The Hindenberg Disaster

I'm a bit late in posting this but last week I noticed that several news outlets were marking the 75th anniversary of the Hindenberg Disaster. Like most people I had a vague knowledge of the large dirigible and in my mind I always related it to the Goodyear Blimp. But in skimming those headlines I picked up tidbits of additional information that I found really surprising. For instance, I really don't think I'd ever realized that the Hindenberg was able to cross the Atlantic and was considered a valid form of long-distance travel! And I had no idea that in the center of the huge dirigible there were cabins and a formal dining room. There was even a smoking room! I found all of this fascinating and thought I'd share it with you here.

The Hindenberg was built in Germany under the Nazi regime and was a sort of flagship for the technological advances made by government. Following the humiliating defeat of Germany during the First World War and the devastating economic sanctions and restrictions placed upon the defeated nation during the negotiations at Versailles, the Hindenberg was a great source of pride for the German people. It was a symbol to the world that their country was rising from the ashes and regaining its place in the world. Of course, the Nazi regime is now known for the Holocaust, inciting World War II and horrific crimes against the Jews and humanity. But in 1936 Hitler had not yet begun to institute his "Final Solution" and relations between the US and Germany were friendly enough that the Hindenberg's arrival was the cause of much fanfare.

For its day the Hindenberg set the standard for luxury air travel. Passengers could make the trip from Germany to the US in three days, half the time it took to travel by sea. Aboard the Hindenberg passengers had private cabins, were able to mingle in dining rooms and lounges. Due to the popularity of smoking at the time, the engineers managed to figure out a way to construct a smoking room, which proved to be one of the most popular places to spend time.

To give you a better idea of how this was all structured, here's several diagrams from www.airships.net, a fantastic website for those of you wanting to learn more about these fascinating air ships. You can click on any picture to enlarge.

The interior was luxuriously decorated and appointed in a style one could describe as a pre-cursor to mid-century modern.

Port Promenade and dining room, with windows that could be opened! 

Interior Cabin

Lounge

The smoking room, which was equipped with a single electric lights, and accessible only through two airlock doors. 

Writing Room

I find the photos with passengers and crewmembers to be fascinating:

The Hindenberg made 10 successful commercial flights from Germany to the US, carrying a total of 1002 passengers. On May 6, 1937 it made it's way past New York City and for reasons still not fully known, burst into flames as it approached its landing post. Of the 97 passengers and crew aboard, 67 managed to survive. That accident marked the end of dirigible travel. The disaster was the first of its kind to be recorded on film, ushering in the era of documented tragedy. To see this video, you can watch the clip linked below. The first three minutes have some wonderful footage of the airship flying past New York City, making a successful landing, but it finishes with the fiery end of the Hindenberg. Watch here. 

The following is an actual newsreel and does contain some footage that may be disturbing:

Websites for additional information:

Firsthand survivor account

Discovery of the lost map of the last journey

The Atlantic has a wonderful photo essay. Please note: there is one photo of a severely burned passenger that is not appropriate for youngsters. 

For those of you wanting to learn more about this era in history, I suggest you check out the following books.

Pioneers of Air Travel

Amelia Earhart, Flying Solo 

 

Behind Enemy Lines, A Young Pilot's Story

World War I and II and the rise of the Third Reich

Battle in the Arctic Seas

General George Patton, Old Blood & Guts

The Great Escape, Tunnel to Freedom

Invasion, the Story of D-Day

Lawrence of Arabia

Pearl Harbor Attack

The Sinking of the Bismark, the Deadly Hunt

Photo Sources:

First photo: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/75-years-since-the-hindenburg-disaster/100292/

Diagrams of interior: http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/interiors

Color photos of interior: http://www.retronaut.com/2011/04/inside-the-hindenburg-in-colour/

Passenger and crew photos: http://www.airships.net/hindenburg

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Russian Family Cut Off From Modern World For 40 Years

Agafia and Karp Lykov shortly after being discovered by geologists. Photo via Smithsonian Magazine

Students using our Modern US and World History study guide will find this story to be absolutely fascinating. Smithsonian Magazine recently featured an article about a family in Russia who had gone into hiding in 1936 following oppressive purges led by the Bolsheviks. The family, the Lykovs, were Old Believers a very traditional sect of Christianity that had been persecuted since the reign of Peter the Great. Under Peter many Old Believers retreated to Siberia, living in harsh conditions but able to worship with some measure of freedom. Under the Communists the persecution took on an even more extreme form and the Lykovs retreated further into the frozen tundra of the north. When they were discovered in the 1970s they were unaware of major events like World War II and the lunar landing. 

The Lykov's home. Photo via Smithsonian Magazine

The Smithsonian Magazine article is an astounding and even heart wrenching read, and I hope you enjoy it.

