January 30, 1945: the tragedy of the torpedoing of the Wilhelm Gustloff...

[PHDNM]

January 30, 1945: the tragedy of the torpedoing of the Wilhelm Gustloff...

... or the cowardly war crime against German civilians fleeing the advancing Red Army

In January 1945, in eastern Germany, a multitude of civilian and military refugees fled the advance of the Soviet armies, who were raping, pillaging and murdering throughout the provinces.

Many of them boarded the liner Wilhelm Gustloff, which set sail from Gotenhafen on the morning of January 30, 1945. Their hope was to reach Hamburg, which was still free of occupation. The official list shows 6,050 people on board: crew, soldiers and refugees. In fact, the number was much higher, exceeding 8,000, or even 10,050!

On the very first night, Russian submarines were spotted. The S13 was commanded by Alexander Marinesko, a hard-to-control man with a penchant for vodka and women. After a few days on patrol, he cables Leningrad: "We've scoured the waters near the Fascist lair, but none of those dogs dared to show themselves". Shortly afterwards, Marinesko spotted the liner. He had four torpedoes armed. Fired at a distance of 700 meters at such a massive target, they offered little escape, and the unarmored ship was immediately pierced.

In less than an hour, the proud liner was sunk. Panic ensued, and the lifeboats were covered in ice at -15°C.

996 survivors were picked up by ships that rushed to the rescue. But almost 10,000 people, including more than 5,000 children, died in the biggest maritime disaster in human history to date, aimed solely at killing as many Germans as possible.

No forgiveness, no forgetting!

https://jeune-nation.com/kultur/hist...elm-gustloff-2

[Victor]

The S13 was commanded by Alexander Marinesko, a hard-to-control man with a penchant for vodka and women

Where did the author find such details? Btw this guy is an ethnic Romanian.

Without advocating the elimination of the Gustloff, I'm more than sure that any side in this war would do the same in similar situation. Germans did the same with Soviet ship "Armenia" where just 8 survived of 5000+ civilian refugees. Legally, both not even a war crime (sure both cases are tragedy). Also, remember the WWI Lusitania, a civilian ship which was sunk by Germans and it's already a war crime. Also "never forgive" or "it's not the same"?

[KirillMazur]

The Wilhelm Gustloff was never an ordinary liner.

During the war, a submariners school was located on it. The school was here on that voyage in full force, about one and a half thousand people.

Western historians and others like them are happy to say that on the liner there were from 6 to 8 thousand refugees, civilians including women and children. However, they are embarrassed to tell how many civilians were family members and relatives of the SS, Gestapo, Abwehr, Wehrmacht and other members of the NSDAP.

Legally, Marinesko was right, but from the point of view of the moral rules of warfare, incl. invented in hindsight - it’s not very clean here. During the same voyage, he sank the largest German cruiser in the Baltic - excellent! And with Gustloff - Marinesko did not know what kind of ship was sinking, but he saw that it was a passenger liner, and not an armed battleship. He could see the fake Red Cross flag, and it seemed to be painted on the sides. But he sank it without hesitation and became Hitler’s personal enemy - great! But everyone still had an aftertaste, the attitude towards Marinesko was slightly, insensitive, but changed and resulted in the non-appropriation of the Hero. Comrade Stalin in general was an extraordinary humanist, a seminarian and a poet.

[robertb]

Where did the author find such details? Btw this guy is an ethnic Romanian.

Without advocating the elimination of the Gustloff, I'm more than sure that any side in this war would do the same in similar situation. Germans did the same with Soviet ship "Armenia" where just 8 survived of 5000+ civilian refugees. Legally, both not even a war crime (sure both cases are tragedy). Also, remember the WWI Lusitania, a civilian ship which was sunk by Germans and it's already a war crime. Also "never forgive" or "it's not the same"?

All countries operated nonrestrictive submarine warfare during WW2. German sub captains even had American sub captains testify during trials after the war.