About Hans-Ulrich Rudel
Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, Rudel knocked out 519 tanks, one battleship, one cruiser, 70 landing craft and 150 artillery emplacements. He claimed nine aerial victories and the destruction of more than 800 vehicles. He flew 2,530 ground-attack missions exclusively on the Eastern Front, usually flying the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bomber. Rudel surrendered to US forces in 1945 and emigrated to Argentina. An unrepentant Nazi, he helped fugitives escape to Latin America and the Middle East, and sheltered Josef Mengele, the former SS doctor at Auschwitz. He worked as an arms dealer to several right-wing regimes in South America, for which he was placed under observation by the US Central Intelligence Agency. In the West German federal election of 1953, Rudel was the top candidate for the far-right German Reich Party but was not elected. After the 1955 Argentinian military coup d'etat that deposed constitutional president Juan Perón, Rudel moved to Paraguay, where he acted as a foreign representative for several German companies. In April 1943, Rudel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, receiving the Oak Leaves from Hitler personally in Berlin. In October 1943, Rudel was credited with the destruction of his 100th tank and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords (one of only 160 awarded) on 25 November. Rudel was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds (one of only 27 awarded) on 29 March 1944, the tenth member of the Wehrmacht to receive this award. On 29 December 1944, Rudel was promoted to Oberst (colonel), and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, the only person to receive this decoration.
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