The relevant webpages at airships.net/hindenburg/flight-schedule/maiden-voyage/#maiden and airships.net/blog/hindenburg-piano/ are invaluable for reconstructing the passenger manifest and entertainment on board. On Bund activities at Lakehurst, the New York Police Department was already on alert and had sent officers of its “Radical Squad” to keep watch. According to Special Agent in Charge Burr, the Radical Squad “jumped into the fray at an opportune moment and quickly brought order out of the pending chaos.” Letter, Burr to Chief Special Agent Bannerman of the Department of State, May 16, 1936, in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 21.
Regarding Waldeck, sometime later she divorced Ullstein and married a Hungarian count, who divorced her for being Jewish. During World War II, now converted to Catholicism, she would spend much time in Hungary, where American intelligence kept an eye on her for associating with known Nazis, but she also attempted to contact the OSS for recruitment as a spy. The Gestapo was just as watchful, for she was friends with senior officers involved in the abortive July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. In that sense, she was a good match for Ritter, one being as opaque and as ambiguous as the other, though she ended up working as an American journalist after the war while he was sentenced to four years in prison at Nuremberg. Memorandum, “(Countess) Rosie Waldek [sic],” at cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000389121.pdf.
Lochner’s editor believes that Eckener’s nickname of Die Giftkröte referred not to Goebbels but to Hitler, but this is highly unlikely: Eckener had very few dealings with Hitler, and even he would not have dared to say such a thing. Further, it was Goebbels who had put him on the no-name list, and the diminutive propaganda minister was commonly believed to be both venomous in character and toadlike in appearance.
3. J. Duggan, Olympia-Fahrt, 1936 (Ickenham, U.K.: Zeppelin Study Group, 2000), pp. 3–6, 21–23; F. T. Birchall, “100,000 Hail Hitler; U.S. Athletes Avoid Nazi Salute to Him,” The New York Times, August 2, 1936.
49. Mr. and Mrs. Brown
1. J. A. Sinclair, “Zeppelin News,” The Airship 3 (1937), no. 12; and Editorial Notes—see table, “Travelling Time Europe–U.S.A. by Boat and Airship” in The Airship 4 (1937), no. 15, p. 35.
2. D. Grossman, C. Ganz, and P. Russell, Zeppelin Hindenburg: An Illustrated History of LZ-129 (Stroud, U.K.: The History Press, 2017), pp. 90–91, 95.
3. Cleveland, “Hindenburg Ends Season,” The New York Times, October 18, 1936.
4. Topping, When Giants Roamed the Sky, pp. 204, 206.
5. “Plans Federal Aid to Build Airships,” The New York Times, October 11, 1936; Dick and Robinson, Golden Age, pp. 140–41.
6. Bauer and Duggan, LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin, pp. 28–29, 47, 51–56.
7. “Four Zeppelins to Ply Atlantic Routes by 1940,” The New York Times, February 27, 1937.
8. “Eckener Offers Airship Aid Here,” The New York Times, January 10, 1937.
9. Daley, American Saga, pp. 181–90, has a full account of the Trippes’ around-the-world voyage (for Anne Lindbergh’s impression of Trippe, see p. 495n); see also Betty’s diary in Trippe (ed. Davies), Pan Am’s First Lady, pp. 85–121. On the Empires’ amazing reclining seats, see Courtney, “You Fly the Atlantic,” p. 42; on the sights, see Bentele (trans. Dixon), The Story of a Zeppelin Mechanic, pp. 30–32, 51. Trippe’s employment of Wronsky in New York seems to have been a favor to his father; see letter, J. C. Leslie to Henry Cord Meyer, November 13, 1975, in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 3. On Trippe’s fear of the airship, see transcript of interview by John C. Leslie with William Van Dusen, October 24, 1972, in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 3. Trippe also kept tabs on Goodyear. He heard from Woods Humphery that Litchfield had visited London but was assured that Goodyear had no chance of receiving a subsidy or mail payments from the British government if he started an airship line there. “Memorandum of Telephone Conversation Held July 24th, 1934, at 11:30am,” in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 3. Imperial’s travails in negotiating with local governments in the Middle East and India, which contributed heavily to its delays, are covered in Berchtold, “Trade Routes in the Sky,” p. 17.
10. Memoranda by Eckener, “Zeppelin Plans in North America” and “Zeppelin Enthusiasm in the United States,” in the company newsletter, quoted in Italiaander, Ein Deutscher Namens Eckener, pp. 342–43.
