In 1924, at the height of a public defamation campaign blaming German Jews as shirkers and saboteurs in connection with Germany’s defeat, a remarkable book titled Jewish Flyers in the World War (Jüdische Flieger im Weltkrieg) was published about the experiences of Jewish “flyers”, being those serving in
the newly-formed German Air Force across a number of flying specialities including pilots, observers and aerial gunners. This article explores the extraordinary story of Fritz Beckhardt, one of the flyers commemorated in the book. He was decorated with the Iron Cross in WWI, sent to Buchenwald in WWII, and released by his flying comrade, Hermann Goring.
This article by David Marks, was originally published in Western Marble Arch Synagogue magazine in October 2024 and is published here with their permission.