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JOSEPH A. LOEVVINSOHN
The Krassin’s
Heroic Deed
By JOSEPH A. LOEWINSOHN
Perhaps no other event held the world's attention more than the darina
Th?!* ° th le *Y t9l !* e , Jtf * la ”. by a Russian ice-breaker, The Krassin*
7 h t S m ° nth marks the third anniversary of the polar drama in which Pro
fessor Samoilovitch, a Jew, played an outstanding part. In the accompany
ing article written exclusivey for The Southern Israelite, Mr. Lorwin-
sohn graphically describes the tragic events that took place on the outer
brink of civilization.
PROFESSOR SAMOILOVITCH
M
UCH has been written in the American
periodicals and newspapers about the ca
tastrophe and the tragic death of the eight
men who were members of the Arctic expedition
in the ill-fated “Italia.”
We must not forget that all the news printed
on tin-' side of the Atlantic were first radioed by
General Umberto Nobile, the commander of the
Italia, to the base ship of the expedition “Citta
ili Milano, from where those fragments of meager
reports were fordwarded via radio to Rome. The Fascist!
government, after most severe censorship, released the
sordid news to the breathlessly waiting civilized world.
Unite naturally, in Italy where the autocratic Fascisti
government holds sway and where the freedom of the
1 ress is not known, the news of this appalling disaster
were carefully filtered and consequently released with a
certain political bias and a tendency to present things in
a more or less favorable light.
W hile France, Italy, England and other countries,
with exception of Norway, chose to remain somewhat
indifferent to the fate of Nobile and his gallant associ
ates w ho found themselves stranded on the rough ice
somewhere near the North Pole, Soviet Russia was the
first one to officially extend a helpful hand and go out
on the perilous adventure to save the Nobile party.
In this article I will endeavor to narrate the human
s ide of the disaster without deviating from the facts
I found in the official Russian accounts and reports by
lose who were on board the Russian ice-breaker “Leonid
Kr.issin and actually participated in the rescue.
\ the documents of the Krassin, formerly “Sviatagor,
vt 'H as official communiques, photographs and moving
arcs films were forwarded to Moscow after the re-
of the Krassin. Professor Samoilovitch, the com-
1 of the Krassin, adhering to the code of naval
efused to disclose certain phases of the affair and
mand was none too eager to relate the episodes
interested newpapermen most. A correspondent of a
Parisian daily offered to one of the crew a sizable
for his diary but his offer, tempting as it was, was
refused. Only through fortunate connections in
and Leningrad was I able to to secure the true
-ripping story of the events that took place in the
desolate spot on the outer brink of the world.
■ le dirigible “Italia,” after a rather uneventful flight
d the North Pole, where its commander, General
rto Nobile, intended to drop the Pope’s crucifix and
talian flag to commemmorate the anniversary of
s entry in the World War. was returning to Spitz-
" and her base—Kings Bay. Despite Dr. Finn
'gren’s expert advice, he was Nobile’s meteorologica
r. against making the flight because of the extreme \
orable and decidedly dangerous weather conditions
dling at that time, Nobile decided to start at once,
mably to reach the North Pole and drop the Italian
in d the Pope’s crucifix on the day coinciding wit
entry’s anniversary in joining the Allies in t le
ft War.
"as on the 25th day of May and apparently there
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE *
was nothing in the offing that could foretell the
approching catastrophe. The “Italia,” after cruis
ing above what General Nobile thought was the
North Pole, was returning to her base.
Later in the day, however, the wind began to
blow with rapidly increasing velocity and the thick
fog began to envelop the Arctic wastes. A part
of the airship’s command was in the captain’s
gondola where was situated the wireless. The rest
ethu
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General Umberto Nobile above and
his crew in the dirigible Italia circling
over the North Pole, as shown on the
map, dropped a cross, shown below,
made from a tree of the Pope’s garden
in Rome.
of the men were in their quarters inside the bal
loon and were fast asleep. The Italia's personnel
comprised the following: General Umberto Nobile,
Captains Mariano and Zappi, Lieutenants V'iglieri,
Engineer Trojani, Professors Pontremoli and Be-
hounek, from Czekoslovakia; Dr. Finn Malm-
gren, from Sweden, the journalist Lago; me
chanics Ceciono, Arduino, Carati, Allessandrini,
Pomella and Ciocca, and wireless operator Biagi.
Of these 16 brave men 8 met their untimely death.
At half past twelve the wind developed such a fury that
the dirigible was forced to descend toward the ice and
the Italia quickly lowered her altitude from 400 meters
down to 200. All of a sudden the air was rent with a
terrific ripping sound. The mighty force of the wind
tore the captain’s gondola from the huge balloon and the
occupants were violently thrown on the hard ice. ITie
balloon itself, with the remainder of the crew, was tossed
in the air and quickly disappeared in the stormy darkness.
One of the mechanics, Pomella, struck the ice with
such force that he died a few minutes later. He was
immediately buried, that is, his body was thrust under
the thick ice.
There remained only eight men who were all more or
less bruised, hurt and shocked by the sudden painful con
tact with the hard icq. General Nobile was badly hurt
and Cecioni sustained a broken leg. Luckily, the wireless
was not damaged and the radio operator Biagi proceeded
to rig up the wireless mast. “I will get in touch with the
world,” cried Biagi, “and inform them of our disaster.”
And Biagi feverishly began sending into the cold ether
frantic calls for help.
“S. (). S. ‘Italia.’ General Nobile. Position 20 miles
off Foyne Island.”
During the ensuing ten days of horror, biting cold and
untold physical and mental suffering, Biagi’s desperate
calls for help were futile.
Only on the fourth day of June one of the Russian
radio amateurs picked up the message and answered that
he heard their S. O. S. and he repeated the message as
follows: “S. O. S. ‘Italia.’ General Nobile. Position
near the land of Franz Joseph.’’ I he Ruvsian amateur
evidently had their reported position confused with the
land of Franz Joseph. (The message was sent in Italian
and the Russian had made a faulty translation of the
dirigible’s position).
Days and polar nights passed painfully slow. It seemed
that no other radio stations were able to pick the Italia’s
S. O. S.
Only 13 days after the disaster, quite unexpectedly,
they received from Nobile’s base ship Citta di Milano
the following inquiry: “What is the name of your radio
operator? What is his age? What is the color of his
hair?”
This was rather unusual query, but they quickly an
swered, “Radio operator of the dirigible Italia,’ Biagi; 28
years old; married; resides in Rome. Dark hair.
There were minutes of tense waiting and those few’
minutes seemed an eternity. * Citta di Milano reported.
(To be continued in the next issue)
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