Three postcard-sized black-&-white images, including Hans Baur in white uniform jacket with General's collar insignia. A 1938 photo of Baur shaking hands with Hitler, with his name and rank printed in lower margin, signed in blue above. On verso is inscription to Sgt. David Phillips, dated March 29, 1985. And a card with the same image of him shaking Hitler's hand, plus the aircraft (Junkers Ju 52/3m, tail No. D-2600) in flight over Nuremberg in 1934. Signed with rank and ("Generalleutnant a. D.") chief pilot ("Chefpilot d[es]. Fuhrer"). Hans Baur (1897-1993) was born in Bavaria and attended a gymnasium in Munich. He was called into the German army just after the start of WWI, and served in the infant air force. After the war, he became a Freikorps airmail pilot (since Germany had been forced to demilitarize under the treaty). Hitler formed his German Worker's Party in Munich in 1920. Baur joined the NSDAP in 1926, about the time he became one of Deutsche Luft Hansa's first six pilots. He flew the Berlin-Munich-Rome route, with passengers such as Cardinal Nuntius Eugenio Pacelli (soon to become Pope Pius XII), Arturo Toscanini and Tsar Boris III (Bulgaria). Several of these passengers are included in photos in Baur's autobiography. Hitler was an early advocate of air travel to political campaigns. Baur was his pilot as early as the 1932 general election in Germany. The following year Hitler obtained his own plane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m, and, partly because of personal acquaintance with Baur as a Luft Hansa pilot, Baur had just completed his millionth kilometer for the airline, and partly because during WWI, Baur's plane had lost its engines, but he was able to restart them while descending, which Hitler, ever superstitious, took as an omen, Hitler appointed Baur his personal pilot. Baur was also put in charge of Hitler's squadron, in charge of security and training pilots for other top government officials such as Hess, Goebbels, etc. To do this he needed to have some rank, and since the Luftwaffe did not yet exist, he was commissioned to the SS. He eventually rose to rank of Major General in the SS and Lieutenant General of the Police. Baur was one of the "select few" to be in the Fuhrerbunker in April 1945. He stayed until Hitler committed suicide, then tried to remove Bormann from Berlin, Hitler's last orders. The improvised landing strip was too rough to use, so Baur and Bormann tried to leave with other Chancellery personnel, but became separated. Baur was shot in the legs, and when taken to a hospital, was captured by the Soviets. The leg wound resulted in the loss of most of his right leg a month later. The Soviets interrogated and tortured Baur daily for a decade, convinced that he had flown Hitler out of Berlin before being captured. He was released in 1955 to the French, who kept him imprisoned for two more years before his return to Munich. Baur had been with Hitler nearly every day from his appointment in 1933 to Hitler's death in 1945. Baur's second marriage was in Hitler's apartment with the Fuhrer as best man. He not only was Hitler's pilot and security chief, he considered him a friend. Condition: Excellent.
Three postcard-sized black-&-white images, including Hans Baur in white uniform jacket with General's collar insignia. A 1938 photo of Baur shaking hands with Hitler, with his name and rank printed in lower margin, signed in blue above. On verso is inscription to Sgt. David Phillips, dated March 29, 1985. And a card with the same image of him shaking Hitler's hand, plus the aircraft (Junkers Ju 52/3m, tail No. D-2600) in flight over Nuremberg in 1934. Signed with rank and ("Generalleutnant a. D.") chief pilot ("Chefpilot d[es]. Fuhrer"). Hans Baur (1897-1993) was born in Bavaria and attended a gymnasium in Munich. He was called into the German army just after the start of WWI, and served in the infant air force. After the war, he became a Freikorps airmail pilot (since Germany had been forced to demilitarize under the treaty). Hitler formed his German Worker's Party in Munich in 1920. Baur joined the NSDAP in 1926, about the time he became one of Deutsche Luft Hansa's first six pilots. He flew the Berlin-Munich-Rome route, with passengers such as Cardinal Nuntius Eugenio Pacelli (soon to become Pope Pius XII), Arturo Toscanini and Tsar Boris III (Bulgaria). Several of these passengers are included in photos in Baur's autobiography. Hitler was an early advocate of air travel to political campaigns. Baur was his pilot as early as the 1932 general election in Germany. The following year Hitler obtained his own plane, a Junkers Ju 52/3m, and, partly because of personal acquaintance with Baur as a Luft Hansa pilot, Baur had just completed his millionth kilometer for the airline, and partly because during WWI, Baur's plane had lost its engines, but he was able to restart them while descending, which Hitler, ever superstitious, took as an omen, Hitler appointed Baur his personal pilot. Baur was also put in charge of Hitler's squadron, in charge of security and training pilots for other top government officials such as Hess, Goebbels, etc. To do this he needed to have some rank, and since the Luftwaffe did not yet exist, he was commissioned to the SS. He eventually rose to rank of Major General in the SS and Lieutenant General of the Police. Baur was one of the "select few" to be in the Fuhrerbunker in April 1945. He stayed until Hitler committed suicide, then tried to remove Bormann from Berlin, Hitler's last orders. The improvised landing strip was too rough to use, so Baur and Bormann tried to leave with other Chancellery personnel, but became separated. Baur was shot in the legs, and when taken to a hospital, was captured by the Soviets. The leg wound resulted in the loss of most of his right leg a month later. The Soviets interrogated and tortured Baur daily for a decade, convinced that he had flown Hitler out of Berlin before being captured. He was released in 1955 to the French, who kept him imprisoned for two more years before his return to Munich. Baur had been with Hitler nearly every day from his appointment in 1933 to Hitler's death in 1945. Baur's second marriage was in Hitler's apartment with the Fuhrer as best man. He not only was Hitler's pilot and security chief, he considered him a friend. Condition: Excellent.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
