Hitler at My Side

Rating:
Summary: History Without Reflection
Review: Hans Baur deserves a reputation of more than just being "Hitler's pilot." He was a WWI ace and a distinguished pioneer of early European aviation. Indeed, a good part of this memoir recounts his days between wars, flying over the Alps, when the job was done literally by the seat of the pilot's pants and only the most skillful survived. Severely wounded in Berlin during the last hours of the Third Reich, Baur survived ten years incarceration in a series of Russian prisons. But it's as Hitler's pilot that Baur is best known today. Baur does give us some small insights into what it was like to have been a member of Hitler's innermost circle, but his narrative is scrupulously apolitical and while he must have known Hitler and his cronies rather well, he refrains from giving us any personal assessment of what they were really like as individuals. It is evident he admired and respected Hitler and he claims to have been a friend of Rudolph Hess, but what did he really think of these men? Even more frustrating to the historian, after serving Hitler for more than a dozen years and then, as a result of this loyal service, spending a decade in Soviet hands after the war, Baur just ends his story with a description of his homecoming. We do not know at the end of this book what Hans Baur thought about National Socialism and what it did to Germany and millions of his countrymen, much less himself (he lost a leg in the Berlin fighting). Perhaps he remained an ardent admirer of Hitler? Fine, a man like Baur is entitled to his opinions, but he doesn't say. Baur was a brave, skillful and admirable man in many ways who witnessed close up the most dramatic events of the 20th century. But in "Hitler at My Side" he emerges in the end as just "Hitler's pilot."

Rating:
Summary: History Without Reflection
Review: Hans Baur deserves a reputation of more than just being "Hitler's pilot." He was a WWI ace and a distinguished pioneer of early European aviation. Indeed, a good part of this memoir recounts his days between wars, flying over the Alps, when the job was done literally by the seat of the pilot's pants and only the most skillful survived. Severely wounded in Berlin during the last hours of the Third Reich, Baur survived ten years incarceration in a series of Russian prisons. But it's as Hitler's pilot that Baur is best known today. Baur does give us some small insights into what it was like to have been a member of Hitler's innermost circle, but his narrative is scrupulously apolitical and while he must have known Hitler and his cronies rather well, he refrains from giving us any personal assessment of what they were really like as individuals. It is evident he admired and respected Hitler and he claims to have been a friend of Rudolph Hess, but what did he really think of these men? Even more frustrating to the historian, after serving Hitler for more than a dozen years and then, as a result of this loyal service, spending a decade in Soviet hands after the war, Baur just ends his story with a description of his homecoming. We do not know at the end of this book what Hans Baur thought about National Socialism and what it did to Germany and millions of his countrymen, much less himself (he lost a leg in the Berlin fighting). Perhaps he remained an ardent admirer of Hitler? Fine, a man like Baur is entitled to his opinions, but he doesn't say. Baur was a brave, skillful and admirable man in many ways who witnessed close up the most dramatic events of the 20th century. But in "Hitler at My Side" he emerges in the end as just "Hitler's pilot."

Rating:
Summary: Could have been even better
Review: Hans Baur was Hitler's pilot from 1932 until his death in 1945. He had unique personal access to Hitler and spent many hours in his presence. Unfortunately, Baur is not a particularly gifted storyteller and his personal characterizations of Hitler and other leading Nazi figures leaves something to be desired. Baur's memory is also highly suspect, as his years in Russian captivity proved conclusively. Baur continually changed his story, mis-remembered salient points in history and just plain forgot the gist of many historical moments.

Still, the memoirs are are interesting read. Baur gives his reflections and opinions on such diverse people in Hitler's entourage as Eva Braun, Goebbels, Himmler, Goering and Hess. He narrates the story of when he begs Hitler to flee Berlin in April, 1945 and allow Baur to fly him to safety. Hitler says wearily, "I will die here in Berlin."

Unfortunately, Baur doesn't tell much about losing his leg and spending 11 torturous years in Russian captivity. Now that would have been fascinating! Another missed opportunity, but there's enough interesting material elsewhere to justify the purchase of his recollections.