Foreword to the 1933 edition of the Red Fighter Pilot

    Event ID: 471

    Categories: 

    Appointment & medals
    Deutsch
    Der rote Kampfflieger von Rittmeister Manfred Freiherrn von Richthofen, 1933, Eingeleitet und ergänzt von Bolko Freiherr von Richthofen, mit einem Vorwort von Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring, Verlag Ullstein & Co, Berlin

    21 April 1933

    52.532013517448796, 13.371082578543202
    Berlin

    Source ID: 22

    Der rote Kampfflieger von Rittmeister Manfred Freiherrn von Richthofen, 1933, Eingeleitet und ergänzt von Bolko Freiherr von Richthofen, mit einem Vorwort von Generalfeldmarschall Hermann Göring, Verlag Ullstein & Co, Berlin p.   

    “In memory of Manfred von Richthofen. The heroes produced by the world war are innumerable. Everywhere in the world where men fought for victory against men with all weapons, almost gigantic achievements were accomplished in the four years of battle. But in no other weapon has this been so vividly demonstrated to an admiring and shocked world as in the chivalrous battle we had to fight, the battle of the airmen who rose from their camps to fight man against man, he or I, and who knew full well that they could only return home as victors or not at all. And an indelible pride must inspire us Germans that in this battle of flying fighters, detached from the heaviness of the earth, the highest success, the highest honour, the highest glory was bestowed on a German, that Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen was not only Germany’s, but the world’s greatest fighter pilot. 21 April 1933 marks the fifteenth anniversary of the day on which Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen died a hero’s death at the zenith of his fame. I am grateful that this day is to be solemnised in the capital of the Reich and in his Silesian homeland of Schweidnitz. And I am delighted that his heroic book ‘Der rote Kampfflieger’, in which he himself tells us of his deeds as simply and modestly as he was, is being published anew and shows the German nation the nature of the man who is and should remain for us a symbol of the best virtues of the German people: German valour, chivalry and love of country. Germany has awakened, Germany must and will regain its world honour. Without defence there can be no state, there can be no proud and honour-loving nation. Manfred von Richthofen fought for Germany’s greatness and power, educated hundreds and hundreds of German men and young men, enabled and led them to fight, and ultimately lost his own life. He knew how decisive the air weapon was for the struggle of nations even then, and he certainly sensed that its importance for the defence of a nation’s most sacred assets would have to increase more and more in the times to come. Now we are struggling to put our defence on an equal footing with the other nations of the world. However, it is the air weapon that is at the forefront here and is perhaps the most hotly contested. We want to keep Manfred von Richthofen’s great example in mind, the memory of him should help us to use all our strength to achieve our national goal of giving Germany an air force again, equal and on a par with other nations, but superior in spirit and sacrifice like the Richthofen fighter squadron in the World War. It was a great honour for me to be entrusted with the leadership of the Richthofen Fighter Wing as its last commander. This mission binds me for all time – I want to bear this responsibility – in the spirit of Richthofen. Hermann Göring.”

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