Existing comment:
Service Cross of the German Eagle:
"Goering was the last to arrive... When he came to me he handed me the box and papers and spoke several sentences in German... He had presented me with the Order of the German Eagle, one of the highest decorations of the government -- 'by order of der Fuhrer.' "
-- Entry in Lindbergh's Wartime Journal
The Service Cross of the German Eagle was the highest civilian medal of the German government. Lindbergh received it for his accomplishments in aviation -- particularly the 1927 transatlantic flight -- at the American Embassy in Berlin on October 18, 1938. it was presented by Field Marshall Hermann Goering on Hitler's behalf.
While Charles later would write that he had been unaware when he received the medal of the atrocities inflicted by the Nazis, Anne was immediately appalled upon seeing the medal later that evening. She reportedly called it "the albatross" and believed it would only bring him trouble. |