A Luftwaffe Fighter Ace Erich "Bubi" Hartmann Signed Colour Photograph

Colour reproduction photograph printed on Kodak paper, illustrating an artist's rendition of Erich Hartmann in his Luftwaffe flying uniform, complete with visor cap, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds around his neck, his original signature in blue ink in the white space below the image, 108 mm x 157 mm, near mint. Footnote: Erich Alfred Hartmann (April 19, 1922 - September 20, 1993), nicknamed "Bubi" by his German comrades and "The Black Devil" by his Soviet adversaries, was a German fighter pilot during the Second World War and is the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial combat on 825 separate occasions. He claimed, and was credited with, shooting down 352 Allied aircraft (345 Soviet and 7 American) while serving with the Luftwaffe. During the course of his career, Hartmann was forced to crash-land his fighter fourteen times due to damage received from parts of enemy aircraft he had just shot down or mechanical failure. Hartmann was never shot down or forced to land due to enemy fire. Hartmann, a pre-war glider pilot, joined the Luftwaffe on October 1, 1940. His first station was Neukuhren in East Prussia, where he received his military basic training as a Luftwaffe recruit and completed his fighter pilot training in 1942. He was posted to Jagdgeschwader 52 (JG 52) on the Eastern Front and was fortunate to be placed under the supervision of some of the Luftwaffe's most experienced fighter pilots. Under their guidance, Hartmann steadily developed his tactics, which earned him the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds on August 25, 1944 for claiming 301 aerial victories. At the time of its presentation to Hartmann, this was Germany's highest military decoration. Hartmann scored his 352nd and last aerial victory at midday on May 8, 1945, only hours before the war ended. Along with the remainder of JG 52, he surrendered to United States Army forces, who in turn handed Hartmann, his pilots, and ground crew over to the Soviet Union's Red Army on May 24th, where he was imprisoned in accordance with the Yalta Agreements, which stated that airmen and soldiers fighting Soviet forces had to surrender directly to them. Hartmann and his unit were led by the Americans to a large open-air compound to await the transfer. The number of prisoners grew to 50,000. Living conditions deteriorated, and some American guards turned a blind eye to escapes. In some cases they assisted by providing food and maps. Soon after being handed over to the Soviet armed forces, Hartmannexperienced the following: "The first thing the Russians did was to separate the German women and girls from the men. What followed was a brutal orgy of rape and debauchery by Red Army soldiers. When the greatly outnumbered Americans tried to intervene, the Russians charged towards them firing into the air and threatening to kill them if they interfered. The raping continued throughout the night. The next day a Russian General arrived at the encampment and immediately ordered a cessation ... Later when a few Russians violated the order again and assaulted a German girl, she was asked to identify them from a lineup. There were no formalities, no court martial. The guilty parties were immediately hanged in front of all their comrades. The point was made." In an attempt to pressure him into service with the Soviet-friendly East German Volksarmee, he was tried on fabricated charges of war crimes and convicted, his conviction being posthumously voided by a Russian court as a malicious prosecution. Hartmann was sentenced to twenty-five years of hard labour and spent ten years in various Soviet prison camps and gulags until he was released in 1955. In 1956, Hartmann joined the newly established West German Luftwaffe in the Bundeswehr, and became the first Geschwaderkommodore of Jagdgeschwader 71 "Richthofen". Hartmann resigned early from the Bundeswehr in 1970, largely due to his opposition to the F-104 Starfighter deployment in the Luftwaffe and the resulting clashes with his superiors over this issue. In his later years, after his military career had ended, he became a civilian flight instructor. He died of natural causes on September 20, 1993. Hartmann achieved four ranks in the Wehrmacht while with the Luftwaffe: Leutnant (Second Lieutenant) on April 1, 1942, Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) on May 1, 1944, Hauptmann (Captain) on September 1, 1944 and Major (Major) on May 8, 1945. In the Bundeswehr, he achieved the ranks of Oberstleutnant (Lieutenant Colonel) on December 12, 1960 and Oberst (Colonel) on July 26, 1967. His awards included: the Front Flying Clasp of the Luftwaffe in Gold with Pennant "1300", the Pilot/Observer Badge in Gold with Diamonds on August 25, 1944, the Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 on December 17 1942, the Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939 on March 7, 1943, the Honour Goblet of the Luftwaffe on September 13, 1943 as Leutnant and pilot, the German Cross in Gold on October 17, 1943 as Leutnant in the III./Jagdgeschwader 52, the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds, the Knight's Cross on October 29, 1943 as Leutnant and pilot in the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52, the 420th Oak Leaves on March 2, 1944 as Leutnant and Staffelführer of the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52, the 75th Swords on July 2, 1944 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52 and the 18th Diamonds on August 25, 1944 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 9./Jagdgeschwader 52, as well as being mentioned twice in the Wehrmachtbericht. Hartmann had kept the whereabouts of his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross secret from his captors during his time as a prisoner of war under the Russians, claiming that he had thrown it away. The hiding place was in a small stream. His comrade Hans "Assi" Hahn managed to hide the Knight's Cross in a double bottom cigar box and smuggled it back to Germany when he was released from captivity.