Death of GO Hube

[JC]

I know that Hube died in a plane crash on April 21, 1944 after leaving Hitler's HQ. However, a biographical sketch of him in the book Hitler and his Generals, the Military Conferences 1942 - 1945 says:

"Hube was killed in a fatal accident - which he himself caused - on a return flight from Führer HQ."

Does anyone know anything about how he himself caused the accident?

BR..........JC

[Elwyn W]

Ok on my to do list..... Die Deutsche Wochenschau said Hube's funeral. Any idea who this was?

Cheers
Freiherr

[Charles Steiner]

Mmm, Dieter, let's have a try to get this post back on the right track...

Digging up through th info that I have on Generaloberst Hans-Valentin Hube, I found out that he died on 21 april 1944 during a plane crash at Thundorf, near Salzburg. Apparentey none of the passengers survived the plane crash. I couldn't find anything that puts the blame of the plane crash with Hube himself. Apparentely when his plane took off, its wing hit a tree, followed by the wing breaking off and subsequentely crashing the plane and killing all aboard. I believe I read somewhere that that morning, there was a lot of fogg, but this last info still has to be confirmed.

What I do know, is that Hube was on his way from Berchtesgaden, where he was awarded the RK with diamonds by the hand of Hitler himself and promoted till Generaloberst. Hitler had a lot of respect for Hube and even would have considered making him the head of the Wehrmacht (according to Ian Kershaw in his biography...)

I know there were some rumors afterwards that this accident would have been staged and in fact that Hube was deliberately killed... but no further info on this either...

I hope this helps a bit...

Cheers,

Charles

[JC]

Hello Charles,
thanks for your input.
I wonder if perhaps Hube had insisted on the plane taking off in spite of bad weather, thereby "causing" the accident himself?
Curious.
BR.........JC

[bake]

Nice pic of Hube Funeral

From: http://www.snyderstreasures.com

[Michal78]

Another photo of general Hube. (ebay)
Michal

[Dr. Sandy Mitcham]

In the last photograph, who are those people with Gen. Hube?

[Dr. Sandy Mitcham]

Hube's adjutant, Major von Schwanenfeld, was present in Berchtesgaden on April 21, 1944. He overheard Hube talking with Lt. Gen. Rudolf Schmundt, the chief of the Army Personnel Office. They were discussing Hube's next assignment. He was to soon take over command of Army Group South Ukraine, which was then temporarily under the command of Ferdinand Schörner.

Fortunately for Schwanenfeld, he was scheduled to go on leave, so he did not board the airplane which was headed back to the Eastern Front. According to what Schwanenfeld told my friend and co-author, Theodor-Friedrich von Stauffenberg, in Argentina after the war, the crash was caused by an engine malfunction. It seems unlikely that the a/c hit a tree, although this is certainly not impossible. The rumor that someone did Hube in and staged the accident is even less likely, IMHO. Also, the fact that Hitler delivered the eulogy was a rare gesture indeed in the 5th year of the war.

His grave is in the Invalidenfriedhof in Berlin and is still intact. (I hope I spelled that correctly.) About 1/3 of the graves in this national cemetery were destroyed when the Reds ran the Berlin Wall through it. I understand that Reichenau's was among them.

[Elwyn W]

Pallbearer general on left was Kirchner. I believe he was also the general immediately in fron of AH in Bake's pic.

Cheers
Freiherr

[Michal78]

Portreit photo of Hans Hube...

[steve248]

I realize this is an old topic, but I would appreciate it if one of you guys who posted above could confirm the date of Hube's funeral in Berlin.

[Dieter Zinke]

I have:
26.04.1944 Ehrenwache am Sarg bei der Trauerfeier für Generaloberst Hube in der Reichskanzlei with
Nehring, Breith, Eberbach and Gollnick

Dieter Z.

[steve248]

Thank you, Dieter.

Steve

[Elwyn W]

So in Bake's pic we can see Nehring and Eberbach. But my movie clip general would not be Gollnick as he had no DKiG.
Cheers
Elwyn

[Adam Carr]

I went through the Invalidenfriedhof pretty thoroughly in 2008 and I don't recall either Hube or Reichenau being there. I think I would remember them if they had marked graves there. As you say, many of the graves were destroyed during the DDR period, although some markers have been restored since reunification.