Herrmann's intention was to gather a large number of these fighters for a one-off attack on the USAAF bomber formations in the hope of causing enough losses to curtail the bombing offensive for a few months. Fuel shortages prevented employment of the large numbers necessary, although from one mission of this type, on 7 April 1945, of the 120 fighters thus committed only 15 returned. Law career and Nazi activism Herrmann surrendered to Soviet forces after the war, was held prisoner for 10 years and returned to Germany in 1955. Then he studied law and settled in Düsseldorf. He defended Otto Ernst Remer, the head of the neo-Nazi Socialist Reich Party and the Holocaust deniers David Irving and Fred A. Leuchter. Hermann's affinity for Remer, a committed Nazi and former Wehrmacht officer, was rooted in their mutual Holocaust denial activities. In October 1999 he had another interview with historians Colin Heaton and Jon Guttman. Heaton had been interviewing Herrmann for over ten years. In 1959 Herrmann married the German soprano Ingeborg Reichelt. The couple had two children. Awards Spanish Cross in Bronze with Swords Iron Cross (1939) 2nd Class (October 1939) and 1st Class (27 May 1940) Ehrenpokal der Luftwaffe (28 September 1940) German Cross in Gold on 5 June 1942 as Hauptmann in the III./KG 30 Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords Knight's Cross on 13 October 1940 as Oberleutnant and Staffelkapitän of the 7./KG 4 "General Wever" 269th Oak Leaves on 2 August 1943 as Major and Geschwaderkommodore of JG 300 43rd Swords on 23 January 1944 as Oberst and Inspekteur der Nachtjagd in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium and commander of the 30. Jagd-Division References Citations Bibliography External links 1913 births 2010 deaths Condor Legion personnel German World War II flying aces Luftwaffe World War II generals Military personnel from Kiel People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Recipients of the Gold German Cross Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords German military personnel of the Spanish Civil War German lawyers