Long before any restrictive measures were legislated against German Jews, Germany was targeted by the most powerful pressure groups in the world. The intention was to totally destroy the fragile German economy; an effort that partly failed due to brilliant economic programs launched by the Nazi government.

Between January and April 1933, Germany's exports dropped by 10%. As the boycott organised by world Jewry spread, German trade was hit particularly hard. During the first quarter of 1933, Germany's exports were less than half its 1932 trade.

Rabbi Dr. Stephen Wise addresses an "Anti-Nazi" rally in New York - May 1933

But despite heroic efforts, economic sanctions and other measures imposed by major Western countries (before the war) had serious repercussions. The focus of this article is on helium sanctions imposed by the US against Germany. As the US was (and still is) the only bulk helium supplier in the world, the German air transport industry was critically affected. The huge passenger-liner air ships would either have to vanish, or innovate.

It was decided to modify the new Hindenburg to inflate with hydrogen; the only possible alternative to helium. But hydrogen was potentially dangerous. German engineers designed a system of containment that they believed to be completely safe, and in 1936 the Hindenburg was launched to worldwide acclaim.

...It's practically standing still now. They've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship, and it's been taken a hold of down on the field by a number of men. It's starting to rain again; the rain had slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it, just enough to keep it from --"

"It burst into flames! ... It's fire and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning, bursting into flames and is falling on the mooring mast, and all the folks agree that this is terrible. This is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world! ...There's smoke, and there's flames, now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast...Oh, the humanity, and all the passengers screaming around here!

62 of the people escaped with their lives, including the captain of the Hindenburg, Commander Pruss. The official investigation into the disaster came to the unlikely (but politically correct) conclusion that a spark of static electricity had caused the disaster. This suited both the American and German governments. The Americans did not want an international incident and the Germans were too cautious to claim that it might have been a terrorist act. Chancellor Hitler diplomatically called it "an act of God".

This did not prevent Commander Pruss and several of his crew from claiming that it was sabotage, however. Two people on board were ardent anti-Nazi's and Hitler's government had used the Hindenburg in several high-profile propaganda appearances; for example at the 1936 Olympics.