Germany, Lufthansa. A Lufthansa 500,000 Kilometer Flight Achievement Certificate To Erhard Milch

(Lufthansa Leistungs Papier). Constructed of card stock, obverse with Lufthansa flag and inscription “Die Deutsche Lufthansa, überreicht hiermit Erhard Milch die Nadel der Lufthansa für im regelmäkigen flugdienst zurückgelegte 500,000 Kilometer” (“Deutsche Lufthansa hereby hands Erhard Milch the needle of Lufthansa for a regular flight service of 500,000 kilometers”), with Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Ministry of Aviation) stamp at the bottom right, measuring 220 mm (w) x 305 mm (h), in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Erhard Milch was born 30 March 1892 in Wilhelmshaven, Germany. After serving in the Imperial German Army during the First World War, he began a career in civil aviation and later joined the Luftwaffe, which he played a key role in rebuilding during the first years of the Third Reich. Promoted to Field Marshal and given significant control over wartime aircraft production, Milch surrendered to American forces at the end of the war and was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes. His sentence was later commuted and he was released from prison in 1954, dying in Düsseldorf on 25 January 1972. Milch’s father was Jewish, and his heritage was sufficiently common knowledge to warrant a Gestapo investigation. However, as a personal friend of Hermann Göring, the latter halted any effort to persecute Milch over his Jewish ancestry.