The presidents of Poland and Lithuania yesterday led a commemoration on the 90th anniversary of a crash that killed two pilots attempting a recording-breaking transatlantic flight from New York to Kaunas.
Lithuanian-American pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas took off in their plane, the Lituanica (pictured above) on 15 July 1933, the anniversary of the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, at which Polish–Lithuanian forces defeated the German Teutonic Order
Inspired by Charles Lindbergh’s record-breaking transatlantic flight of 1927, they were heading for Kaunas in Lithuania. However, having completed the hardest part of the journey, their plane crashed – for reasons never fully explained – just 650 km (404 miles) short of its destination.
The route of Darius and Girėnas’s flight (Arz/Wikimedia Commons, under CC BY-SA 3.0)
The crash occurred at what was then the village of Kuhdamm in Germany but is now called Pszczelnik and located in northwest Poland. Darius and Girėnas’s deaths prompted national mourning in Lithuania, with thousands attending their funerals.
Though the flight ended tragically, it still became at the time the second-longest ever undertaken in terms of distance (6,411 km, 3,984 miles) and fourth longest in terms of time spent in the air (37 hours 11 minutes). It was also the first ever to carry transatlantic mail by air.
Darius and Girėnas’s funeral procession in Kaunas, 1933
On Sunday, Presidents Andrzej Duda of Poland and Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania attended a ceremony in Pszczelnik to commemroate the 90th anniversary of the crash.
“Today we pay tribute to two Lithuanian heroes, excellent pilots, Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas, who 90 years ago did something special by flying over the Atlantic – from America to Central Europe,” said Duda.
“We [Poles] understand very well what feelings our Lithuanian friends face in front of the monument in Pszczelnik,” he added. “Pride in the outstanding success of our compatriots and gratitude for their patriotic dedication is mixed here with painful reflection on a tragic twist of fate.”
“It is impossible to resist [recalling] the memory of the tragic death of President Lech Kaczyński on April 10, 2010 near Smolensk,” said Duda, referring to the air crash that killed one of his predecessors.
My, Polacy, dobrze rozumiemy, z jakimi uczuciami stają przed pomnikiem w Pszczelniku nasi litewscy przyjaciele. Duma z wybitnego sukcesu rodaków i wdzięczność za ich patriotyczne poświęcenie miesza się tu z bolesną zadumą nad tragicznym zrządzeniem losu. Pochylając głowy przed… pic.twitter.com/FyJKXVq0cJ
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) July 16, 2023
“I am grateful that the memory of the Lithuanian airmen is so beautifully cherished in Poland,” said Nausėda, quoted by broadcaster TVP. “May the example of these heroes inspire us to work together and become a reason to rejoice in the victories achieved together.”
“Their goal [was] not so much to break any record, but to inspire Lithuanians around the world,” he added. “They wanted to show that they were not afraid of any challenges. They wanted to spread the message around the world about a country that had restored its historic statehood and soared into the skies of progress.”
Nausėda also noted the symbolism of the pilots’ departure on the anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald: “The ability of our nations to celebrate each other’s victories and pay tribute to each other’s fallen has become crucial in a particularly difficult time as Russia continues its brutal aggression against Ukraine.”
Today in Pszczelnik with President @AndrzejDuda paid tribute to aviators Steponas Darius ir Stasys Girėnas, who 90 years ago took off on a legendary transatlantic flight from New York to Kaunas. They forever became our national heroes & symbols of dedication to 🇱🇹. pic.twitter.com/bfbHK7tshi
— Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) July 16, 2023
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
