[2] He did not find this work satisfying so, encouraged by Dr. Hugo Eckener, he joined the DELAG to serve as pilot of the passenger airship LZ 17 Sachsen.

[2] His attack on Antwerp (Belgium) on August 25/26 (during the night) was the first bombing from the air of civilians in world history, killing 10 people.

The purpose of the flight was to deliver the Zeppelin to its new owners, the United States Navy, who rechristened the ship USS Los Angeles.

Captain Lehmann was a skilled accordion player, which he often used to entertain passengers on long flights with renditions of Wagner pieces or German folk songs.

It was initially believed that Lehmann would recover from his injuries; he was scheduled to be transferred from a local hospital to one in New York City for further treatment, until he took a sudden turn for the worse overnight and died early in the morning.

Lehmann's two-year-old son had died on Easter Sunday, 28 March 1937, a few weeks prior to the Hindenburg's last crossing and he did not really want to make the voyage.

Lehmann insisted on making the flight despite unfavorable weather conditions, which resulted in high winds damaging the Hindenburg's lower fin as the airship was being removed from its hangar.

Eckener criticised Lehmann harshly and publicly for endangering the new airship and the entire zeppelin program to impress the Nazis.

In this film, he supports the Gestapo in their brutal torture of Merten Kroger for the alleged murder of a passenger, but orders his release upon seeing proof of a bomb aboard the ship.

The English translation, completed by Jay Dratler, was published later in 1937 with a preface and closing chapter by the American airship captain Charles E. Rosendahl, who had interviewed Lehmann on his deathbed.