For those of you interested in learning more about this turbulent time period, the world wars that allowed Stalin to take power and the consequences of this, check out these books:

World War I: The Great War

Primary source documents that relate to preparation for the war, life in the trenches, postwar struggles, conflict over the Fourteen Points, and several historians' interpretations of the war.

World War II: The European Theatre

Excepts from radio broadcasts, news accounts, photos, letters and journals. Tells the story of our troops landing on the beaches and flying bombing missions over Europe, along with words from leaders on both sides of the war.

The Yanks Are Coming by Albert Marrin

Marrin relates the gripping story of how the Yanks "came over" to aid the European Allies and turn the tide in the first Great War. How the United States mobilized industry, trained doughboy soldiers, and promoted the war at home makes for fascinating reading in one of the few books on this topic for young adults. The human cost of the war is poignantly related in tales of the action at Chateau Thierry and Belleau Woods, in the air with the daring men of the Army Air Corps, and with the Lost Battalion at the Battle of Meuse-Argonne. From the sinking of the Lusitania to Armistice Day, Marrin tells the heartrending and inspiring story of the "war to end all wars." Illustrated with maps and photographs.

Stalin, Russia's Man of Steel by Albert Marrin

When Joseph Djugashvili was born the son of a poor shoemaker, few suspected he would rise to become one of the twentieth century's most ruthless and powerful dictators. Enamored as a young man with the revolutionary politics of Lenin, he joined the underground Marxist Party and began his pursuit of power by leading strikes and demonstrations. Six times he was exiled to Siberia for his illicit activities, escaping many times despite below freezing temperatures and on one occasion an attack by a pack of wolves. His instinctive ability to command authority and divide the opposition through lies and deceit set him on a path he would follow to become Russia's most absolute dictator. He was never reticent to shed innocent blood in the pursuit of his own ends, and he carefully orchestrated demonstrations that brought about massacres that he then used to his own revolutionary ends. His vision was far reaching, and while his initial purpose was to establish a Soviet socialist state his larger goal was world domination. Ultimately responsible for the deaths of over 30 million—13 million alone in the Ukrainian famine he caused—Stalin's life is a sober and heartbreaking account of the reign of terror suffered by countless millions at the hands of one man.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque

Contemporary classic confronting the morality of war. Story of young German soldiers during WW I "on the threshold of life, facing an abyss of death..." Considered one of the greatest war stories ever written -- and one of the classics of antiwar literature -- Remarque's 1929 masterpiece tells the story of young Paul Baumer, who enlists in the German Army in World War I and takes place with his comrades in the trenches. For mature readers.

A History of US, An Age of Extremes by Joy Hakim

An Age of Extremes covers the time period 1880-1917. For the captains of industry men like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, J. P. Morgan, and Henry Ford the Gilded Age is a time of big money. Technology boomed with the invention of trains, telephones, electric lights, harvesters, vacuum cleaners, and more. But for millions of immigrant workers, it is a time of big struggles, with adults and children alike working 12 to 14 hours a day under extreme, dangerous conditions. The disparity between the rich and the poor was dismaying, which prompted some people to action. In An Age of Extremes, you'll meet Mother Jones, Ida Tarbell, Big Bill Haywood, Sam Gompers, and other movers and shakers, and get swept up in the enthusiasm of Teddy Roosevelt. 

You'll also watch the United States take its greatest role on the world stage since the Revolution, as it enters the bloody battlefields of Europe in World War I. Hakim's history is vivid and engaging, told in story form. Somewhat biased at times, but certainly not enough to disregard this book. Recommended for use along with the Basic History of the United States series. 

A History of Us: War, Peace, and All That Jazz by Joy Hakim

From woman's suffrage to Babe Ruth's home runs, from Louis Armstrong's jazz to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's four presidential terms, from the finale of one world war to the dramatic close of the second, War, Peace, and All That Jazz presents the story of some of the most exciting years in U.S. history. With the end of World War I, many Americans decided to live it up, going to movies, driving cars, and cheering baseball games aplenty. But alongside this post-WWI spree was high unemployment, hard times for farmers, ever-present racism, and, finally, the Depression, the worst economic disaster in U.S. history, flip-flopping the nation from prosperity to scarcity. 

Along came one of our country's greatest leaders, F.D.R., who promised a New Deal, gave Americans hope, and then saw them through the horrors and victories of World War II. These three decades-full of optimism and despair, progress and Depression, and, of course, War, Peace, and All That Jazz-forever changed the United States. All of Hakim's books are filled with an abundance of pictures, graphs, maps and a chronology of events that are all very useful. Recommended for use along with the Basic History of the United States series.

You may also enjoy: 

December 7, 1941 a date that will live in infamy

Remembering Veterans' and Armistice Day

History Points: The Cuban Missile Crisis

Call for Submissions!

