Lest We Forget

[Heinz Reinefarth]

LEST WE FORGET

Worst Sea Disaster of All Time

Everyone has heard of the Titanic, in which 1,500 souls went down to a watery grave in the north Atlantic in 1912.

Most have heard about the Lusitania, the converted World War I passenger liner carrying munitions for Allied cause, which was hit and sunk by an enemy submarine in 1915, with the loss of 1,200 lives.

Others have heard of the sinkings of the Empress of Ireland (1,100 dead), the Athenia (112), and the Andrea Doria (51).

But how many have ever heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff,* a hospital ship carrying wounded German soldiers and refugees in the closing days of World War II, which was torpedoed and sunk without warning on January 30, 1945, by a submarine in the service of America's Communist ally, the Soviet Union?

In that disaster, as many as 9,000** persons lost their lives, nearly six (6) times as many as perished aboard the Titanic! Indeed, more lives were lost on this one single ship than on the Titanic, the Lusitania, the Athenia, the Andrea Doria and the Empress of Ireland combined (less than 4,000)!

The Gustloff was not the only vessel, however, to earn the dubious distinction of being a worse-than-the-Titanic sea disaster. Second and third place go to two other German hospital ships, the Goya and the General Steuben, respectively.

A companion ship to the Wilhelm Gustloff, the Goya, with fewer passengers on board—"a mere" 6,000 to 7,000!—was sunk by still another Soviet sub on April 16, 1945.

On February 10, 1945, the other vessel, the Steuben—named after the German general who helped America gain its independence—was attacked by the same submarine which earlier sank the Gustloff, with the loss of 5,200 women, children and wounded men.

In total, some 20,000 perished in these never-punished war crimes. But some of those who committed these horrendous atrocities were later awarded medals by the victorious Allies of World War II.

* The Wilhelm Gustloff was launched as a cruise ship for German workers
and their families under the Kraft durch Freude ("Strength Through Joy")
program in 1937. Named for the famous Swiss National Socialist hero
and martyr, it was converted to use as a hospital ship during the Second
World War.

** National Geographic Magazine, February 2005



IN REMEMBRANCE

NEW ORDER
Dept E
PO Box 270486
Milwaukee WI 53227
http://www.theneworder.org

[orieleye]

There's a novel by Gunther Grass based on the Wilhelm Gustloff sinking, called Crabwalk. Not a bad read. One of the sub-narratives is an internet argument between two young Germans, one identifying with the assasinated Gustloff whom the ship was named after, and the other with his Jewish assasin (actually becoming Jewish subjectively). They agree to meet in Gustloff's hometown of Schwerin. One shoots the other, just like in 1936.

[Menydh]

Originally Posted by orieleye

There's a novel by Gunther Grass based on the Wilhelm Gustloff sinking, called Crabwalk.

About his novel Günther Grass said: "One of the many reasons I wrote Crabwalk was to take the subject away from the extreme right... They said the tragedy of the Gustloff was a war crime. It wasn’t. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."

Even if Günther Grass can be criticise for other things, I think that he is basically right here, except in that it was a war crime. But it was not the only war crime.

The Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship transporting refugees, was sunk by a Soviet submarine in 1945 and 9,343 men, women and children lost their lifes; the Goya, another German ship transporting refugees, was sunk also in 1945 and over 6,000 are reported lost; and so was the German ship Steuben sunk in 1945 by Soviet submarines, with around 3,600 wounded soldiers and refugees.

However, it would be unfair not to mention that in 1941 the Soviet hospital ship Armenia was sunk by a German torpedo causing the loss of 7,000 lifes.

And in 1940, the British ship Lancastria transporting an unknown number of refugees and soldiers (estimates are between 4,000 and 9,000, well in excess of the 2,200 official capacity of the ship), was sunk by German planes leaving less than 2,500 survivors.

And so on..

[orieleye]

Originally Posted by Menydh

About his novel Günther Grass said: "One of the many reasons I wrote Crabwalk was to take the subject away from the extreme right... They said the tragedy of the Gustloff was a war crime. It wasn’t. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."

Even if Günther Grass can be criticise for other things, I think that he is basically right here, except in that it was a war crime. But it was not the only war crime.

The Wilhelm Gustloff, a German ship transporting refugees, was sunk by a Soviet submarine in 1945 and 9,343 men, women and children lost their lifes; the Goya, another German ship transporting refugees, was sunk also in 1945 and over 6,000 are reported lost; and so was the German ship Steuben sunk in 1945 by Soviet submarines, with around 3,600 wounded soldiers and refugees.

In the novel it is said there were about 1500 trainee submariners and other military on the ship, which was armed, that its captain was German navy and that it was painted grey. Of course, it was a cruiseship not a warship. It was attacked at night in -18c. The ship in fact had four captains, not one, and they argued strenuously about things like what speed they should do, what course they should chart, and whether to turn off the running lights. In the end they chose to move at 12 knots instead of 15, further out to sea and to leave the running lights on.

The sub captain was sent to the gulag after the war for some trumped up charge, but more likely for demanding the Hero of the Soviet Union award. He got it posthumously in the 1990s.

Lots of historical detail which rings true in Crabwalk, although it's a work of fiction. Things like the children floating upside down in their lifejackets. No one knew much about this tragedy in either part of Germany until the 1990s.

[Kernunnos]

Why should somebody marvel if Soviets committed war crimes ?

Hardly a surprise.