ON THE BASIS OF AN ALLEGED REMARK BY A NEW YORK JEW LAST YEAR THAT THE ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG “WON’T BE IN THE AIR MUCH LONGER,” JULIUS STREICHER, CHIEF NAZI ANTI-SEMITIC PROPAGANDIST, TODAY CHARGED THE DESTRUCTION OF THE GIANT AIRSHIP AT LAKEHURST, N. J., MAY 6 TO A JEWISH PLOT.
TO SUPPORT THIS ACCUSATION STREICHER PUBLISHED IN DER STUERMER, HIS NEWSPAPER, A COPY OF A LETTER SAID TO HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM A GERMAN LIVING IN BUKOVINA, RUMANIA, READING:
“ON THE SUBJECT OF THE HINDENBURG CATASTROPHE, I WANT TO INFORM YOU THAT LAST AUTUMN A NEW YORK JEW NAMED HELLMANN, ENGAGED IN THE LUMBER BUSINESS, REPLIED TEXTUALLY AS FOLLOWS TO THOSE WHO ADVISED HIM TO TAKE THE HINDENBURG ON HIS RETURN TRIP TO THE UNITED STATES: ‘THE ZEPPELIN WON’T BE IN THE AIR MUCH LONGER.'”
DER STUERMER WAS CONVINCED THIS ALLEGED STATEMENT CONSTITUTED PROOF OF A JEWISH PLOT TO DESTROY THE HINDENBURG. STREICHER DECLARED THE JEWS BLEW UP THE AIRSHIP “BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO WEAKEN THE REICH WHICH THEY HATE SO MUCH.”
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.
