81 anni fa, alle 21:16 del 30 gennaio 1945, la nave tedesca Wilhelm Gustloff affondò dopo essere stata silurata da un sottomarino sovietico nel Mar Baltico. Trasportava più di 10.000 passeggeri, per lo più rifugiati, affondò in un’ora. Morirono oltre 9.000 persone, tra cui molti bambini. L’affondamento è il disastro marittimo più mortale della storia.
https://i.redd.it/avna180a0jgg1.jpeg
di SirLadthe1st
8 commenti
FAFO
Entirely avoidable as well. They were operating as if they still controlled the seas thoroughly. Went into deep waters, was fully lit, and was visibly armed. If they intended to use it to transport civilians rather than continue to use it as a troop transport they could have shrouded the guns and marked it as a hospital ship.
Yet another nazi war crime, using human shields for their troop transport
Fun fact is that the ship would have been named after Adolf Hitler, but he decided to name it after his Swiss colleague, who was assassinated by a brave Jew.
For a moment I thought it was the Cal Arcona (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cap_Arcona). But sadly apparently a similar event happened 3 months later again…
RIP to all those who died.
The Soviet captain who torpedoed the ship, Alexander Marinesko, was imideatly awarded the order of the red banner and later the hero of the Soviet Union, the USSR’s highest award. Many Russians as well as the Russian government still consider this tragedy a “military success”.
She was a valid military target. This does not mean it is not a tragedy but this is not a war crime.
Remember that during the evacuation of the Baltics themselves it were Soviet ships on the receiving end. Unfortunatly, the Eastern front of WW2 is a story in which civilians were not excluded from the violence and international treaties were generally ignored. A tragedy for all innocent people involved
Read Salt to the Sea- superb book which culminates in the disaster. Historical fiction with a really interesting style.