Hello Herr Doktor!
This picture has been haunting me for a long time. As Vikki has already pointed out this picture must be from 1944/45 due to the mountain cap which was introduced early in 1944 (Schlicht & Angolia, 1999, p.529). Most likely Sibylle von Jagow was indeed a
Oberstabsführerin of the Luftwaffe auxiliaries.
The really weird element in the photo is the NSFK badge. In my opinion the photo has been retouched post-war with this badge to indicate some kind of relationship to the NSFK. I’m not an expert on NSFK insignia but from all that I could gather on the net it resembles a NSFK motor pilot’s badge except for one point. The swastika on the knees of the Icarus is missing. I take this as a hint that the retouching happened past 1945.
Such retouching of period photographs is not uncommon. You’ll find many WWII photos were decorations or promotions have been added later because the person depicted did not make it to a proper photo studio before being killed or the war was over.
The badge also appears to be much too big, almost the size of a man’s hand. From all that I’ve found on the net the badge should be just about 5 cm in diameter. Either von Jagow was a really tiny person or the badge was drawn particularly big to be visible well.
If the badge is indeed a postwar addition to the picture it’s of course hard to say if it really does reflect von Jagow’s role in the NSFK. Perhaps it was just the only NSFK symbol available to the retoucher and was used in a more general sense to show some kind of affiliation to the NSFK.
I’m just reading Zegenhagen's Ph.D. thesis (Zegenhagen, 2007) which delves deeply into the history of German aviatrixes. Zegenhagen has dug up the names of several dozen female motor and glider pilots active before 1945 even including two imposters that never flew for the Luftwaffe despite their claims. But von Jagow is not amongst these women.
Women could join the NSFK but only as a 'donating member' (
förderndes Mitglied) which means they could not hold any rank there (Zegenhagen, 2007, p.338, 390). That does not mean women could not work in high-ranking positions for the NSFK. Vera von Bissing was a
Hauptreferentin (roughly: chief expert) in NSFK Gruppe Mitte and even became managing director of the NSFK aircraft workshop in Eschwege during the war (Zegenhagen, 2007, p.340).
So perhaps von Jagow worked for the NSFK in some kind of capacity too. This must not be limited to the rather well documented field of motor pilots. If we assume that her badge is just meant in a general way she could also have been active in the much bigger area of glider planes that remains mostly obscure despite Zegenhagen’s efforts.
It could also be the case that von Jagow belonged to the force of female glider instructors and glider instructor assistants that the NSFK set up in mid to late 1944. These women were then to teach Hitler Youth members their first level flight training. The aim of this was getting the boys prepared for the Heinkel He 162 jet fighter ASAP thus creating a kind of Luftwaffe Volkssturm. At least three courses for such female flight instructors with about 200 participants are known to have taken place in Silesia and Hesse. Most participants already had some experience in flying gliders but some novices were also present. The women received male NSFK uniforms (female ones appear never to have existed) and were dispersed on numerous NSFK glider schools after completing their training (Zegenhagen, 2007, pp.391).
- NSFK glider course 1944.jpg (125.92 KiB) Viewed 8678 times
Photo: Zegenhagen (2007, p.395)
References:
A. Schlicht; J.R. Angolia
Die deutsche Wehrmacht. Uniformierung und Ausrüstung 1933 - 1945
Band 3: Die Luftwaffe
Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart, 1999
E. Zegenhagen
>>Schneidige deutsche Mädel<<. Fliegerinnen zwischen 1918 und 1945.
Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen, 2007
Best regards
Torsten
