Landing at Lakehurst

Content warning: mention of Nazi ideology

Helga stared out of the window. Below, all she could see was white cloud; above her, a deep blue sky. Occasionally she could see their shadow on the clouds below, a vast torpedo shape which reminded her of a whale, although many times bigger.

Around her on the busy viewing deck were the sounds of gentility. A lady stirring her tea delicately, a gentleman rustling the pages of his newspaper; a low murmur of general conversation. White coated attendants waited hand and foot on their charges as if their lives depended on it. This was a world of luxury in microcosm, high above the clouds and the problems of humanity below. It was a world which Helga was very used to, so she paid it little attention.

“What can you see, my dear?” Mama was reflected in the glass beside her. As usual she was dressed immaculately, in a shiny black dress.

“Clouds, Mama; clouds, and sky.”

“Well, there’ll be plenty to see soon. When we arrive at New York.

“Are you excited, my dear?”

“Oh yes Mama. Will we see the Empire State Building?”

“Of course. There’s lots of other things to see as well.”

“And toy shops?” Helga was very aware that her tenth birthday was approaching.

“yes. And toy shops.

“We’ll have plenty of time to go shopping while your Papa’sat the Embassy in Washington…”

“As if you don’t have enough toys already.” Helga felt Paparun his hand lovingly through her hair.

He too was smartly dressed, in suit and tie; the perfect government official, even down to the funny little badge that he always wore on his lapel these days. The one with the crooked cross, that she saw everywhere these days.

“Well that’s not a problem; we can always give some of them away to the poor children…”

“Why, that’s a wonderful solution” said her mother.

“I am so glad to see that you care about others with less than we have. Your father and I have always tried to make you understand that not everyone is as privileged as we are.”

“And that such privilege can be short lived” said her father under his breath, while fiddling with his badge.

“Especially nowadays…

“Anyway, we’ll be there soon. Why don’t you do some more of your drawing for now?” 

He picked up her drawing pad. The paper was covered in grey oblongs and squares.

“Is this a city? Is it Berlin?” Her father was grinning.

“No! It’s New York; those are all the skyscrapers. There’s no skyscrapers in Berlin Papa!” Helga sighed with exasperation.

“I don’t see King Kong anywhere!” said her father.

“No. he’s gone to see his friends at the zoo…”

There was a sudden change in the tone of the engines; along with an almost imperceptible sensation that they were now descending.

They sank into the clouds and for a while there was nothing outside the window but greyness. Then they broke through, and suddenly the clouds were above them. There was a collective gasp from the other passengers as they crowded around the windows.

Below was the city of New York. It was exactly as Helga had imagined it to be from the few times she had seen it in the newsreels. Huge buildings reached up into the sky; tiny coloured specks, no bigger it seemed than insects, moved along the roads far below. The people were so small as to be invisible.

The city sprawled off as far as the eye could see, the distance made hazy by the petrol fumes and the steam from a million pipes. Helga’s father pointed out ships on the great river.

“Look” she shouted, “There’s an airplane!”

Sure enough there were several aircraft now shadowing them. 

“They are probably from the newspapers” said her father.

“Our visit is big news.”

“We should be very proud” said a fat man nearby in a black uniform.

“This is a great day for the Fatherland” he continued.

“A great opportunity to show how strong we are now. The proud America with its Jews and its Negroes; this will give them something to think about.

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

Helga didn’t understand the man; however, the question was directed at her father; he mumbled something in agreement. The fat man grinned at Helga, who immediately took a dislike to him. However, she smiled back at him. She had learned from watching her parents that this was what you had to do with certain people; to simultaneously keep them happy and at arm’s length.

Helga continued to gaze out of the window as they flew over the surrounding areas, as if the captain were showing off. There was no way she wanted to miss anything. This was, as all the grown-ups kept saying, an historic moment.

“He’s waiting for the weather to improve at the landing field” said her father.

“Doesn’t want Mama to get her hair wet…”

Finally, it was announced; they would be landing in half an hour. There was nothing to do but wait and relax; this was the top end of luxury travel, and all their luggage would be dealt with by the attendants.

The engines began to strain slightly, as if pushing against a strong wind; Helga felt the chair beneath her shudder.

But there was nothing to worry about. She was perfectly safe, her parents either side of her. She knew Papa would not let anything happen to her.

