Major Walter Nowotny

[USE THE RUDDERS]

Anybody see this article in todays Sunday Telegraph.

I'm utterly gobsmacked and disgusted.

Quote,
____________________________________________________
Vienna council shifts Luftwaffe hero from plot of honour to pauper's grave.

David Ellensohn, a Vienna city councillor whose maternal grandfather was RAF acting pilot officer James Gillespie, successfully argued that Major Nowotny - the first fighter pilot in history to bring down 250 enemy aircraft - had been serving the Third Reich and did not deserve his heroic status.

"He was not fighting for this country, for Austria, he was fighting for the Third Reich," said Mr Ellensohn, a Green Party councillor. "If they had won the war, there would be no Austria as such. Therefore, we should not be forced to give special credit to this man."

____________________________________________________

I can't seem to see any purpose or point in this,the war has been over for 60 years.
Once again the looney left and the PC brigade get their way. :yuk:

[CoodaShooda]

Nowotny was on record for standing up to the excesses of the Nazi regime, particularly the execution of the recaptured POWs.

He was fighting for his country as it existed at the time.

Who's this prat who wants to revise history?? A 'Green'? Says it all really.:yuk:

[BEagle]

The respect for the qualities of leadership and fighter pilot skills of Walter Nowotony shown by Allied pilots at the time is well-documented. Nowotny commanded JG52 with over 400 ac at the age of 22; he died following burn injuries received when his Me 262 was shot down by a RAF Tempest.

He is recorded as having protested directly to Hitler after the murder of escaping Allied PoWs; perhaps his action stopped further planned massacres?

Some years ago I was visiting a Luftwaffe Officers' Mess. On the walls of the dining room they had huge portraits of Richthofen and his contemporaries. "How long before Galland, Marseille and Nowotny will be allowed to join them?" we asked. "Sadly, only fighter pilots would allow that..", replied our host, "..not politicians!"

Why did this wretched woman get her way? PC gone way too far, I consider.

[astir 8]

The respect in which Nowotny was held by the RAF is reflected in virtually a whole page of Clostermann's "The Big Show".

Nowi deserves better than this sh1t.

There is a tribute to Nowotny and some fragments of his Me262 displayed in the gliding club at Achmer airfield from which he was operating when killed, but don't tell the politicians.

[GuinnessPWS]

Below is a link to this character's email and the email address for the city of Vienna. My chums and I have already sent emails protesting this action which in my mind is being done for nothing more than cheap political gain.

I encourage all PPruners to voice their disgust of this act by emailing both this councillor and the city of Vienna. He shows no respect for the dead and no respect for the memory of his own Grandfather.

[email protected]


http://www.wien.gv.at/PolitikInWien/advprsrv.asp?Layout=GRS&Type=K&id=53

[USE THE RUDDERS]

GuinnessPWS,

Excellent work,my email will be off to this tosspot.

Cheers

[GuinnessPWS]

Thanks, but credit really belongs to a pal of mine that sourced these in short order and emailed to me after I shared this pathetic story with him.

[CoodaShooda]

e-mails sent from Australia :ok:

[USE THE RUDDERS]

Recieved the following reply from David Ellensohn

Dear Sir,

walter nowotny was a member of the NSDAP when they were illegal. later
on he
was a hero for the 1000year Reich and he was fighting for the
"Endsieg". As
he didnt do anything else i dont see a single point why this
Endsieg-NSDAP-
Fighter should have a honour grave...

and no: no cheap election ploy. there is no election in vienna until
2006 (!).

Yours Sincerely

David Ellensohn


Well that say's that then.
The guy has no respect for the dead whatsoever

[Squawk7777]

hmmm, using the belief in "Endsieg" is complete b*llocks, because otherwise the SS would had hanged him for deserting or cowardice. I have not read a biography about Major Nowotny, was he a Nazi? What about the others like Doenitz, Rommel and Paulus? There's a (very) thin line between soldiers and politicians...

I don't think it was possible at that time to be a leader anywhere without being in the Nazi-party or being part of the SS. It would be interesting to find out what he thinks about Freiherr Wernher von Braun. Yeah, he helped the Americans to win the conquest for the moon, but he used the Nazi regime to continue/widen his studies in rocketry.

