Erhard Milch



Erhard Milch (March 30, 1892 – January 25, 1972) was a German field marshal general (Generalfeldmarschall) who oversaw the development of the German air force (Luftwaffe) as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany following World War I. He was State Secretary in the Reich Ministry of Aviation and Inspector General of the Air force. During most of World War II, he was in charge of all aircraft production and supply. He was convicted of war crimes during the Milch Trial held before the U.S. military court in 1947 and sentenced to life imprisonment; he was released in 1954.

Quotes

 * That Germany beat these countries was due to better planning and not better preparedness.
 * To Leon Goldensohn, March 13, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004


 * Let them try me. I shall have plenty to say about the Allies. I have some very good friends among the Americans and English, and the French industrialists, too. I have done nothing of which I am ashamed.
 * To Leon Goldensohn, March 13, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" - by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004

About Milch

 * He is a shrewd, Napoleonic, short man, who is very affable, but as poisonous as hell with his affability.
 * Leon Goldensohn, January 22, 1946


 * It was true enough, he did not appear ashamed — merely worried about his own immunity from trial as a war criminal.
 * Leon Goldensohn, March 13, 1946


 * There is no reason to believe that Milch was not absolutely sincere in his idealistic belief in Imperial Germany. Its destruction, however, caused a fundamental change in him: idealism in Erhard Milch was extinguished forever. From this period on, Milch became more and more the slave of his own ruthless ambition.
 * Samuel W. Mitcham, "Eagles of the Third Reich," 2007