11. “Airship Group Forming,” The New York Times, October 23, 1936; Wordsmith (pseud.), “Notes on the International Zeppelin Transport Co. (IZT) and Pacific Zeppelin Transport Co. (PZT),” Part 2, p. 4.
12. Duggan and Meyer, Airships in International Affairs, p. 216.
13. On the JWV, email to me from Pamela Elbe of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, March 1, 2018; on Weinstein’s day job (assuming it’s the same Weinstein), see “$500,000 Housing Center for Asbury Park Site,” The New York Times, September 13, 1947. See also “Jewish War Veterans Fight Reich Loans,” September 3, 1934, F. T. Birchall, “Berlin Riots Mar Olympic Planning,” July 26, 1935, “Dickstein in Clash in House on Reich,” July 26, “Reich Curbs Drive on ‘Foes’ of State to Halt Criticism,” July 10, “Jewish Veterans Ask Olympic Ban” September 1, “Even Split in A.A.U. on Olympic Issue,” December 7, “Brundage Expects Complete U.S. Representation in Berlin Olympic Events,” January 25, “Nazi Code Dwarfs Individual Rights,” November 6, “Ship Act Benefits Urged for Airships,” December 3, 1936, The New York Times. For the text of Roper’s letter to Weinstein (and Meister’s reply, made in vain), see “Treaty with Reich on Airline Denied,” The New York Times, November 6, 1936. For Frank Bohn’s views, see “Hitler Is Assailed by Non-Nazis Here,” The New York Times, December 16, 1935. On Goodyear, see Topping, When Giants Roamed the Sky, pp. 216–18.
14. Dick and Robinson, Golden Age, p. 138.
15. To that end, Meister wrote to R. Walton Moore at the State Department on December 21, 1936, to inform him that AZT was asking permission from the navy to use Lakehurst, and on February 8 DZR formally applied for permission to enter U.S. territory on the basis of that old standby, “a limited number of experimental demonstration flights.” Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 21. In spite of the application openly declaring that “passenger capacity” would be 72, DZR could not admit that the Hindenburg’s primary purpose was to carry passengers, as that would naturally imply that its primary purpose was to carry passengers, thereby making it un-experimental and risking being denied permission. Instead, DZR claimed the flights had been “proposed in order to further explore meteorological conditions prevailing [in] the North Atlantic during the Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons.” It was precisely from this absurd situation that Eckener had sought to extricate himself. Knäusel, Zeppelin and the United States of America, Appendix 7.4, “Application for Permission to Fly the Airship Hindenburg from Germany into United States Territory in 1937,” February 8, 1937, pp. 131–37.
16. Duggan, LZ-129 Hindenburg, pp. 139–52. On Gardner, see “Aboard the Hindenburg,” p. 2.
17. “18 Trips This Year for the Hindenburg,” The New York Times, January 13, 1937.
18. G. Warner, “The Flying Boats of Foynes,” History Ireland 9 (2001), no. 1, pp. 40–44; Daley, American Saga, pp. 211–13; Bender and Altschul, Chosen Instrument, p. 263; Mackenzie, “Ireland, Canada, and Atlantic Aviation, 1935–45,” pp. 31–37.
50. Es Ist Das Ende
1. The literature on the Hindenburg fire is enormous. Unless otherwise noted in the text, the following two chapters are based on the sources below.