[LowNSlow]

Here's my 2 pennies worth:

Herr Ellensohn,

I read in horror about your campaign to have Major Novotny disinterred and re-buried in a pauper's grave.

Does it cost so much to leave a man the respect that not only his countrymen, but also his former enemies accorded him? He was fighting for his country as he saw fit. My father flew with Bomber Command during WW2 and lost a large number of comrades, possibly some to Major Novotny himself. He bears no grudge against the fighting men of the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe or Kreigsmarine, just the government they fought for. What hatred burns inside you that you will go to the lengths of having a man who has been dead for 58 years disinterred from a peaceful grave?

Yours sincerely,


I look forward to his reply.....

[ID90]

While I think it's crazy to want to re-bury a body after all these years, I don't think it's right to hold up anyone who voluntarily fought for the Nazi regime a hero. Nowotny was a brilliant fighter leader - no doubt about it, and yes he wasn't exactly a die-hard Nazi, but he still chose to fight for that regime. He might not have known the full horrors of what his leaders were up to, but he (and millions of others like him) were not ignorant of the invasion of Poland or half a dozen countries. It is oh so easy to say that he and his kind were fighting for their country - their country was overunning every neighbour they could, and these guys were well aware of it. Please don't make these Nazi fighters into heroes. Many brave Germans chose the route of defying the Nazis and paid with their lives - they are the real German heros - not those who chose the easier option of joining the Nazi party while the going was good.

[Squawk7777]

ID90, you do have a valid point. This whole issue shows how thin the line is. If you join the military then you accept to follow orders by politicians you may not agree with.

I see Major Nowotny not only as a pilot who has flown with the Swatiska on his tail but also as one of the early jet fighter aces. If you argue that Makor Nowotny symbolizes a Nazi-hero then consequently you'd have to agree to destroy all the remaining Me-, Fw-, He-, Go-, Do- and Ar- fighters and bombers sitting in museums since they were nothing more than a tool for the Nazi war machinery.

In my opinion the exhibition should point out the whole truth. Yes, he was an excellent fighter pilot and yes, he was a member of the Nazi party. But does being a member of the Nazi-party make you guilty? Was he convicted in the Nuernberg trial? I find it important with the Luftwaffe history to distinguish between airplanes/pilots and warbirds/heroes for the Nazi-regime. If you'd remove Novotny's monument you'd erase history; and history's controversial - see the Iraq thread!

WW2 unfortunately is still full of controversy. Just look at Bomber Harris. It is our task to learn, and removal of historical facts does not heal wounds.

7 7 7 7

[ID90]

S7777,
I take your point(s) but...
Q)Does being a member of the Nazi party make you guilty?
A) No, but Nowotny, (and millions of others - I don't really want to single him out, but he is an interesting example) didn't have to fight the Nazi cause quite so strongly if he didn't want to. For example, flying single-seat aircraft would have given him a hundred opportunities to defect if he didn't want to fight for a Nazi victory.
Q) Was he convicted at Nuernberg?
A) No, but I'm not suggesting he was guilty of war crimes - just someone, who does not deserve hero status, simply because he chose to fight for an 'evil empire' even though he must have been intelligent enough to know, that the aims of the Nazi regime could hardly be seen as legitimate by anyone. They knew they were attacking countries without provocation, but went along with it anyway...
To be honest, I would not want to destroy anyone's monument, as to me it's just shows no respect for the dead - but as Nowotny was - in my humble opinion - not someone that current and future generations should remember as a hero, I won't loose any sleep over it. Finally, I believe it is possible to keep the weapons of war in museums, not just because I like historic aircraft, but because we do need to record history with as much accuracy as possible. I'm afraid that in my book that means pointing out that those who fought as hard as possible for the Nazi cause, when they were obviously in a position to do otherwise, don't deserve to be remembered as good guys.
As you say in your last line, removing historical facts does not heal wounds, and of course you are 100% right. But in historical terms, does Nowotny deserve hero status for all eternity?
I think not. (But I wouldn't dig him up!)