![]() There were at least two small-scale landings on mainland U.S. German saboteurs were a real threat during World War II, but their plots, when discovered, were often handled with similar secrecy. The federal government moved quickly to suppress the story Hoiriis and Hillig were sworn to secrecy and news of the Germans’ hijacking was withheld from the press to avoid scaring the American public. (Photo: National Library of Denmark)Īccording to the Democrat tale, Hillig didn’t mention the money. Otto Hillig, far left, with his pilot, Captain Hoiriis, second from right. After returning to the Grossinger’s airfield, the shaken friends contacted the police and turned over the two dead enemy agents to the authorities. ![]() Hillig took the opportunity to grab the revolver kept in the cabin, and fatally shot the disoriented Nazi saboteurs. Thinking quickly, Hillig motioned to Hoiriis, who suddenly flipped the plane. They showed Hillig a vast sum of cash and said their plan was to buy enough explosives to blow up the railway line that ran from the armaments factories upstate to New York City and the Brooklyn Navy Yards. In the air, the two armed men apparently revealed themselves to be German saboteurs. They ordered Hillig and Hoiriis into the plane and forced them to fly southeast to Long Island. According to a story printed in the Sullivan County Democrat in 1992, one day in the summer of 1942, Hillig and Hoiriis were tinkering with the Liberty, preparing for an evening’s flight, when they were approached by two men armed with revolvers. ![]() Hillig kept his plane at a small airfield by what would one day become the golf course attached to Grossinger’s Resort. Their journey was just the 10th ever transatlantic flight. In 1931, he and Danish pilot Holger Hoiriis flew in it from New York to Denmark. Otto christened the plane “Liberty” in honor of the small town. He bought a Bellanca monoplane, which, with its Wright-powered engine had a top speed of just over 130 miles an hour. In the 1920s his passions turned to aviation. In 1916, he drove across America at a time when even owning an automobile was rare. (Photo: Luke Spencer)īefore setting up his photography studio, Hillig found a small amount of fame as an amateur adventurer. Number 84, North Main Street, Liberty, NY, Otto Hillig’s photography studio. The exterior is decorated with a beautiful facade, a large cartouche and stylized columns that bear his surname. One of these, located at 84 North Main Street was a photography studio owned by a German emigre named Otto Hillig. While the lack of local employment resulted in some of the newer buildings closing, there remains a charming old historic district of about a dozen buildings. (Photo: Luke Spencer)Īs the fortunes of Grossinger’s dwindled, so too did the nearby town of Liberty. In its heyday, over 150,000 holiday makers would come to the resort every year. Grossinger’s finally closed in 1986. Today it is an enchanting abandoned ruin, a complex of swimming pools, tennis courts, an ice rink, and ballrooms gradually being reclaimed by nature. But the advent of cheap airfares to Florida saw the popularity of the Borscht Belt swiftly decline. In its heyday, Grossinger’s attracted over 150,000 revelers each year to be entertained by the likes of Jerry Lewis and Milton Berle. And Grossinger’s was the glitziest of them all. During the 1950s, the definition of a summer vacation for many Jewish New Yorkers was to head upstate to the holiday resorts of the Catskills. Grossinger’s Resort was once the jewel in the crown of the so-called Borscht Belt. The story involves a forgotten hero from the golden age of aviation, a mysterious forest castle once owned by the Freemasons, and an invasion of German saboteurs during World War II.Ī postcard showing Grossinger’s pool. (Photo: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection)ĭuring a recent expedition to explore the abandoned holiday resort of Grossinger’s, located in the Catskills in upstate New York, I came across a charming old photography studio in the neighboring town of Liberty.ĭecorated in beautiful tile, with Art Deco flourishes, and currently home to a small print shop, it was to become the key to unearthing a remarkable tale of undiscovered Nazi treasure, hidden right there in Sullivan County, New York State. Liberty monoplane over New York City on first leg of its flight to Denmark, with Otto Hillig, photographer, and Capt.
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