The ill-fated ship had the dubious honor of being named after the leader of the Nazi party in Switzerland, who was assassinated by David Frankfurter, a Jewish medical student, in January 1936.  It was officially christened by Gustloff’s widow on May 5, 1937 in a flurry of Fascist cheers, flags, and salutes as Hitler and other party members watched from above.  This was the grandest ship of the Kdf “strength through joy” fleet of luxury cruise liners created for loyal Nazi followers to enjoy.  There was no class division among the passengers; all cabins had a view and were of equal size.

From its maiden voyage on March 24, 1938, to just before WWII, carefree vacationers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland mingled freely with each other and the crew on cruises to the Mediterranean and the North Sea.  Cruise fares were reasonable and within the budget of most of the working class in keeping with Hitler’s false promises of a perfect world.  Free entertainment was provided; daily activities were structured, and Hitler’s propaganda circulated freely among the passengers who seldom went ashore.

Prior to the annexation of Austria by the Nazis, it was also used as a floating voting station for citizens of Austria and Germany, who were then living in England.  They were ferried 3 miles offshore to the ship, many unaware they were casting their vote in approval.  Other than transporting German troops from Spain after Franco’s victory in 1939, the Gustloff remained a pleasure ship carrying over 65,000 passengers on at least 50 different excursions.  The pleasure ended, however, with the final cruise in August 1939, when she was converted to a hospital ship in September 1939.  Serving a less humanitarian purpose during the war, it was camouflaged to house U-boat sailors in training.

At the end of WWII, on January 30, 1945, the Gustloff was put into service this time as a part of Operation Hannibal, a massive wartime relief effort.  Over 10,000 refugees, navy personnel, and the wounded, including an estimated 4,000 women and children, sought refuge on the ship from the advancing Soviet Red Army.  Although the Operation itself evacuated over two million people, the most successful wartime evacuation in history, the ones who made it to the Danzig port and the Wilhelm Gustloff were not so lucky.  Leaving many behind, the ship left port without ceremony heading for Kiel on the mainland of Germany.  Although thousands had escaped the atrocities of the Russian troops, none could know what lay ahead.

The ship and its crew were ill prepared for the mass of people that overflowed the decks and cabins below.  As the Gustloff made its way through sleet and snow, there was little protection from the weather or the enemy.  The ship was virtually alone on the Baltic Sea with only one small escort boat.  However, the U-boat detection equipment on the Lowe had frozen, and the boat was relying primarily on lookouts.  While anti-aircraft guns and the few lifeboats also remained frozen and inoperable on the deck of the Gustloff, the people suffered terribly in the packed quarters of a ship built to accommodate about 1800 passengers.

Some 9 hours later, disaster struck, as three torpedoes labeled For Leningrad, the Soviet people, and the Motherland were fired from an undetected Russian submarine.  After a direct hit on the ship‘s bow, the forward part of the ship was sealed off, and many of the crew were then unable to get to the lifeboats or carry out emergency procedures.  The lavish swimming pool amidships was now filled with floating bodies, broken metal, and flying tile.  After the 3rd and final torpedo destroyed the engine room, the Wilhelm Gustloff lost all power and communications.  The scene was one of total chaos, resembling the panic of the Titanic on a much larger scale.  Only a very few were rescued, as over 9,000 lives were lost in the sinking of the Gustloff, by far the greatest number in a single disaster at sea.  A journey that promised safety had ended in indescribable tragedy.

A second refugee ship, the General Steuben, was also hit on the same mission carried out by the Russian submarine commander Marinesko and his crew, raising the total lives lost to over 10,000.  Ironically, Marinesko was awarded Hero of the Soviet Union by Gorbachev in 1990, officially giving him credit for supposedly destroying German armed forces, but neglecting to mention the loss of innocent refugees and their families.