We're looking for submissions! Do you have students who are really proud of their BFB history notebooks? Have you found ways to customize your children's notebooks? Instead of notebooks do you use other mediums like computer files, websites, or blogs? If so, we would love to feature your work on our blog! Email me your submissions at rebecca@bfbooks.com. Simply send me a photo of your best notebook pages, a link to your blog, a PDF of computer work, or any other sort of file that shows your student's work. Use the subject line: "Student Notebook Submissions". I will be accepting submissions for the next week and look forward to featuring some of your work on the blog! This is a great opportunity for your students to show others what they're working on and to give other parents and teachers ideas on how to notebook and effectively use the notebooking assignments in our study guides! I can't wait to see what you all submit!

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Remembering Veterans' and Armistice Day

Across Europe and the US, November 11th is a day set aside to remember those who have served in our armed forces and have paid the ultimate price in the defense of liberty. In the UK the day is informally known as Poppy Day and in the weeks leading up to November 11, people pin poppies to their lapels in remembrance of the armistice that ended World War I on the western front. The poppies, of course, are in reference to Lt. colonel Joh McCrae's beautiful and haunting World War I poem, In Flander's Field. 

Poppy wreath left at a World War I memorial in Edinburgh, Scotland

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Originally known as Armistice Day, November 11 was proclaimed a holiday by President Woodrow Wilson:

"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

On May 13, 1838, a Congressional Act made the 11th of November a legal holiday stating it was "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'." 

The American Cemetery in France

In 1945, Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran lobbied for a change in the holiday. Instead of being known as Armistice Day, he advocated a national day to recognize all US veterans. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower supported Week's cause and in 1947 the first national Veterans' Day was celebrated.

Across America there will be events commemorating the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. It is often customary to set aside a moment of silence at 11am to mark the end of the first world war and many of you will live in towns where you will be able to attend parades, listen to speeches from veterans and elected officials. 

Following the divisive election, it is a good reminder to set aside a moment to remember we are all united as Americans and we owe much to those who came before us. Today is a day to honor those who serve us, to pray for them, and to pray for an end to all war. 

In case you missed it:

Honoring Memorial Day

Happy Columbus Day

Thanksgiving Day Resources

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Author Feature: Albert Marrin

This blog has featured many of the authors we publish but we haven't talked a lot about Albert Marrin. We first discovered this talented writer's historical books over a decade ago and have had the privilige of bringing six of his title back into print. 

Dr. Albert Marrin was born in New York City in 1936. As a junior high social studies teacher he learned about the power of stories, the ability of a well-told tale to draw youngsters attention and light up that spark of curiosity. That story-telling ability has propelled him into a career as a prolific writer. He's written over 40 books for young adults as well as four academic titles and has won many awards including Washington Post Childrens' Book Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, the James Madison Award for Lifetime Achievement, several Horn Book awards by the Boston Globe. He consistently appears on the best book of the year lists of the American Library Association, and receives frequent recognition by Book Lists, and the Western Heritage Award for best juvenile nonfiction book presented at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame among others. Winner of the 2008 National Endowment for Humanities Medal for his work, which was presented at the White House, was given "for opening young minds to the glorious pageant of history. His books have made the lessons of the past come alive with rich detail and energy for a new generation."

We couldn't agree more! Marrin also served as professor of history and chairman of the history department at Yeshiva University until he retired to become a full time writer. It was at this point that he was able to devote his energies to making history come alive for millions of young people. 

Here at Beautiful Feet Books, we have been able to reprint six of his titles on American history. 

America and Vietnam

Fought in a small Asian country unfamiliar to most Americans at the time, the Vietnam War became a cause that divided the nation and defined a counter-culture. The first televised war, newscasters became a force creating the greatest anti-war movement in history, while American boys suffered and died in jungles and rice paddies against guerilla soldiers they rarely saw face to face. As Marrin does so well, he brings an objective look at the complex issues that brought America into this war, that compelled her to stay there, and that prevented her from pursuing a definitive conclusion. Beginning with a history of Vietnam from ancient times, readers will understand the cultural, religious, and geo-political forces that made Vietnam a desirable territory conquered again and again by rival nations. They will learn how America's initial efforts to support anti-communist forces led to greater and greater involvement eventually spanning the administrations of Eisenhower, Kennedy, LBJ, and Nixon. Through photographs, perceptive epigraphs and first-person accounts, Marrin puts a human face on a multifaceted war. As Everett Alvarez, the longest-held POW in Vietnam, says of this book, "One of the book's strong points is that it portrays the war the way the men who fought remember it."

