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1943 COLOR ILLUSTRATED NAZI BOOK ABOUT THE JU 88 AND OTHER LUFTWAFFE WARPLANES DURING WORLD WAR II

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Sturz in den Sieg (Plunge to Victory) is subtitled “The Amazing Ju 88”. The 6-¼ x 8-¾ inch hardcover book is 1-½ inches thick, has 424 pages and 32 full-page color pictures, from the Farbbildarchiv des Propagandaministeriums, Junkers factory, and other picture sources. Most are not found in other Third Reich books.

This book was written by journalist, author and pilot Leonhard Adelt. Adelt and his wife Getrud, also a journalist, survived the zeppelin Hindenburg crash at Lakehurst NJ on 6 May 1937. After recuperating from their injuries they returned to Germany in the summer of 1937 and settled in Dresden. Both resumed their careers as journalists. Together with their young son, they escaped their house during the firebombing of Dresden in 13 February 1945. Leonhard Adelt went back to their house to retrieve an unfinished manuscript and was badly burned. He died of his injuries about a week later.

Sturz in den Sieg is Adelt’s book about the Ju 88 (and other Luftwaffe planes) which saw action during the 1939 German invasion of Poland, the 1940 Battle of Norway, invasion of France, Battle of Britain, 1941 German invasion of the Balkans and Greece, and during Operation Barbarossa. Ju88 and other Luftwaffe aircraft were also used in the North African campaign, the Italian campaign as well as in Finland against the USSR.

In the last chapter the author mentions the deaths of Flying Aces Ernst Udet and Werner Mölders, quotes Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler and reminisces about the last four years of war and the role of Luftwaffe Sturzkampfwaffen.

There is an extensive Index of World War II personalities that include heads of state, Luftwaffe pilots, Junkers mechanics, as well as Italian, Dutch, French British and American aviators. This is followed by a list of German, Italian, English, French, Russian and American airplanes involved in the conflict, as well as zeppelin airships and navy ships. All the illustrations are on unnumbered glossy paper pages and are indexed as well, including the watercolors.

This Nazi book about World War II dates to 1943 and starts with a chapter about the development and testing of the Junkers Ju 88. “Target Rotterdam” is the name of chapter 2, followed by chapters about experiences on the ground in Holland, the Ju 87 Stuka, descriptions of the Luftwaffe participation in Norway, Dunkirk, aerial attacks on England, Luftwaffe action at Belgrade in Serbia, in Greece and the island of Crete, above North Africa, bombing the island of Malta, the Ostfeldzug, the invasion of the Soviet Union through the spring of 1942.

Leonhard Adelt describes characteristics of the plane, repairs at the Junkers factory (left), and uses his diary entries to create lively explanations and descriptions of World War II pilot life, observations about travel during wartime, encounters with the local population, and the war in general.

Sturz in den Sieg was published by Schmidt und Günther of Leipzig in 1942 and printed in Leipzig by Emil Herrmann. This 80+ year old example is in very nice used condition with the bookplate of a woman named Hannelore Lindner on the first title page. Complete, tight spine, no odor.