HEINZ JAQUES STROHWENTZ 1922-1945 AKA HEINS JACQUES STRONVENTZ

HEINZ JAQUES STROHWENTZ Cemitério do Redentor - São Paulo, Brazil Photo Courtesy of Michael Nothenberg

 

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES via email from Marianne Szilyagi, 2-26-04 Dear Mr. Cooper I was very surprised to find my uncle Heinz Strohwentz in the web. He passed away in a plane crash. The altimeter of his plane was manipulated and at the time the weather conditions were very bad and he crashed into the side of one of the mountains near Petropolis. In 1944 he was trained at the Waco airfield in Texas. I have some documents and I had also contacts with some of his comrades. If you are interested please contact me. The father of my mother was the brother of Heinz's father who emigrated to Sao Paulo. I look forward to hearing from you With best regards Marianne Szilagyi

 

MYSTERY AVIATOR - MYSTERY SOLVED       This story began when a friend of mine, Michael Nothenberg, went to the Cemitério do Redentor in São Paulo, Brazil, to find the graves of Orton Hoover and Eduardo Chaves. It was my intention to add photographs of the monuments to each of their pages in the "Memory" section. Using an old copy of the graves registry, he was able to find the grave of Chaves, but there was no mention of Hoover. While searching for the actual location of the grave in the cemetery, Michael ran across the grave of Heinz Jaques Strohwentz. By good luck, the headstone bore his photograph, as well as several other hints as to his identity.      Conspicuous among them were two replicas of Aviator's Wings, details of which may be seen immediately below., the one at the left being awarded by the FAB, Força Aérea Brasileira. The one on the right was obviously one awarded by the USAF, the United States Air Force.

F.A.B. TENENTE Força Aérea Brasileira Photo Courtesy of Michael Nothenberg

U.S.A.F. AVIADOR United States Air Force Photo Courtesy of Michael Nothenberg

The other important information is his date of birth, November 3, 1922, and his date of death, June 26, 1945. Immediately below is the message,   "WITH TEARS OF PAIN AND LONGING YOU WILL BE ALWAYS IN THE HEART OF YOUR MOTHER"      I couldn't find a single link to the name Strohwentz, using Google. Hopefully, someone will search the net and find his name. Until then, his story will remain a mystery.

 

HEINS JACQUES STRONVENTZ via email from Romulo Peixoto Figueiredo, 5-10-04 Dear Sir:      Respect your query about the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) Lt HEINZ JACQUES STROHWENTZ, I am able to say that he do was a member of the Air Force.      Probably there was a misunderstanding on his name and grade: he is found in the book "Historia da Força Aérea Brasileira" (FAB History), from Lt.-Brig. N. F. Lavenhre-Wanderley, as HEINS JACQUES STRONVENTZ, one of the 13 "aspirantes-aviadores" (a transient grade just under 2nd Lieutenant) died in 1945.      In the WW II was very common to send young pilots to the USA in order to reach the desired number of effectives. That practice was more considerated in the first years of conflict, decreasing in the final days, when the just created FAB was being able to training all of them.      Unhappily his career was very short. Regards, Romulo Peixoto Figueiredo "A Brazilian in Paraguay" P.S.: Probably the reference as Lieutenant was a post-mortem promotion.

 

CEMITÉRIO DO REDENTOR Sao Paulo, Brazil - June 22, 2003 Photo Courtesy of Michael Nothenberg

 

CEMITÉRIO DO REDENTOR Sao Paulo, Brazil - June 22, 2003 Photo Courtesy of Michael Nothenberg

 

Heinz Jaques Strohwentz died in 1945   Editor's Note: If you have any more information on this pioneer please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper   Back