THE SUBMARINE THAT SANK THE THIRD REICH

Marinesko — the unknown hero



Had the British known about Aleksander Marinesko, they quite possibly would have honoured him for having spared the British Fleet from enormous losses. After all, the Western Powers were the ones profiting from the disablement of the ship as the Russians primarily made land warfare.



But not only in Britain, also in the Soviet Union, his name was known merely in a very narrow circle. Marinesko's person and character might not have fitted into the ideological conceptions that his native country had of a true Soviet hero. Under any circumstances, most of his fate after the War is shrouded in fog. Due to slander, he was put on trial and sentenced to three years' imprisonment in Siberia. He ended his days in absolute poverty.



The taboo surrounding Marinesko's name was not raised until 1990 when Gorbatjov made a statutory instrument 27 years after Marinesko's death assigning him the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the highest military order, the Gold Star.



It remains a mystery



The secrets surrounding the "Wilhelm Gustloff" are still not fully unravelled. It is unknown what is hidden in the armour cases and deep holds of the steamer. What secret documents or treasures are buried at Stolpe Bank, and will they remain there forever? According to one version, among the treasures which the Germans had stolen systematically in Russian churches, palaces and museums, they also brought on board the world-famed "Amber Chamber", which was a gift from King Frederik the 1st of Prussia to Tsar Peter the Great. This unique work of art was robbed from the great Tsar's Palace in Tsarskoje Selo in the neighbourhood of Leningrad during the German siege.



A couple of years ago, Polish divers, who were participating in the search for the Amber Chamber, went down to the ship that had suffered a disastrous fate. Due to the lack of technical aids and the difficulties in working at such depths, they only made a quick inspection of the ship. And to their surprise, they discovered that somebody else had already been working actively in the wreck: it turned out that the ship's safe had been forced open...



The war between Germany and the Soviet Union is not a closed chapter: there are still a lot of sensitive points. Only an open dialogue and the release of all documents from the time of the War may make it possible to look at the events from both sides and in time reveal the truth of the matter. The presentation of the above-mentioned information from German and Russian sources shows that the story of "Wilhelm Gustloff" has not yet seen its final chapter.



by S. W., april 1996.



in English by Lars Ottesen, december 2001.

See also