Arming the Luftwaffe: The German Aviation Industry in World War II

312 Pages·2011·6.3 MB·English

by  Daniel Uziel

Arming
the Luftwaffe
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Arming
the Luftwaffe
The German Aviation Industry
in World War II
D U
ANIEL ZIEL
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Uziel, Daniel, 1967–
Arming the Luftwaffe : the German aviation
industry in World War II / Daniel Uziel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7864-6521-7
softcover : 50# alkaline paper
1. Aeronautics, Military—Germany—History—20th century.
2. Germany. Luftwaffe—Equipment and supplies—History—20th cenuty.
3. Germany. Luftwaffe—History—World War, 1939–1945.
I. Title. II. Title: German aviation industry in World War II.
UG635.G3U95 2012 338.4'7623746094309044—dc23 2011038151
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2012Daniel Uziel. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, i ncluding photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without p ermission in writing from the p ublisher.
Front cover image: Production of Me 109 fuselages inside a cramped
wooden hut at the Gauting Forest factory (courtesy of NARA);
cover design by David K. Landis (Shake It Loose Graphics)
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
Acknowledgments
This research was made possible through the support of several organizations and indi-
viduals. Foremost among them are the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. National Air
and Space Museum. The core of this research came into being during a twelve-month fel-
lowship at that magnificent museum. Besides providing access to a large amount of resources,
the museum, as well as other researchers’ forums of the Smithsonian Institution, was an
intellectually stimulating and supportive environment and I fully commend them for that.
A special thanks to Michael Neufeld and Dik Dasso—two historians and curators that
agreed to be my advisors and supported this research in various ways. The staff of the
museum’s archives and library was also extremely helpful in locating material and providing
me photos for this book.
During my term at the National Air and Space Museum, I spent long hours and days
at the U.S. National Archives’ College Park facility. Researching in this impressive modern
archive was particularly pleasant and fruitful. Mr. Larry McDonald of the reference room
was particularly friendly and helpful. Thanks to his efforts I located some materials I would
have never found on my own.
The German Museum in Munich and the head of its research department Professor
Helmut Trischler, were kind enough to host me for a couple of weeks in 2006 and allow
me to work at their archives. I would like to thank in particular Mr. Wolfgang Schinhan,
an archive worker who not only served me in an exemplary way, but also was extremely
pleasant to me and to other visitors researching there at that time.
As it was during my past researches, the German Federal Archives proved again to be
a bottomless pit of information and knowledge. As usual, its staff was also very helpful.
Several researchers and scholars shared with me their thoughts and offered me docu-
ments from their own collections. Richard Egger and Manfred Boehme were particularly
helpful in this regard. Frank Bajohr, Russell Lee and Florian Schmalz also kindly provided
me copies of some important documents.
Two distinguished scholars supported this research from the beginning: Professor Moshe
Zimmermann, my mentor and teacher in the field of German history, and Professor Martin
van Creveld, both of the Hebrew University.
Professor Bernd Wegner of the Bundeswehr University in Hamburg allowed me to try
some of the main ideas of this research on his colleagues and students and get their feed-
back.
A big “thank you” also to several friends and colleagues who supported me along the
v
vi Acknowledgments
way: Tobias Bütow, my sister Yeal Goshen and my brother-in-law Gil, Beate Meyer, Miriam
Moschytz, Christine Schmidt, Joe White and Kim Wünschmann.
I would also like to mention Neil Maher, Shai Kalansky and Teasel Muir-Harmony,
who provided me some fascinating and enjoyable glimpses into the American way of life.
Stephan Zellmeyer, a great Swiss, provided me much-needed spiritual support both in Wash-
ington and in Munich.
I guess the best part of this research was the opportunity to get some hands-on aviation
experience. While flying with fellow aviation researcher Allen Meyer in the little Citabria
aerobatic plane I learned anew the real meaning of an adrenaline rush. These flights also
gave me some insight into the way some World War II aircraft were flown.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments v
Introduction 1
1. The Aviation Industry at War 7
2. The Aviation Industry and the Air War 51
3. Reorganization of Aircraft Production 71
4. From Technological Expertise to Slave Labor 144
5. On the Production Lines—Daily Life in the Factories 194
6. The “People’s Fighter” as Case Study of a Late-War Program 236
Conclusion 263
Chapter Notes 269
Bibliography 293
Index 299
vii
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Introduction
In 2002 a private association in the city of Rostock in former East Germany opened
a new exhibition dedicated to famous aircraft designer and producer Ernst Heinkel. The
exhibition intended to present Heinkel’s technical innovation and competence to the younger
generations. It also sought to present the social and economical benefits his firm brought
to Rostock. Heinkel’s association with the Nazi regime was mentioned, but not in the fore-
front of the exhibition. This negligence caused a public outcry and debate, which eventually
resulted in the temporary closure of the exhibition. A special scientific committee was estab-
lished and was asked to advise on how to reorganize the exhibition in order to make it his-
torically balanced.
The entire debate had practically nothing to do with Heinkel’s skills as an aircraft
designer and as a trailblazer of new aviation technologies. The organizers of the exhibition
wanted to pay tribute to the man whose technological enterprise deeply influenced Rostock
in many respects. He was simply viewed as a great German engineer and entrepreneur, who
cooperated only mildly with the Nazi regime.
The critics of the exhibition argued that Heinkel not only provided the Nazi regime
with important and sophisticated aerial weapon systems, but that he was willingly involved
in some of its darkest war crimes.1
The debate around the Heinkel exhibition dully demonstrated the fact that aircraft
development and production, particularly in the Nazi German context, has broader signifi-
cance, far beyond the purely technical and organizational aspects. The city of Rostock, for
instance, grew almost threefold as a result of Heinkel’s expansion during the twelve years
of the Third Reich.
The debate highlighted some moral issues: Heinkel’s cooperation with the Nazi war
machine, the early employment of forced labor in his factories, and finally his “whitewashed”
postwar biography, which largely served as the basis for the historical narrative of the exhi-
bition.
Heinkel was not the only aeronautics professional who came under fire in recent years.
Even Hans von Ohain, the inventor of the German jet turbine, and coincidently Heinkel’s
prot égé, came into public crossfire when it was intended to name a new terminal at the Ros-
tock-L aage airport after him. His opportunism was cited as the main reason behind the protest.2
These and other debates underscored the crucial role of the aviation industry in the
history of Nazi Germany. During World War II the aviation industry became the largest
branch of the German armaments industry. American intelligence officers and scholars
1