Josef Grabler

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Josef Grabler (born September 14, 1899 in Saarunion ; † May 22, 1941 off the island of Crete ) was a German author of aviation and war literature and war correspondent in World War II .

Life

Born in Alsace , Grabler signed up as a volunteer in 1916 and served in the German air force during the First World War . In 1922 he became a Prussian civil servant in the middle service . He also worked as a sports pilot . After 1933 Grabler worked in the Reich Ministry of Aviation .

According to the book by the historian Saul Friedländer , his personal file, kept in the Federal Archives , "depicts a fellow traveler despised by party comrades, whose burning professional and aviation ambitions were hampered by his long-term membership in the SPD." from the Ministry and from 1939 was assigned to a propaganda company of the Air Force as war correspondent . After the attack on Poland he was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class. Then he took part as a war correspondent in the campaigns against Norway , France , Yugoslavia and Greece .

Grabler died during the airborne battle for Crete , in which he had once again participated as a war correspondent, when he was shot down with a transport plane over the sea. His body was not found. His name can be found on the missing person's plaque at the German military cemetery in Maleme on Crete .

plant

As an author and editor, Grabler published several penny notebooks and books that were to be evaluated as propagandistic glorification of war and, until his death in 1941, was one of the authoritative authors of the Luftwaffe propaganda illustrated Der Adler , in whose construction he was involved.

The 32-page volume Sturzkampfflieger über Warsaw and Modlin appeared in 1939 as issue 67 of the youth issue series Exciting Stories , in which soldiers and war correspondents tried to "earn quick money without writing ambitions". There was a “cooperative interaction with the military censorship in the Propaganda Ministry ” in terms of content and topic selection . Grabler's work is based on his war correspondent articles from the attack on Poland. By 1940, the magazine published by Bertelsmann had printed 255,000 copies. A compilation of propaganda company war reports is the book Mit Bomben und MGs über Polen (1940), published by him , which by 1942 had a total print run of 300,000 copies. In his introduction with the title Die neue Waff e Grabler emphatically emphasizes that this book marks the beginning of a new section in experience-oriented writing about war. His book about the fighter pilot Helmut Wick ( Helmut Wick. The life of a flying hero ) is also based on propaganda war reports from Grabler. It did not appear until almost two years after Grabler's death in 1943 in the " Adler-Bücherei " book series published by the Air Force Armed Forces Service for propaganda purposes . The propaganda sheet “Der Adler” acted as publisher.

After the end of the war , two Grabler books appeared in the “ List of literature to be sorted out ” in the Soviet occupation zone that was to be removed from libraries and bookshops. A third was banned in the GDR in 1953 . The city of Berlin had all of Grabler's works removed as early as 1946.

Book publications

  • The chain. A pilot's book. Thienemann, Stuttgart no year [1936]
  • Dive fighter over Warsaw and Modli n. (= Exciting stories; 67). Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1939
  • (Co-author): Colonel Polte, and yet we flew! My flight experiences in three continents , recorded by Josef Grabler. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1940
  • (Ed.): With bombs and machine guns over Poland. Air Force PK war reports. Bertelsmann, Gütersloh 1940
  • Helmut Wick. The life of an aviator hero. (= Adler library). Scherl, Berlin 1943

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Department for National Education in the Magistrate of the City of Berlin (ed.): Directory of the literature to be sorted out. Berlin 1946, p. 32.
  2. ↑ a b List of missing persons on denkmalprojekt.org (accessed on May 23, 2012).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Farewell to Josef Grabler (obituary). In: Der Adler , issue 24 v. November 25, 1941, p. 12.
  4. ↑ a b c d Saul Friedländer u. a .: Bertelsmann in the Third Reich. Vol. 1. Munich 2002, p. 388.
  5. ↑ a b c d Entry Grabler, Josef in the database “Schrift und Bild” 1900–1960 . (accessed on May 23, 2012).
  6. ↑ Saul Friedländer et al. a .: Bertelsmann in the Third Reich. Vol. 1. Munich 2002, p. 254.
  7. ↑ Olaf Simons: Exciting stories in the database script and image 1900-1960 . (accessed on May 23, 2012).
  8. ^ German administration for popular education in the Soviet zone of occupation: List of the literature to be sorted out. Berlin 1946, No. 3934 With bombs and machine guns over Poland. (Gütersloh 1941), No. 3935 Helmut Wick. The life of an aviator hero. (Berlin 1943).
  9. ^ Ministry of National Education of the German Democratic Republic: List of literature to be sorted out. Third addendum, Berlin 1953, No. 4968 dive-fighting aircraft over Warsaw and Modlin . (Gütersloh 1939).
personal data
SURNAME Grabler, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author of aviation and war literature as well as war correspondent in World War II
DATE OF BIRTH September 14, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Saar union
DATE OF DEATH May 22, 1941
Place of death off the island of Crete