Not surprisingly, this excuse failed to mollify the Jewish masses. As Der Tog argued:
Let’s say, for example, that Chamberlin’s part in this was greater. But isn’t Charles A. Levine the first passenger? Hasn’t he also earned something – and not just because he is the owner of the airplane, but because he demonstrated such great courage and sportsmanship? [Other countries] see in Levine’s achievement greater heroism than in Chamberlin’s exactly because Levine is not a pilot, because he risked his life in the interest of showing the world that an airplane can also carry passengers, that a trans-Atlantic flight is not just a solo bravura trick, but something of practical use, too.
President Coolidge only added fuel to the fire when he received Chamberlin, but not Levine, at the White House. Nonetheless, Levine and Chamberlain were celebrated as heroes by the media and the public, and many events were held feting the now-famous aviators. For example, exhibited on this page is a menu card for a dinner and dance held on June 10, 1927 at the American Club in Berlin in honor of “the heroic American Aviators” Levine and Chamberlin, signed by both (this very rare).
In subsequent weeks, Levine was granted a private audience by the pope and received a blessing from him in the Vatican, becoming the first American (and, surely, the first Jew) ever to enter the throne room of the Vatican. He also met with Mussolini and discussed aeronautics with the Italian Fascist leader, whom he found “very knowledgeable.”
The Jews in America and Europe went wild with adulation for one of their own (although there were those who were highly displeased with Levine for beginning his journey on Shabbat).
Several songs were written in his honor, including “Hurrah far unzer Held Levine’ (“Hurrah for Our Hero Levine”) by Jerry Klinger, and a protest song against Coolidge’s decision to receive Chamberlin, but not Levine, at the White House by Yiddish vaudevillian Charles Cohen.
* * * * *
Levine’s fortunes sadly and dramatically declined after his historic flight. The son of immigrants from Europe who never forgot his roots, he tried to save Edward Schinek, a Jewish refugee who had been incarcerated in a concentration camp.
Having been denied an American visa, Schinek was effectively sentenced to death, so Levine helped to smuggle him across the Mexican border, supplied him with a false birth certificate, and gave him a letter attesting to his being an American businessman and an old personal acquaintance. Levine and Schinek were apprehended by the authorities and, on April 20, 1942, Levine was fined $500 and given a suspended 150-day sentence.
The FBI, which seemingly had nothing better to do, chased the reclusive and elusive Levine for several years to collect the unpaid balance of his outstanding fine but, when they finally caught up to him, found a dead broke homeless person. Schinek was permitted to go free, but Levine, who had saved his life, was incarcerated for several months for failure to pay his court-ordered fine.
Levine had sustained a series of bad business investments and losses in the stock market crash of 1929; he was sued by the federal government for a half-million dollars in back taxes; he was arrested for counterfeiting; he was convicted of smuggling 2,000 pounds of tungsten powder from Canada, for which he served two years in federal prison; and his suicide attempt in 1934 with a gas range failed.
Once a great Jewish hero, he died destitute and forgotten.