Of key importance for the movements, transmissions, and cause of destruction of the airship is Acting Chief of the Air Transport Section R. W. Knight (ed.), The Hindenburg Accident: A Comparative Digest of the Investigations and Findings, with the American and Translated German Reports Included, Bureau of Air Commerce Safety and Planning Division, Department of Commerce, Report No. 11 (August 193
8), reprinted by 7 C’s Press; Riverdale, Connecticut, 1976. On Morrison, Nehlsen, WLS, and radio recordings in general, see wlshistory.com/WLS30/; and the intensive research of Michael Biel of Morehead State University, archived at web.archive.org/web/20070814144201/http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/hindenburg.html. Biographies of the passengers and crew may be found in Patrick Russell’s extraordinarily comprehensive website, facesofthehindenburg.blogspot.com, and the many relevant pages at Dan Grossman’s website, airships.net, are of great interest. Dr. Mark M. Heald’s recollections of the “blue flame” were originally quoted in Robinson, LZ-129; and his son, former professor of physics Mark. A. Heald, kindly sent me additional correspondence. Patrick Russell also provided invaluable advice on the final minutes of the Hindenburg, especially vis-à-vis the subject of electrostatic discharge and the possibility of St. Elmo’s fire. On lightning and the Hindenburg, see “Zeppelin: Easy Rider in a Hurricane,” Literary Digest, October 17, 1936, p. 18, and on Pruss’s expertise at landings, see Dick and Robinson, Golden Age, p. 137. On Lehmann’s family, see J. A. Sinclair, “Capt. Ernst August Lehmann,” The Airship 4 (1937), no. 14, p. 21. Margaret Mather’s recollections, “I Was on the Hindenburg,” Harper’s Magazine, November 1937, and L. Adelt, “The Last Trip of the Hindenburg,” Reader’s Digest, November 1937, pp. 69–72, are extremely useful. On Eckener’s movements before and after the fire, see letter, Eckener to Johanna, May 12, 1937, in Italiaander, Ein Deutscher Namens Eckener, p. 357; on his visit to Ambrosi and additional details (including his “impaired political health”), see Eckener (trans. Robinson), My Zeppelins, pp. 166–68. Arnstein’s recollection (dated May 28, 1958) of his talk with Eckener is printed in Italiaander, pp. 349–50. Quotations and opinions from dozens of witnesses and experts (Eckener, for example) are taken from the voluminous Record Group 197 (Records of the Civil Aeronautics Board), Bureau of Air Commerce (Records Relating to the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937), “Transcripts of Testimony” (A1/Entry 3), at the National Archives, College Park, Maryland. The FBI case files can be found at “The Hindenburg,” File No. 62-48190, available at vault.fbi.gov/Hindenburg%20. For reports on the Cuxhaven funeral, see Report, U.S. Naval Attache to Germany, “Funeral Rites at Cuxhaven for German Dead of the Hindenburg Accident,” May 22, 1937, in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 2, File 21.
The following all appeared in The New York Times in 1937:”Disaster Ascribed to Gas by Experts,” May 7; “Airship Like a Giant Torch on Darkening Jersey Field,” May 7; R. B. Porter, “Ships Falls Ablaze,” May 7; “Eckener Grieves over Loss of Ship,” May 7; H. O’Laughlin, “Passenger Tells of Escape Jump,” May 7; “65 Engaged Passage for Return Voyage,” May 7; L. A. Kieran, “Dirigible Touches Ground in Landing,” May 7; “Lehmann a Veteran in Zeppelin Field,” May 7; “Cause Is a Mystery,” May 7; “Experts Lay Hindenburg Tragedy to Electrostatic or Backfire,” May 8; “Burns Are Fatal to Capt. Lehmann,” May 8; “Relief Fund Is Set,” May 8; “Eckener Lauds Lehmann,” May 8; “Pruss Gets Blood to Combat Burns,” May 8; “Germans Found Helium Unfeasible,” May 8; “Ship Official Died Trying to Save Wife,” May 8; “Eckener Flies to Berlin,” May 8; “Lehmann Wrote Views on Airships,” May 9; R. B. Porter, “Hindenburg Board Starts Hunt Today for Cause of Blaze,” May 10; “Rosendahl Is Mystified by the Hindenburg Fire; Advised Captain to Land,” May 11; “Boy’s Miraculous Escape from Hindenburg Is Told,” May 11; “Funeral Services Today,” May 11; “3 Countries Honor Hindenburg Dead,” May 12; “Capt. Pruss Out of Danger,” May 14; “Hindenburg Rigger Tells of a Blast,” May 18; “Ocean Travelers,” May 21; “Germany Pays Tribute to Hindenburg Dead; 25 Bodies Received with Military Honors,” May 22; “Wife of Captain Pruss Here,” May 22; “Eckener Lays Airship Fire to Static and Leaking Gas,” May 23; “Hindenburg Theory of Eckener Studied,” May 24; “Pruss Out of Danger,” May 25; “New Static Theory for Dirigible Fire,” May 25; “Rosendahl Returns to Sabotage Idea,” May 27; “Inquiry on Airship Is Shifted to City,” May 28; “Sabotage Rumor on Airship Bared,” May 29; W. Kaempffert, “This Week in Science: Defining Static Electricity,” May 30; “Germans See 8 Causes for Airship Disaster,” June 11; “Sister Ship of Hindenburg Under Construction, May Be Somewhat Larger,” July 11.
52. Resurrection
1. W. B. Courtney, Collier’s aviation correspondent, was presumably among the most shocked. He had, with exquisite bad timing, published an article, “Sky Cruise,” for the May 8, 1937, issue stating that “it is the firm conviction of this skeptical reporter…that only a stroke of war or an unfathomable act of God will ever mar this German dirigible[’s] passenger safety record” (p. 46).
