Aviation event drops mention of famous Nazi
Quebec organizers won’t refer to test pilot after backlash over link to Hitler
Organizers of an event celebrating the history of women in aviation this weekend in Quebec say they have agreed in writing not to mention or show images of the first woman to fly a helicopter, following backlash over her Nazi connections.
The event, taking place Saturday in Lachute, Que., is part of Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, an annual celebration honouring women’s contributions to the aviation industry.
The Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide, which organizes the annual week, is highlighting helicopter flight this year in honour of the 80th anniversary of Hanna Reitsch becoming the first woman to fly a helicopter.
But the choice was criticized due to Reitsch’s close association with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime.
Event organizer Marguerite Varin said the city of Lachute requested confirmation in writing Thursday that Reitsch’s name or imagery wouldn’t be used.
This came after a backlash from groups such as B’nai Brith, which said it was informed by the city on Thursday an agreement was made with organizers to prevent Reitsch from being mentioned at the event.
“I confirmed in writing with the city because they wanted something in writing because of all the bad publicity,” Varin said. “We were never going to do anything about Hanna Reitsch at that event. I don’t know why the journalists in the beginning went and said that. It was the plan all along not to mention Hanna Reitsch.”
But Reitsch’s photo and bio are used prominently on the organization’s webpage describing the theme of this year’s Women of Aviation Worldwide Week, which runs March 6-12.
It announced in November that the seventh annual edition of the week would be “Let’s whirl! 80 years of female helicopter pilots,” in celebration of Reitsch making history in 1937.
“Aviation history is what we highlight. It is impossible to speak helicopters and women without speaking of Hanna,” Mireille Goyer, found- er and president of the Institute for Women of Aviation Worldwide, stated in an email Thursday morning.
“The Institute will not rewrite aviation history to satisfy bullies. We are proud to celebrate 80 years of female helicopter pilots, starting with the very first one.”
The institute made no mention of Reitsch’s Nazi affiliations online.
Reitsch, who died in 1979, was a test pilot in the Luftwaffe, the Nazi air force. In 1942, she became the only woman awarded the Iron Cross First Class by Hitler, in recognition of her work developing German planes.
Amanda Hohmann, national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights, called it “shocking and confusing” to honour Reitsch, dismissing the notion the pilot’s legacy could be summarized without including her Nazi affiliation.
“I don’t think the people that died at the hands of the Nazis can sep- arate that,” said Hohmann. “I think it’s very insensitive . . . to suggest that being a Nazi is an irrelevant part of one’s past . . . especially an unrepentant Nazi.”
Rabbi Reuben Poupko, Quebec cochair of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, said Reitsch’s Nazi connections are “impossible to ignore.”
“Certain things become defining and service to the Nazis is defining,” Poupko said. “To allow someone who served the worst regime in the history of mankind to be honoured is an affront to that memory.”
The annual week is meant to coincide with the anniversary of the granting of the first license to a female pilot, which took place March 8, 1910, according to Goyer.
Saturday’s event is designed to help girls discover aviation through flight-simulation and meeting female helicopter pilots.