Unlike the Titanic, the shipwreck’s position in relatively shallow water was accurately recorded, so there is little mystery involved.  The Polish government retains control over this designated area, but there are few visitors or memorials to such a burial site.  A team of Polish divers, headed by Mike Boring, explored the shipwreck in May 2003 on a salvage expedition.  No evidence was found of a so-called Amber Room, or a secret treasure worth over $350 million stolen during the war years.  It is possible that some, if not all, the loot was recovered by the Russians soon after their deadly mission was accomplished.

(Notes:  The ship’s purser, Heinz Schon, one of the few survivors, has written numerous books and is considered the leading expert as manager of the Gustloff archives in Germany.)

(David Frankfurter was later pardoned, released from exile, and managed to live out the rest of his life in Israel.)

(The wreck is a war memorial and her location is disguised by Polish navigational charts that register her only as Obstacle No 73 – 180 feet deep in the Baltic. However, she is easy to find and most of the diving clubs between Gdansk and Kolobrzeg offer trips to the wreck.)(In Germany, the Wilhelm Gustloff has become a focus for war remembrance. Germans are lobbying to build a museum or a shrine on the Polish coast to mark the 60th anniversary of the disaster, on January 30.)
Sharon Slayton

Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, was chosen for its proximity to the railroad lines, where prisoners, rounded up from every part of the country, were transported in cattle cars and dropped off by the trainloads at Auschwitz III.  Here, they were selected and separated from their families to exist as laborers under the most inhumane conditions or to be immediately eliminated.  Others were chosen for chemical and physical experimentation.  Birkenau, the larger of the two camps, covered 425 acres, with 300 buildings that could house up to 200,000 prisoners.  Four brick buildings, with gas chambers and ovens, were added to speed up the process of mass murder as more and more Jews were seized and deported.

During the years immediately following WWII, it took some time for people, other than the survivors and relatives of the victims, to attach much credibility to the ongoing news reports of Auschwitz and other similar concentration camps.  Such stories were met with shock and disbelief; how could such things have happened.  For many of us, it wasn’t until the criminals responsible for these atrocities were put on trial that we finally faced the terrible reality of the Holocaust.  On Jul 2, 1947, the Polish Parliament combined two of the Auschwitz camps in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the third camp was subsequently destroyed.  Auschwitz I and II have been preserved for the millions of tourists who come each year to view the Museum and Birkenau, the largest Jewish graveyard in the world, where the ashes of over a million victims were scattered across the fields.  People from every country and every religious faith have shared in the sorrow and relived the nightmare of Auschwitz.

Over the entrance to the main gate of the camp, we read the irony in the sign, originally placed there by Rudolph Hoess, whose villa and garden where his children played stood next to one of the crematoriums.  The words, “Arbeit Macht Frei,” translate to  “work will set you free.”  The Jews were, in fact, not brought here to work; they were brought here to die.  What spiritual release he was referring to in such “work” is beyond our comprehension.  As we walk through the area, we listen to a flow of information given by smiling, friendly tourist guides.  The scene is one of horror, where abandoned suitcases, prosthetic limbs, human hair, children’s shoes, eye glasses, and empty Zylon B gas canisters are piled together, grim reminders of the mass graves of so many innocent people.  We pass the gas chambers, the experimental lab, the sterilization ward, one of the four crematoriums, and the incoming ramp to the ovens where the original metal rollers are still in place.  We can somehow hear the cries of the dying and feel the grief that is all around us.

Where does one look in such a place, where there is nothing to see, but the reality of a tragedy that should never have occurred?  We can only contemplate and reach out in spirit, as we remember and hope that the darkest days of history will not repeat themselves.

Auschwitz was designated a UNESCO heritage site in 1979 and to date over 25,000,000 have visited the site.  Tourist hotels in Krakow are only an hour away and guided tours, advisable for groups, can be arranged for 3 1/2 hours, or one and two days.  Admission is free and the Museum is open seven days a week during the following hours: 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., December through February; 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., March & November; 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., April & October; 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m., May & September; and 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. June, July, & August.

Sharon L. Slayton