Rolf Dutzmann was a young aerospace engineer from Latvia whose family was caught up in World War II in Germany. Forced to serve in Hitler’s Luftwaffe, he later did time in a Soviet P.O.W. camp. After the war, the reunited family emigrated to the U.S., where he worked on the Apollo missions to the moon prior to retiring to New Hampshire.
Dutzmann, who spent decades using his life experiences to teach Granite State students about aviation, was the subject of a presentation on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. at the Aviation Museum of N.H., 27 Navigator Road, Londonderry, N.H. The program wasgiven by Dutzmann’s daughter, Marina Kirsch, author of ‘Flight of Remembrance,’ an account of her family’s story.
In a previous visit to the Aviation Museum in 2025, Kirsch recounted the story of her parents up to World War II: Dutzmann, a Latvian aeronautical engineering prodigy forced to flee his homeland and seek refuge in Germany, and Liselotte Wassull (Lilo), the young woman he met in Berlin in 1940.
In the April 23 program, Kirsch picked up the story, covering the postwar hardship and uncertainty in Germany, immigration to America, and the family’s years in the U.S.
After finishing his aeronautical engineering education, Rolf was drafted into the Luftwaffe (the German air force). The family homes of Rolf and Lilo in Berlin were both destroyed by Allied bombs, but despite the devastation and uncertainty of war, they were married in November 1944. When they parted less than a week later, they knew they might never see each other again.
For many months, Lilo heard nothing from Rolf and searched P.O.W. camps all over the Rhineland in vain. In November 1945, she finally found him at a camp near the Rhine River and aided him in a daring escape.
A son, Ingo, was born to Lilo and Rolf in 1947 Bavaria. Thanks to the kindness of people in a tiny farming community in northern Indiana, the family obtained sponsorship for immigration to America in late 1951. Lilo gave birth to daughter Marina in Zurich, Switzerland en route to the U.S. A son, Roland, was born in Indiana in 1953.
Kirsch told Rolf’s story of forging a new beginning in America, where he played a key role in the U.S. space program during the Age of Big Rockets, followed by decades of aerospace volunteerism in the Granite State.
Kirsch’s presentation delved into her father’s role in the U.S. space program after being hired at Chrysler Missile and Space Division near Detroit in 1957, where he worked on the Redstone and Jupiter missiles. He also served as U.S. correspondent covering all NASA missions for a major German aerospace magazine before moving to New Hampshire for his retirement in the 1980s.
After retiring in 1982, Rolf and Lilo moved to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire, where Rolf was a volunteer in aerospace engineering, model rocketry and other programs at schools, summer camps, and with adults around the state for more than 30 years after his retirement.
Rolf Dutzmann died in 2014 at age 94. Lilo Dutzmann died in 2023 at age 102.
A video recording of Kirsch’s presentation at the Aviation Museum of N.H. will be posted in the video library of the museum’s website at a future date.
With over a hundred events in 13 states based on her award-winning book, speaker Marina Kirsch provides an uplifting message that encourages audiences to adopt a dream, a goal, and a vision that can sustain them even through difficult times.
Wearing an embroidered heirloom dress hand-tailored by her grandmother in 1930s Latvia, Marina promotes the continued preservation of WWII and holocaust memories as well as a unique perspective on the war.
The program was open to the public. Admission to the event was free for Aviation Museum members and $10 per person for non-members. Copies of ‘Flight of Remembrance’ were be available for $20 each during the event.
The Aviation Museum, a non-profit 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization based in the 1937 art deco passenger terminal at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, is dedicated to preserving the Granite State’s rich aviation past, and also inspiring today’s students to become the aviation and aerospace pioneers of tomorrow.
The Aviation Museum of N.H. was named “’Best Historic or Cultural Attraction for an All-Ages Family Crowd” in southern New Hampshire in the 2025 HippoPress Reader’s Poll.
The Aviation Museum is located at 27 Navigator Road, off Harvey Road, in Londonderry, N.H.
Photos from the presentation by volunteer Steve Heffelfinger:
