I Was Hitler's Pilot: The Memoirs of Hans Baur

by Hans Baur, Roger Moorhouse (Introduction)

A chilling memoir by the man who flew the Führer.   A decorated First World War pilot, Hans Baur was one of the leading commercial aviators of the 1920s before being pitched into the thick of it as personal pilot to a certain “Herr Hitler.” Hitler, who loathed flying, felt safe with Baur and would allow no one else to pilot him. As a result, an intimate relationship developed between the two men and it is this which gives these memoirs special significance. Hitler relaxed in Baur’s company and talked freely of his plans and of his real opinions about his friends and allies.   Baur was also present during some of the most salient moments of the Third Reich; the Röhm Putsch, the advent of Eva Braun, Ribbentrop’s journey to Moscow, the Bürgerbräukeller attempt on Hitler’s life; and, when war came, he flew Hitler from front to front. He remained in Hitler’s service right up to the final days in the Führerbunker. In a powerful account of Hitler’s last hours, Baur describes his final discussions with Hitler before his suicide; and his last meeting with Magda Goebbels in the tortuous moments before she killed her children. Remarkably, throughout it all, Baur’s loyalty to the Führer never wavered. His memoirs capture these events in all their fascinating and disturbing detail.  

Genres: Memoir, History, Nonfiction, World War II, Historical, War, Aviation

295 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 19, 2013

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, Hans Baur may have had the best seat in the house. He was the Führer's personal pilot from 1932 to the end 13 years later and I do believe his friend (powerful men rarely, almost never have capable, intelligent friends). There is no BS, no phony regret, just the memories and observations clearly written by a man who was active and present at a time when there was still hope for civilization. I've downloaded a pdf version from https://archive.org/ and am amazed that it's still available and/or doesn't cost €120,00! Now look forward to learning more about that amazing Deutsche Heldin, Hanna Reitsch.

[Paulius Kripas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Įdomus pasakojimas žmogaus mačiusio aviacijos pradžią. Jis nuosekliai pasakoja aviacijos raidą tiek kariniame, tiek civiliniame kontekste, asmenines patirtis, susitikimus su politikais ir veikėjais, subjektyviai vertina bei dalinasi savo atsiminimais apie Hitlerį. Vertas dėmesio skaitalas.

[Tadas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idomi ,knyga 📚

[Nate Cooksley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting parts but overall not worth the time

[Bogdan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting volume of memories. There were some new small oieces of information abut the events from before and after the Second World War. Not so detailed though, but still, overall, it`s worth a reading.
But the mistaken of Sofia with Bucharest was kind of annoying.

And good to know that every King or General that flew with Baur had him honored with some kind of a medal, and that even Antonescu was on that list.

[Kara Holben · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was difficult to get in to. With a title like "I was Hitler's Pilot" I expect to hear about your experiences flying Hitler around. I don't give two hoots about what kind of plane you flew or the specs on the flying apparatus. I don't care what route you flew or how many people could fit in the plane. I want to know about Hitler! As I was reading I kept thinking to myself, "No. Body. Cares." And so I did what any bored reader does and flips forward to the chapters where he's flying Hitler. And good gracious. It was written poorly and I still found myself thinking, "WHO CARES?" This was not for me. I love books about WWII. But this sucked (in my oh so humble opinion). Going down as a DNF for me.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fascinating first-hand account of what Hitler was like as a person (I know he's a monster). The pilot's insight enabled the reader to grasp the unthinkable - how Hitler got his close circle to do what he wanted and the general public to follow his lead. This book isn't political at all - which seems weird. But, it was just the pilot's experience flying Hitler and other world leaders around throughout WWII. America played a huge role in WWII, obviously. But, have we been taught we were more important than perhaps we were from the beginning in Europe? I got 3/4 of the way through the book before the US was ever mentioned as part of the war. England, France, Austria, Poland and Germany were the main players highlighted in the memoir.

[JW · Rating 4 out of 5]

A “flier on the wall” memoir from Hans Baur who was an aviation pioneer as a World War I fighter ace and then as a pilot for Lufthansa before being hired to fly Hitler. Interesting accounts of airplane developments, both successful and crash worthy. Baur was with Hitler to the end and was given the task of getting Martin Bormann out of Berlin to Admiral Doenitz in northern Germany. On the run and under fire, Baur lost track of Bormann and was soon wounded and captured by the Russians. Ten years of Soviet captivity followed. A fascinating account.

[Gabriel Cordeiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! For aviation lovers, the author describes the airplanes of his time, the technologies and so on. Lots of interesting facts along his career during the war, his close contact with Hitler and personal opinion on facts. After reading "A Higher Call", I changed my opinion on the German Aviator's side of the war, and started admiring their behavior and code of honor (curiously they were against the Nazi philosophy). It's the other side of the war that nobody mentions, but it's worthy to read about and learn.

[Živilė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skaičiau nemažai knygų antrojo pasaulinio karo tema, bet ši paliko puikų įspūdį. O kur dar įvykius papildančios nuotraukos, kurios suteikė daug daugiau tikroviškumo bei suteikė įdomių žinių. Sužavėjo ir pats Hansas Braunas. Tokių puikių, savo darbą išmanančių žmonių yra nedaug :)

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an aviator myself I appreciated the life and times of Hans Baur. A pioneer of the industry. My biggest take away from the book was his personal relationships with the German high command and his herculean task of staying alive in prison after the war.

[Leonard A. Japchinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good fast paced book about Hitler's personal pilot Hans Bauer. He was at the Bunker in Berlin when Hitler committed suicide. Captured by the Russians, he lost a leg and spent over 10 years in various Russian camps. I thought it was a very good book about a man I knew little about.

[Jakub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vynikající kniha! Člověk více pozná osobnost Hitlera a zároveň se dozví jak vznikala letecká doprava! Jasných 5*

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

book for anyone with

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baur writes a lot of backstory about his own personal history, and links to the fledgling air travel industry, but I found it quite enlightening. It's really necessary for him as a German pilot to establish his credentials to his countrymen for flying the top man around. (I assume he wrote the book in German.) You have to separate the respect for his professionalism vs. his proximity to a man of Hitler's character though - he was apparently too close to the inner circle to comprehend the enormity of events in Germany. I didn't get the impression he was a toadying type of individual, but his admiration of the boss was a bit more than I expected/could stomach. One passage struck me as particularly odd and I didn't have much sympathy for his lengthy prison term after reading that. A quick, supremely interesting read.

[Deckmaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Като цяло предпочитам да чета предимно военна история, но книгата беше сравнително интересна. Баур разказва за живота си от участието му в ПСВ до освобождението му от руски плен през 1955 г. Има някои интересни случки, като безспорно най-интригуващи за нас са срещите му с цар Борис III. Също така ми направи впечатление как остава с Хитлер докрая, въпреки че е можел да се махне преди руснаците да обкръжат града и както правят много други от познатите и "приятели" на Фюрера. За жалост за тази си вярност той заплаща с крака си и, което е още по-лошо, с 10 години пленничество в СССР.

Като цяло добра книга и я препоръчвам. В известна степен по-интересна от меморите на Шпеер, които прочетох преди това.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Hans Baur was not one of the most prolific names of the Nazi era, but I like learning about people who are frequently overlooked. A lot of people read about Himmler and Goering, all of the generals who were involved in some of the greatest battles, and Speer. In this book, we get to see an ordinary boy who grew to love planes and had a great desire to fly. He became a very accomplished pilot and had a very distinguished career as one. It is interesting to see how he was chosen to be a pilot for Hitler, and what he thought about the man and the events. I bought a few books in this category, and I hope to find some more. I enjoyed this book a lot.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable

This is Hans Baur's view of the war and a very readable tale of his job flying Hitler and his 10 years as a prisoner of the Russians. He doesn't talk about the politics, the rightness or wrongness of the war or the Holocaust. It's strictly his work life with Hitler. He writes in a very entertaining way.

[Diego Favilla Czwil]

Lo leí, pero en español.