I Survived the Hindenburg Disaster, 1937

Lauren Tarshis sets her novel in 1937, four years after Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party come to power in Germany. This historical reality creates an atmosphere of menace that contrasts with the airship’s carefree luxury. The Hindenburg, a triumph of German engineering, was co-opted by the Nazi regime for propaganda. Its massive tail fins were emblazoned with the swastika, a symbol Hugo notes on the soldiers’ armbands which gives him a “bad feeling—dark and shadowy” (17). The regime used the airship to project an image of national strength, flying it over the 1936 Berlin Olympics and using it for propaganda tours. This context explains the menacing presence of uniformed Nazi officers like Colonel Kohl aboard a civilian passenger flight.

The novel’s spy subplot is fictional but reflects the geopolitical tensions of the era. As Hitler secretly rearmed Germany, international espionage intensified. The fictional mission to smuggle a list of Nazi spies to the US government mirrors real-world anxieties. In the 1930s, organizations like the German American Bund held pro-Nazi rallies in American cities like New York, fueling concerns about fascist sympathizers engaging in “dangerous plots against the United States” (35). The fear was so significant that it led to congressional investigations by the McCormack-Dickstein Committee into Nazi propaganda activities in America. By placing this high-stakes espionage plot aboard the Hindenburg, Tarshis demonstrates how the looming threat of Nazism infiltrated all aspects of life, turning a symbol of modern travel into a venue for political conflict.