Great photos, and good to be reminded of the full extent of the Hindenburg's intended use as Nazi propaganda. Those swastikas all over the memorial in New York. Already Nazi Germany was mobilizing the forced sterilization of its black children, already Jews were stripped of municipal citizenship and barred from obtaining university degrees. Two months after the Hindenburg exploded Buchenwald had its grand opening.

I'm still amazed that many of the passengers and crew survived.

Quite unpleasant to see the full Nazi regalia and Hitler salute in an honored position in America.

Interesting to see all the Nazi parephenalia- the decorations, the military honors- exhibited so boldly on US soil. I wonder how stuff like that was received vs. what I am assuming was a prevalent desire to sympathize with the victims.

I'm betting that that shot of the ship floating around near the Empire State Building is the sort of thing that makes steampunk fans super excited.

Also, the Atlantic always has such nice photo galleries.

those pictures were amazing. thanks for the info.

I see the swastika on the intact Hindenburg and my first instinct is a burning desire to shoot it down.

@5 Remember, in 1937 the war hadn't started yet. There were many people opposed to German fascism, but the Nazis also had American sympathizers and they weren't viewed as a national enemy. The question of how to view Nazism was seen as a legitimate controversy. Once war broke out in 1939 America's natural sympathy with its traditional allies Britain and France shifted the equation, but it wasn't until the US entered the war in December 1941 that the Germans were fully viewed as enemies, and the question of how to view them came to have only one acceptable answer.

@8

I see. I guess I just assumed Germany's belligererence was significant enough before the start of the war that people would have objected rather strongly to their presence, or at least enough people would to create a decidedly weighted public opinion on the matter. Thanks for the explanation.

Guess the anti-Hydrogen trolls from SLOG will have a field day.

It's great propaganda for people who want to suppress the technology in favor of unworkable batteries.

@5 "I'm betting that that shot of the ship floating around near the Empire State Building is the sort of thing that makes steampunk fans super excited."

The term for this is "Dieselpunk".