Theory Nazis Shot U.S. Fliers on Transocean Hop Brought Up

“Did Nazis Shoot Down Yank Transatlantic Flyers?” is the question raised in an article appearing in the current issue of Popular Aviation.

E. Stanton Brown, author of the article, goes back to July 17, 1933, when it was announced that “the airplane ‘Lithuania,’ in which Stephen Parius and Stanley Girenas were attempting a non-stop flight from New York to Kaunas, Lithuania, crashed early today at Kuhdamm (in Germany) and both flyers were killed. Kuhdamm is five miles short of Soldin, Pomerania.”

Brown asks in the subhead of his article: “Did blood-mad Nazis relentlessly shoot down the Lithuanian flyers, Darius and Girenas, almost at the completion of their magnificent transatlantic flight? Officially no, but the present habits of international intrigue, artful maneuvering and national whitewashing within the circles of international politics makes it impossible to accept official statements when there is so much seeming evidence and rumor to the contrary.”

The writer points out there must be doubt about the fact that the Nazi government has told the entire truth about the matter. He says that German officials at first declared that the flyers had crashed because of motor trouble. Expert opinion was to the effect that neither motor trouble nor the weather was responsible. The article says there were three such accidents within ten miles of the spot where the men crashed. Were all these accidents the work of Nazi operations? it asks.

The article points out that, for three months, Nazis kept the bodies of the two flyers. When the bodies were finally seen, there were evidences of surgical treatment, and there were marks on the bodies which might easily have been bullet holes.

Although the United States State Department said “it was an unfortunate accident,” the article concludes by asking, “Why has the matter not been thoroughly investigated by the American government? These two men were American citizens, entitled to every consideration as such”