Now the ground was closer. There were people there, running around like busy little ants. 

“Those are the men who are going to pull us down to Earth” said her father.

There was another, more dramatic lurch. Helga felt her parents’ grip tighten around her. She could see them exchange a slightly worried glance, reflected in the glass of the window.

There was what sounded like a distant pop. Suddenly, the craft dipped dramatically. The cabin tipped and began to fall backwards. There were screams as furniture and loose items, and a few people, were suddenly thrown across the room.

The ground below was immediately lit by a blinding flash of orange light, a flash that lasted for what seemed like forever.

The little people on the ground below were moving now, but this time they were running away, as fast as they could.

Helga coughed as smoke began to fill the cabin. Her father suddenly had a heavy looking suitcase in his hands.

“Get back” he shouted. Helga’s mother pulled her aside; immediately her father began to smash the suitcase against the window. The first blows made no impression. Then a crack appeared; there was a smashing sound, added to the chaos of noise that was all around them.

Papa broke off shards of glass; there was enough space, just, for someone to fit through.

The three of them peered out.

“We must jump” said Papa.

Her mother seemed frozen, holding her hand to her mouth in shock.

“Its…it’s too far…” she finally said.

Helga’s father looked again.

There’s…there’s a man down there…”

Helga looked down. It still seemed an awfully long drop. But there was a man on the ground, staring up at them. He held out his hands.

“I won’t go without her” screamed Mama.

The man was frantically gesturing now. He was illuminated in an orange glow, his face grimly fearful.

“There’s no time!” her father shouted.

In one swift movement, Helga was swept into her father’s arms. Before she knew what was happening, he lifted her up, kissed her, and dropped her through the gap. There was no time even for her to cry out; but her mother’s scream was in her ears as she fell.

Strong arms caught her, and lowered her gently to the ground. Helga looked up to see her mother’s white face; then she too dropped.

The man caught her, the impact forcing him to his knees.

Mama grabbed her, lifting her off her feet as she sprinted away.

Over her mother’s shoulder Helga watched as another body fell; her father. He crashed into the man on the ground, both of them collapsing in a heap.

At this second the huge craft, aflame from one end to the other, collapsed into a heap of flame and metal, obscuring her father from view. 

At the sound Mama spun round; she let out such a shriek of anguish that Helga thought she would remember to her dying day. Putting Helga on the ground, Mama began to run back, towards the flames. Then she stopped, the heat now unbearable.

Helga saw the huge black cross on the tail fin consumed by the fire; then someone had wrapped a blanket around her and her mother, and they were led away to safety.

For a long time they sat, wrapped in their blanket, with the other pathetic survivors. All their fine clothes and uniforms were now scorched and torn, their faces blackened and their hair in greasy clumps.

Mama said nothing, just sat staring into space. People milled around, soldiers, policemen, photographers and reporters, all talking at once. There was one word that Helga recognised; it was said in awe, in hushed overtones, in everyone’s conversation.

Hindenburg. The Hindenburg had crashed.

Helga knew that this was the great airship that had carried them across the vast ocean, only to end up a smoking pile of metal in the middle of a field.

Two figures were suddenly there, towering over them. There was a man in some kind of uniform, with a brown face and kind eyes; she recognised him as the man who had caught her.And another, wrapped in a blanket, face covered in dirt, hair standing up on end.

She looked into this man’s eyes.

“Papa” she said. Quietly at first, as if making too much fuss would make him disappear in a puff of smoke; in the same way the airship had disappeared.

“Papa!” she cried. Her father knelt beside them and wrapped his arms around them both; Mama shook as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“I thought you were dead!” exclaimed Mama.

Papa wiped away a tear.

“I was very lucky. I owe my life, as we all do, to this man…I don’t believe I know your name?”

The man with the brown face smiled.

“Sammy Carlton, sir” he said.

“Are you an African?” asked Helga; she had never seen a real African before.

“No ma’am” he said, grinning.

“Although my great, great grandad was, I guess.

“No, I’m an American.”

Papa stood and put out his hand.

“Well I’m proud to shake an American’s hand” he said. 

“The American who saved my family; and led me to safety through the flames.”

Then, as Helga watched, Papa did a strange thing. He took off the little badge that he wore on his jacket, the one with the funny crooked cross that was the same as the ones on the airship.

Then he dropped it on to the earth and ground it into the mud with his heel.