War in Europe, Lieutenant General (Generalleutnant) Adolf Galland attempted to surrender JV 44 to American forces from his hospital bed. At the same time, Air General (General der Flieger) Karl Koller had ordered JV 44 to relocate to Prague and continue fighting. Bär, as a Galland loyalist, attempted to ignore the order. Bär was further pressured to relocate JV 44 when Major General (Generalmajor) Dietrich Peltz, commander of IX. Fliegerkorps, and Colonel Hajo Herrmann, commander of 9. Flieger-Division (J), unexpectedly emerged at the control room in Maxglan on 2 May 1945. A heated and violent dispute erupted between Bär, Peltz and Herrmann, witnessed by Walter Krupinski. He later recalled that Bär responded with "Yes, sir, but we are under the command of Generalleutnant Galland, and I will only follow orders of Generalleutnant Galland!"—a final act of disobedience that Krupinski believed could have led to Bär being shot for insubordination. In the early morning hours of 4 May 1945, Bär gathered the pilots of JV 44 for a final briefing. Bär ordered the remaining Me 262 destroyed before going into captivity and interrogation by US intelligence officers of the 1st Tactical Air Force's Air Prisoner of War Interrogation Unit, based at Heidelberg. After the war Bär did not return to his home in Sommerfeld after World War II. He settled in Braunschweig, where he continued his career in aviation, including a lead position for motor-powered flight with the Deutscher Aero Club. He also worked as a consultant and test pilot in the field of sport aviation, testing aircraft before they went on the market. On 28 April 1957, while conducting a routine flight-check in a light aircraft, a LF-1 Zaunkönig, Bär put the aircraft into a flat spin, the final manoeuvre in the test process. The aircraft spun down to ; unable to regain control, Bär was killed in the resulting crash at Braunschweig-Waggum. In fringe culture The National-Zeitung, a far-right German newspaper, featured a portrayal of Bär in its series "Great German Soldiers: Immortal Heroes" in May 2000. The National-Zeitung glorified Bär's "reliability" and "bravado" and claimed that he was a "daredevil in the best sense". In Jagdgeschwader 51, the newspaper continued, he quickly gained fame and honour through daring actions; after his total of 18 kills, he had been "immediately back in action" with barely treated wounds. In the series, only soldiers loyal to the Nazi regime were honoured,