Hitler

"Marrin writes insightfully about the life of Adolf Hitler and attempts to ascertain the reasons for his fanaticism, as well as the motives of those who blindly followed him. The author forgoes sensationalism, and his matter-of-fact writing style and recitation of events are more than adequate to chronicle the horror. Step-by-step, he describes how Hitler, a seemingly shy, insecure young man was able to inspire a defeated nation that saw the extermination of many of its citizens as it salvation." - Booklist

School Library Journal: Best Book of the Year

Adolf Hitler—der Fuehrer—rose from a childhood of obscurity to wield more power than probably any person in history. His control over his subjects was so complete that he literally shaped every aspect of their lives—the slightest defiance of his authority meant torture and death. Marrin carefully traces the forces that framed Hitler's fanaticism; readers will learn of his hardhearted and abusive father and his doting and indulgent mother who continually schooled Adolf in his superiority over other children. When he is twice rejected at a prestigious art school in Vienna, Hitler's delusional thoughts of himself seek a scapegoat for his seething anger. This was the genesis of Hitler's raging anti-Semitism that would play out in the deaths of over six million. Hitler's path to power included a heroic career as an infantryman in World War I where he earned six medals for bravery, including the Iron Cross. But Germany's surrender plunged him into a dark depression. In this state he began to believe he was called by God to "right Germany's wrongs, rebuild her armies, and punish the traitors." The rest is history, and Marrin brings the tragedy of Hitler's dark reign to the young adult reader in a manner that is honest, forthright and sobering. Illustrated with maps and photographs.

Stalin, Russia's Man of Steel

School Library Journal "Best Books of the Year"

When Joseph Djugashvili was born the son of a poor shoemaker, few suspected he would rise to become one of the twentieth century's most ruthless and powerful dictators. Enamored as a young man with the revolutionary politics of Lenin, he joined the underground Marxist Party and began his pursuit of power by leading strikes and demonstrations. Six times he was exiled to Siberia for his illicit activities, escaping many times despite below freezing temperatures and on one occasion an attack by a pack of wolves. His instinctive ability to command authority and divide the opposition through lies and deceit set him on a path he would follow to become Russia's most absolute dictator. He was never reticent to shed innocent blood in the pursuit of his own ends, and he carefully orchestrated demonstrations that brought about massacres that he then used to his own revolutionary ends. His vision was far reaching, and while his initial purpose was to establish a Soviet socialist state his larger goal was world domination. Ultimately responsible for the deaths of over 30 million—13 million alone in the Ukrainian famine he caused—Stalin's life is a sober and heartbreaking account of the reign of terror suffered by countless millions at the hands of one man. Illustrated with photographs.

Victory in the Pacific

Victory in the Pacific covers events from the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor through the battles of Midway, Guadalcanal, the Solomon Islands, Savo Island, the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, Corregidor Island, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima , and Okinawa. In each case, readers see the battles through the eyes of the men who were there, landing on the beaches, running raids in PT boats, dodging kamikaze bombers, and flying missions over Japan. In an easily accessible style, Marrin relates not only the important details of these conquests but also explains the military strategies of both the Allied forces and the Japanese. Readers get an overarching view of the war that helps to bring understanding especially as American forces drew increasingly closer to Japan and the Japanese grew ever more determined to fight to the bitter end. Marrin helps readers to understand the Japanese mindset that made surrender impossible and ultimately led to the decision to drop the atomic bomb in the interests of saving millions of lives. For the young adult reader, or even an adult unfamiliar with this period of WWII history, this book provides a sobering but inspiring look and the men and women , the nations and ideologies, that battled over half a century ago in the Pacific theater. Illustrated with diagrams, maps and photographs.

Virginia's General, Robert E. Lee and the Civil War

Portraying the sterling character of this admired hero, Marrin paints a complete picture of this complex man. Divided between his dislike of slavery and his loyalty to his beloved Virginia, Lee rose from an impoverished and tragic childhood to become one of the greatest military minds America has ever known even while being lauded for his kind, generous leadership. Marrin writes of Lee while including the stories of the ordinary soldiers, the Johnny Rebs and Billy Yanks. The victories, defeats, successes and failures of each side are portrayed in vivid and personal detail. Used in the Literature Approach to U.S. and World History, from the Civil War to Vietnam study guide.

All of the above titles are available on our website and we're offering a discount when you purchase more than one! Save $13.00 when you purchase all six in our Albert Marrin Collection, a Cathy Duffy Top 100 Pick for Homeschool award winner! Or save $9.00 when you purchase any four!

You can read reviews from other parents and readers at the links below:

Diane Allen Homeschool Reviews

Worthwhile Books reviews Hitler

Megan reviews The Yanks are Coming

Warning Books are Dangerous

And as a little bonus, you can watch Albert Marrin read from his book Flesh & Blood So Cheap, a finalist for the National Book Foundation Young Person's award. 

To learn more about Albert Marrin, visit his website.