(Jewish Daily Bulletin)
Martinsburg. West Virginia, Oct. 23.–An explanation of why Dr. Herman Badt. Ministerial Director in the Prussian Government, was left behind when the Graf Zeppelin departed on its historic flight was given by Dr. Hugo Eckener, in response to a query of the Jewish Daily Bulletin.
“The lifting capacity of the airship varies with the temperature and barometric pressure and the altitude, so that the amount of fuel, ballast, etc. cannot be determined exactly until the day of departure,” Dr. Eckener stated. “Dr. Badt was carried on the forty-hour trial flight and was listed as a provisional passenger on the trans-Atlantic flight, in the event that some other passenger would be unable, at the last minute, to go, or specially favorable conditions permitted an additional lift. Unfortunately neither circumstance arose. Dr. Badt is one of our best friends,” Dr. Eckener added.
According to a report in the Berlin “Vossiche Zeitung,” Dr. Badt arrived a few minutes too late to board the Zeppelin. while another version current in Berlin ascribed his being left behind to the pressure of anti-Semites who objected to a Jew being included on the historic flight.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