2. See Biel’s careful reconstruction of the schedule at web.archive.org/web/20070814144201/http://members.aol.com/jeff1070/hindenburg.html. “Behind the Scenes,” The New York Times, May 16, 1937, outlines the ban on recordings. On calls to the switchboard, see “Flood of Phone Inquiries Answered by The Times,” The New York Times, May 7, 1937; see also “Films of Disaster Viewed by Millions,” The New York Times, May 8, 1937.
3. F. S. Nugent, “Newsreels in the News,” The New York Times, May 23, 1937.
4. Eckener (trans. Robinson), My Zeppelins, p. 170; letter, Eckener to Johanna, May 12, 1937, in Italiaander, Ein Deutscher Namens Eckener, pp. 357–58.
5. “Sky Horror,” Literary Digest, May 15, 1937, p. 11; “Germany Shocked by the Tragedy,” May 7, “Men Continue Work on the New Zeppelin,” May 8 (on Dürr), “New Airships Due,” May 8, “Reich Halts Trips of Graf Zeppelin,” May 10, “Hitler Prohibits Hydrogen Flights,” May 12, 1937, The New York Times; De Syon, “Bangs and Whimpers: The German Public and Two Zeppelin Disasters, 1908–1937,” pp. 176–78. Very interesting is an analysis of German reactions written by George Makinson, the American consul general in Frankfurt, which was sent to Ambassador William Dodd and the State Department. “Plans of the Zeppelin Company,” June 23, 1937, in Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 4, File 18.
6. Letter, Eckener to Johanna, May 12, 1937, printed in Italiaander, Ein Deutscher Namens Eckener, p. 357; Eckener, My Zeppelins (trans. Robinson), p. 168, and for Göring’s belief in sabotage, p. 173. Eckener later gave the impression that he had not been on the radio, but the statement was carried on NBC-WJZ and was reported at the time. See “Eckener to Sail for Inquiry Here,” The New York Times, May 8, 1937.
7. “Sabotage Reports Denied by Embassy,” May 8, 1937; Kuhn quoted in “3 Countries Honor Hindenburg Dead,” May 12, 1937, The New York Times.
8. See letter, Eckener to Johanna, May 12, 1937, printed in Italiaander, Ein Deutscher Namens Eckener, p. 357.
9. “Goering Grateful for U.S. Rescue Work” and “Hitler Thanks Roosevelt for Sympathy Message,” The New York Times, May 8, 1937; letter, Göring to Mrs. Rosendahl, June 1937, in Rosendahl Papers, Box 18, Folder 14.
10. Memorandum, “American Commercial Airships,” August 1, 1937, in the Henry Cord Meyer Papers, Box 3, Folder 25, pp. 11–12.
11. See “Sky Horror,” pp. 12, 10; Series L 265–273, “Air Transport—Accidents: 1927 to 1945,” in Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789–1945, p. 225; Holanda, A History of Aviation Safety, pp. 81–85.
12. “Roper Predicts Sale of Helium by U.S. for ‘Commercial’ Use on Foreign Airships,” The New York Times, May 13, 1937; on editorials, see Meister memorandum on “American Commercial Airships,” p. 12. See also, for a representative example, “ ‘Useless’ Gas,” Literary Digest, May 29, 1937, pp. 6–7, which is pro-helium by dint of concluding, “Helium means greater airship safety and that means airship travel” and raising no objections to the potential sale to Germany.
13. “Washington Found Sympathetic to the Sale of Helium to Eckener,” The New York Times, May 20, 1937. Eckener declared, “I am very happy over the noble step taken by President Roosevelt [in setting up the committee]. I knew he was interested in lighter-than-air transport. Now I learn that he is seriously interested in making lighter-t
han-air craft as safe as possible.” Quoted in R. B. Porter, “Hindenburg Freed Hydrogen 4 Times,” The New York Times, May 20, 1937.
14. Quoted in T. H. Watkins, Righteous Pilgrim: The Life and Times of Harold L. Ickes, 1874–1952 (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1990), p. 668.
15. “Favors Helium Export,” The New York Times, May 14, 1937.
16. “3 in Airship Crew Fix Point of Blast,” May 19, “Eckener Denies War Aim,” May 27, “Bureau to Broaden Air Crash Inquiries; Eckener Asks Congress to Lift Helium Ban,” May 28, 1937, The New York Times.
17. Eckener (trans. Robinson), My Zeppelins, pp. 176–77. Diary entry of June 17, 1937, in H. L. Ickes, The Secret Diary of Harold L. Ickes (New York: Simon & Schuster, 3 vols., 1954), volume 2, pp. 145–46.
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