by Arneb » Thu Jan 30, 2020 8:52 am
75 years ago today, off the Pommeranian coast, three torpedoes issued from a Soviet submarine (S-13) sank the Wilhelm Gustloff, a former cruise ship sequestered by the Germany Navy as a troop transport ship. Built for some 1,500 passengers and crew, she was carrying c. 10,000 crew, troops, and civilian refugees from East Prussia trying to flee the onslaught of the Red Army. At that time, East Prussia had already been cut off from the rest of the Reich, so that the Baltic route was the only way to escape.
Around 1,200 occupants, amazingly, were saved, in freezing waters, and lived to tell the story. The attack was not a war crime: The Wilhelm Gustloff, being a troop transporter, was clearly a military vessel, and thus, a fair target. With around 9,000 fatalities, the sinking is to this day the largest shipping disaster in all of human history.
The attack occurred on the 12th anniversary of the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Reich Chancellor. For the occasion, he gave a radio speech, blathering on about the Endsieg, the fantastic achievements of himself and his government, about the Creator (and Providence) garuanteeing victory for the German people if only they stuck together strongly enough, etc. Several survivors of the attack on the Gustloff report having listened to the speech during the evening. It was to be his last radio appearance.
Non sunt multiplicanda entia praeter necessitatem