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Maybe helpful (automatic translation)
"
Zeitdokument entlarvt
Historical distortion
Anyone who has looked into rocket flight in the German Reich will have come across the Heinkel He 17B and its pilot, Erich Warsitz (1906-1983). Yet in the post-war years it was virtually impossible to obtain reliable documents, let alone photographs, of the prototype that first flew on 15 June 1939. Based on clues and
memories of former Heinkel employees, Gert Heumann (1959–1967), later editor of FLUG REVUE, produced two restored
photorealistic renderings which, since the early 1960s, had been regarded as the only depictions of the aircraft. The dispute over the appearance of the He 176 was settled in 1969 when Erich Warsitz presented a painting that the ‘English’ had allegedly returned to him as war booty.
It is precisely this painting that is featured here: painted by Hans Liska (1907–1983), who, before the war, was one of the leading illustrators of the *Berliner Illustrierte*, it was intended as a contemporary depiction to
document the appearance of the machine; beneath the signature is the year of creation, 1939. No one has questioned this so far.
Historians, however, should have noticed that the style of the painting contains typical features of the 1950s. To clarify this inconsistency, a few telephone calls were necessary, which, via Prof. Dr Jakob Lehmann, led to Hans Liska’s widow.
Mrs Liska was able to prove, with a quick glance at her husband’s order books, that the commission had been placed by Erich Warsitz in that year, as well as the fact that he had collected it in person on 16th September 1968. She also remembered the painting very well; it had stood in the studio in its finished state for years because Warsitz, for reasons unknown, still didn't want to take it over.
Consequently, the painting can no longer be regarded as a contemporary document from 1939 and now belongs to the category of fabricated documents."
"
Zeitdokument entlarvt
Historical distortion
Anyone who has looked into rocket flight in the German Reich will have come across the Heinkel He 17B and its pilot, Erich Warsitz (1906-1983). Yet in the post-war years it was virtually impossible to obtain reliable documents, let alone photographs, of the prototype that first flew on 15 June 1939. Based on clues and
memories of former Heinkel employees, Gert Heumann (1959–1967), later editor of FLUG REVUE, produced two restored
photorealistic renderings which, since the early 1960s, had been regarded as the only depictions of the aircraft. The dispute over the appearance of the He 176 was settled in 1969 when Erich Warsitz presented a painting that the ‘English’ had allegedly returned to him as war booty.
It is precisely this painting that is featured here: painted by Hans Liska (1907–1983), who, before the war, was one of the leading illustrators of the *Berliner Illustrierte*, it was intended as a contemporary depiction to
document the appearance of the machine; beneath the signature is the year of creation, 1939. No one has questioned this so far.
Historians, however, should have noticed that the style of the painting contains typical features of the 1950s. To clarify this inconsistency, a few telephone calls were necessary, which, via Prof. Dr Jakob Lehmann, led to Hans Liska’s widow.
Mrs Liska was able to prove, with a quick glance at her husband’s order books, that the commission had been placed by Erich Warsitz in that year, as well as the fact that he had collected it in person on 16th September 1968. She also remembered the painting very well; it had stood in the studio in its finished state for years because Warsitz, for reasons unknown, still didn't want to take it over.
Consequently, the painting can no longer be regarded as a contemporary document from 1939 and now belongs to the category of fabricated documents."
