Milch Diaries 1925-1935 (Irving Fiile 56) – Negative Reel

Microfilmed personal diaries (Taschenkalender), handwritten with embedded printed materials.

Extent and Medium:

1872 pages (frames), microfilm format. Contains mixed media content including:

• Handwritten notes
• Printed tables and charts
• Maps and agency lists
• Sketches and marginalia

This series consists of eleven annual diaries and notebooks created by Erhard Milch during a formative decade for German civil and military aviation. Each volume provides a calendar-based structure with brief daily annotations, usually 1–3 lines per entry, in Milch’s handwriting.

The content includes:

• Travel records and itineraries
• Appointments and meeting notes
• Economic and performance data for German aircraft
• Names, birthdays, and addresses of personal and professional contacts
• Sketches, marginal calculations, and aviation planning

Notable entries and elements:

• Tagebuch 1925–1927 (Junkers Kalender): Notes on aircraft types, DLH operations, postal and aviation tariffs, German city demographics.
• Tagebuch 1928 (Siemens Kalender): Contains industrial maps and agency lists for Siemens Werke, plus data on Deutsche Luftverkehr.
• Tagebuch 1933: Includes sketch of DLH’s top organizational structure and Milch’s own board position.
• Merkbücher 1934–1935: Notes on conversations with Göring, Hitler, Blomberg; contains visual content such as cartoons by Ernst Udet.

Related material includes:

• Aircraft cost comparison charts (Junkers, Focke-Wulf, Rohrbach, Albatros)
• Memoranda on service regularity and fuel costs
• Early budgeting calculations for Deutsche Luft Hansa (DLH)
• Address lists including Sperrle, Loerzer, Göring, Coeler, Felmy, Wilberg

Disclaimer

Historical Content Notice
This document contains historical material authored by Erhard Milch, a senior official in the Nazi regime and former Luftwaffe Field Marshal. The content was created between 1925 and 1935, a period that includes the rise of the National Socialist government in Germany. As such, it may reflect ideologies, language, and perspectives that are discriminatory, offensive, or disturbing by modern ethical and legal standards.

Interpretive Caution
The content is often fragmentary, handwritten, and lacks broader context. As with all personal diaries, entries may be subjective, incomplete, or misleading if not corroborated with other archival sources. Researchers are strongly encouraged to consult:

• Independent historical analyses,
• Related archival collections (e.g., DJ-59),
• Scholarly works on interwar German aviation and the Nazi state,
  before forming conclusions based on this material.

Legal and Ethical Considerations
This document is shared for historical and academic purposes only. It must not be used to promote or legitimize hate speech, Holocaust denial, fascist ideology, or political extremism. Use is governed by applicable archival standards, copyright laws, and institutional policies regarding sensitive content.

Condition Note

The file consists of high-resolution microfilm scans of Erhard Milch’s diaries from 1925–1935. Physically, the diary images are well-preserved with clear contrast and minimal visual degradation typical of archival microfilm. However, legibility varies significantly:

• Printed calendar structure and headings are generally sharp and readable.

• Handwritten entries, though intact, are often in dense German cursive (likely Sütterlin or Kurrent), making them difficult to interpret without specialized knowledge.

• Some pages show overexposure or ink fade, affecting clarity, but most entries are discernible with effort.

Overall, the file is in archivally sound condition, though transcription or OCR will require language and script expertise for accuracy.