380:, were executed. She and her husband, as well as the other adult members of the family, were sent to concentration camps. However, she was released on 2 September because of the military importance of her work. As the name von Stauffenberg was anything but popular among the Nazis, she was now officially addressed as "Gräfin Schenk" instead of "Gräfin Schenk von Stauffenberg". Her sisters-in-law,
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Melitta maintained contact with the incarcerated members of her extended family, even though they were imprisoned in concentration camps. Her status, and the possibility that the prisoners might be useful in a bargain with the
Western Allies when Germany finally fell, kept them moderately well looked
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A local doctor, Hans Siegl from Straßkirchen, arrived at the scene, but as a
Luftwaffe doctor and other military were on scene, his services were not needed; she was taken off in an ambulance. Von Stauffenberg's injuries did not appear life-threatening, but she died two hours later. Her remains were
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once she learned in March 1945 that her husband was there. As research facilities in Berlin were dispersed to other locations ahead of the Soviet advance, Melitta's activities were moved to
Wurzberg, where she found that a RAF raid had destroyed her house.
455:. She crash-landed the aircraft and was conscious when civilians arrived to help. She asked for assistance to get out of the aircraft, and was extracted from the aircraft alive. The civilians reported her most serious injury appeared to be a broken leg.
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taken to the hospital in
Straubing, where the town mortuary book noted as the cause of death "...skull base fracture, tearing of the left thigh, fracture of the right ankle." Her husband learned of her death a few days later.
257:(DVL), an experimental institute for aviation, in Berlin-Adlershof in 1927. In July 1929 she began flying lessons at Staaken and obtained her provisional flying license within a few months and her full license by mid-1930.
462:
She was buried on 13 April in St
Michaels Cemetery, arranged by Staubing airbase commander's assistant. In September 1945 Alexander arranged to have her exhumed and transported to the Stauffenberg estate at
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199:. Her father was Michael Schiller, a Jewish man who converted to Christianity at the age of 18. Her mother was Margaret Eberstein. She had four siblings: Marie-Luise, Otto, Jutta and Klara.
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On 4 April, with her assistant pilot
Hubertus, she set out for Buchenwald. Seeing from the air that the special prisoner compound was empty – the prisoners had been moved to
384:, were confined in concentration camps and the Stauffenberg children were taken away from their mothers. Melitta used her prominent position to help as much as she could.
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Melitta felt loyal to
Germany, but not to the Nazis. She therefore supported the Luftwaffe, but she confessed in her diaries that this moral conflict tormented her.
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264:(aeronautical engineer) because of her paternal grandfather's Jewish origins, despite her father having converted to Christianity at the age of 18.
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on the 29th. She made her dissertation for her
Masters qualification in 1944, and received an A grade. She then became technical chief of the
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and then
Regensburg to look for her husband. By that point, her husband and other prisoners had been moved again; Melitta got a
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She took off early on 8 April 1945, flying low to the ground along the line of the railway to navigate. An
American
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with diamonds, for performing over 1,500 test flights in dive bomber aircraft. In 1944, she was arrested with other
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Countess von Stauffenberg died after being shot down by an American reconnaissance plane on 8 April 1945.
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540:). Titles and all dependent parts of surnames are ignored in alphabetical sorting. The masculine form is
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Sturzflüge für Deutschland: Kurzbiografie der Testpilotin Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg.
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in Berlin. She did test dives in warplanes, up to 15 times a day, from a height of 4,000 metres.
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was a title before 1919, but now is regarded as part of the surname. It is translated as
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Melitta passed the diploma for university entrance in 1922 and accepted a place at the
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From 1942, Melitta continued her test-flights at the Luftwaffe's technical academy in
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reconnaissance airplane flown by First Lieutenant Norbourn Thomas, who was hunting
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Amazons to Fighter Pilots - A Biographical Dictionary of Military Women (Volume 2)
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family members on suspicion of conspiring with her brothers-in-law to
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When the 20 July plot failed, she was arrested with the rest of the
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on 22 January 1943; the medal was pinned on her by the chief of the
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She was the second German woman to be awarded the honorary title of
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trainer on 6 April. At Marienburg, Hubertus left her to fly on to
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where she was interred in the family crypt on 8 September 1945.
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522:). Since 1919, these titles, along with any nobiliary prefix (
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Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Germany
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562:. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 416–418.
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412:. They flew some personnel from Weimar in an overloaded
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Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: Das Leben einer Fliegerin
331:. Still a civilian, she was officially seconded from
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Melitta Gräfin Stauffenberg: The life of an aviatrix
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844:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1945
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482:Gold Front Flying Clasp for Bombers with Diamonds
824:German Jewish military personnel of World War II
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767:Melitta Schiller (1903 - 1945), Pioneer Aviatrix
692:] (in German). Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag.
859:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class
128:; 3 January 1903 – 8 April 1945) was an
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277:Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
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122:Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
104:Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg
23:Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg
874:Technical University of Munich alumni
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363:Versuchsstelle für Flugsondergeräte
167:Gold Front Flying Clasp for Bombers
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849:Prisoners and detainees of Germany
839:Aviators killed by being shot down
665:] (in German). Herbig Verlag.
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889:People from the Province of Posen
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629:"The Countess Who Crossed Hitler"
627:Whittle, Richard (20 June 2024).
391:after. She flew several times to
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879:German people of Jewish descent
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602:Mulley, Clare (8 March 2018).
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737:The Women Who Flew For Hitler
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604:The Women who flew for Hitler
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519:Graf Helmuth James von Moltke
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558:Pennington, Reina (2003).
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355:Oberkommando der Luftwaffe
206:Krotoschin became part of
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382:one of them pregnant
351:Iron Cross 2nd Class
299:At the beginning of
225:. There she studied
191:Melitta was born in
864:Stauffenberg family
408:– she flew back to
247:Aviation experience
809:German test pilots
140:before and during
773:Marek, Miroslav.
746:978-1-4472-7420-9
730:978-3-65625-609-0
718:Heiko Peter Melle
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672:978-3-776-62707-7
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329:Mecklenburg
273:Wilmersdorf
235:engineering
227:mathematics
204:World War I
175:assassinate
150:Flugkapitän
788:Categories
488:References
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406:Regensburg
309:test pilot
212:Hirschberg
193:Krotoschin
153:(English:
134:test pilot
90:Test pilot
39:1903-01-03
434:Schönberg
426:Straubing
357:himself,
313:Luftwaffe
305:Red Cross
291:licence.
240:cum laude
138:Luftwaffe
112:Parent(s)
100:Spouse(s)
75:Straubing
58:, Poland)
56:Krotoszyn
513:Countess
378:Berthold
311:for the
165:and the
126:Schiller
94:Engineer
638:28 June
453:Bavaria
430:Gestapo
333:Askania
325:Rechlin
231:physics
216:Silesia
197:Prussia
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130:aviator
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471:Awards
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208:Poland
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688:[
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400:Death
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124:(née
741:ISBN
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667:ISBN
640:2024
608:ISBN
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544:Graf
441:F-6D
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