nevertheless, as Matthias said, the book is worth reading because of Skawran's intimate familiarity with the pilots and the context in which they served.

Leon Venter