Background
Schwimmer was born in New York in 1917 to Jewish parents who had emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe.
engineer Businessperson Aerospace engineer
Schwimmer was born in New York in 1917 to Jewish parents who had emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe.
He never used his given birth name of Adolph, preferring the nickname "First Rate (at Lloyd's)". In 1939, Schwimmer began his aerospace career at Lockheed Corporation as an engineer and also received his civilian pilot license. During World World War II, he worked for Trans World Airlines and assisted the United States. Air Transport Command as a flight engineer
During Israel"s War of Independence, Schwimmer used his World World War II experience and his contacts to smuggle surplus war planes to Israel as that fledgling state battled against the invading armies of its neighbors.
Using circuitous routes, he also recruited the pilots and crews to fly the planes to Israel. Many of these men became the nucleus of the Israeli Air Force.
In 1949, Schwimmer returned to the United States and, in 1950, he was convicted in the United States of violating the United States Neutrality Acts for smuggling the planes into Israel. Schwimmer was stripped of his voting rights and veteran benefits and fined $10,000, but did not receive a prison sentence.
Schwimmer refused to ask for a pardon, believing that smuggling weapons to help create a Jewish State was the right moral decision to make, and that breaking the law was a proper form of moral civil disobedience.
In 2001 President Bill Clinton gave Schwimmer a presidential pardon. In the early 1950s, Schwimmer, who was running an aircraft maintenance company in Burbank, California, was approached by David Ben-Gurion, Israel"s then prime minister, who asked Schwimmer to return to Israel and establish an aircraft company for commercial and military purposes. Schwimmer acceded to Ben Gurion"s request and founded Israel Aerospace Industries, of which he became the first Chief Executive Officer. Schwimmer was one of the founders of Savyon, but later moved to Tel Aviv.
Schwimmer died on his 94th birthday in Ramat Gan.
In 2015, his exploits during Israel"s War of Independence were depicted in the Public Broadcasting Service documentary A Wing and a Prayer, written, directed, and produced by Boaz Dvir. The film contains the only public interview Schwimmer gave in light of these events.