MD.; and in particular Milch’s four trips to inspect the savaged Luft-
waffe industrial base (“Operation Hubertus”) from Mar. to , to ,
to , and Apr. to , ; and Central Planning sessions recorded verba-
tim in the vols. MD. and MD..
Suicide squadron: Interrog. of Hanna Reitsch by AIU/IS, report no. , dated
Nov. , (Hoover Library, Lerner Papers, box ). And see note “Sui-
cide pilots,” Chapter .
Over Stuttgart: NCO Kugler, overheard in SRY..
Mountain stroll: Saur, speaking at Fighter Staff conference, Apr. , (MD.,
f).
Underground factories: See HG conferences, May , (MD., ff) and
Oct. , (MD., ); Saur at HG conference, Apr. , (MD.,
), and his notes after meeting Hitler, Apr. –, (IWM file
FD./, vol. ); also Xaver Dorsch’s conference with HG on Apr. , et
seq., reproduced in Willi Boelcke, Deutschlands Rüstung im Zweiten Welt-
krieg (Frankfurt: ), p. ff.
Speer: Office chronicle entry for Apr. , ; Milner decree, Apr. ,
(IWM, FD./). On May , , Speer would remark at a Central
Planning session, “If we’ve not seen anything [i.e., any invasion] by June
or July, we can assume that the whole winter will pass off quietly”
(MD., ).
Smashing oil production: See HG’s interrog. by APWID (th Air Force) on
May , ; Milch, overheard in SRGG.; USSBS interrog. of Karl
Koller, May –, . The radio signal is quoted in SRH- (see note
“British code breakers,” Chapter ).
Enemy terror fliers: Milch, statement in Fighter Staff conference, May ,
(MD., f); and Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) documents on
NA film T//ff; Führer decision, May , (ND, -PS); HG
interrogated on July , , by Shuster and at Nuremberg on Sept. ,
; Jodl, memos dated May –, (on NA film T/).
HG’s production program conference: Held the morning of May , , ver-
batim text MD., ff; diaries of Milch and Richthofen; interrog. of
Galland, ADI(K) /. The controversy centered on Koller’s secret study,
“Requisite Minimum Strength of German Air Force Flying Formations if
Central Europe Is to Be Retained,” dated May , (in Koller Papers,
on DJ film ; copy in MD., ff).
Up at the Berghof: See HG conferences, May (MD., ff), May
(/ff), and May (/ff); Fighter Staff conference, May ,
(MD., ff), and author’s interviews with Milch, May , , and
Petersen, June, , ; and the report to Bormann in BA file NS./.
Interrogated on May , , as to the reason why the Me was oper-
ated as a bomber, HG retorted: “The lunacy of Adolf Hitler!”
Führer order: Telegram from HG to Milch, Galland, et al., May ,
(MD., f).
“To avoid misunderstandings”: HG conference, May , (MD., ff).
Chapter : Total Sacrifice
The initial quotation is from HG’s interrog., SAIC/X/, dated May , .