Eliza Chace by Bill Marshall

Wilhelm Gustloff

Escape of the German refugees

January 30, 1945

Eliza Chace F Block

June 5, 2017

Wilhelm Gustloff Escape of the German refugees

Lexicon:

The Wilhelm Gustloﬀ sank on January 30, 1945 by being torpedoed by a Russian submarine.

Junker:

a German nobleman or aristocrat, especially a member of the Prussian aristocracy.

Goebbels: German propaganda minister in Nazi Germany who persecuted the Jews

Kiel: the capital of Schleswig-Holstein in N Germany, at the Baltic end of the Kiel Canal.

Shippenhaft: is a German term referring to the idea that a family can share the responsibility for a crime or act committed by one of its members

Führer: a ruthless, tyrannical leader. Volksdeutsche: Germans in terms of people or race, regardless of citizenship.

Wehrmacht: the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1946.

Wilhelm Gustloff: a German military transport ship which was sunk on 30 January 1945 by Soviet submarine S-13 in the Baltic Sea while evacuating German civilians, Nazi oﬃcials and military personnel from Gdynia (Gotenhafen) as the Red Army

Gofenhufen:A city of northern Poland on the Gulf of Gdańsk northwest of Gdańsk.

Erich Koch: was a

party leader of

Challenges of a German Refugee On January 30, 1945, the Wilhelm Gustloff sank and left thousands scrambling to save their lives. These were the lucky people. As the Russians Red Army approaches, thousands of German refugees scramble to get on the Wilhelm Gustloff. WWII was a challenging time for refugees fleeing Germany because their families were broken up, they had anxiety and fear of being persecuted for their race, and they were in dangerous situations. Even though Stalin and his Red Army was overpowering Hitler's Nazis, WWII was a time of death.

Displaced Families The ship's capacity was stretched to the limit, yet there were still many people who couldn’t go on. When boarding the Wilhelm Gustloff the children, nurses, and the wounded soldiers were the priority to get on the ship. The ship's capacity was stretched to the limit, yet there were still many people who couldn’t go on. “Father constantly worried

the Nazi Party in East Prussia from 1928 until 1945.

Eliza Chace F Block

The book Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys is a book about refugees fleeing German as the Russian approach. Through the characters Florian, Joana, Alfred, and Emilia, you learn the challenges of a WWII German refugee.

Fun Fact!

June 5, 2017

about me. He cried when he told me that he was sending me away to the Kleist’s farm in East Prussia for safety. I wanted to cry too. But it hurt so much to see him sad, losing all that he loved. (pg.147)” Just like Florian, many people fled their homes and lost everything they cared for in life. Many families had to separate in the evacuation of Germany. Even when the war was over families were displaced and couldn't find each other. According to time.com, “German ocean liner that was taken down by a Soviet sub on Jan. 30, 1945, killing 9,343 people—most of them war refugees, about 5,000 of them children... 10,582 people were packed onto a cruise ship that was meant to accommodate only about 1,900. When three torpedoes hit the ship, there weren't nearly enough lifeboats, and many of the those that did exist were frozen to the deck. The majority of the passengers drowned.”Those 9,434 people had families. So, their families just lost a loved one, and they don’t know it because they're on a ship in the middle of the ocean. They will be waiting for their loved ones return. But, it will never happen. Facing the dual threats of Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, and the regimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and atrocities on both fronts, people had to send family members away to protect themselves from being killed for their nationality.

The ship was originally intended to be named Adolf Hitler but was named after Wilhelm Gustloﬀ, a leader of the National Socialist Party's Swiss branch, who had been assassinated by a Jewish medical student in 1936. Hitler decided on the name change after sitting next to Gustloﬀ 's widow during his memorial service.

A look at where the Wilhelm Gustloﬀ sank. :

Eliza Chace F Block

June 5, 2017

Racism WWII was a challenging time for refugees fleeing Germany because they have anxiety and fear of being persecuted for their race. With Germany and Russia fighting, there was a high risk of the refugees being murdered. In World War 2, according to "Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 04 June 2017, “While it classified Jews as the priority “enemy,” the Nazi ideological concept of race targeted other groups for persecution, imprisonment, and annihilation, including Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, and AfroGermans.” In WW2 over 60 million people were killed. Anywhere you were, there was always a chance of being murdered, and knowing that was very frightening. “I am Polish!” I yelled. He wagged his delirious finger at me. ”Filthy Pole. You liar! Finally, I will serve my country. I am a hero Hannelore. Einer wengie!” he bellowed. Einer wengie. One less. He leaned over and tried to shove me in the water. “(pg.361) This proves that people were in fear of being killed because of their race because both of these people were friends. One of them was pretending to be German, but is actually a Pole, So, her “friend” tried to kill her. At the time people being persecuted for their race was very common. With the Nazis hating the Jews and the Russians trying to eliminate the Nazis, with all the people in the other countries involved, it was not easy to live.

Tough Situations WWII was a challenging time for refugees fleeing Germany because they were in dangerous situations. There were many tough and scary times that the refugees had to overcome. Indeed, avoiding the Russian soldiers was hard, but with no food, water, or shelter, that's just improbable. In May of 1945, Germany surrendered because of all the Russian attacks on Germans. When escaping from the Russians, German refugees had to struggle with starvation and dehydration because there were no resources left for Germany to have. “The ground quivered. Soldiers were close...A Russian soldier was there. He leaned over me with a light poking my shoulder with his pistol.” (pg. 5) Getting to the escape route at the port for the Germans was very tough. Since the Russian soldiers were advancing, the German refugees has to hide from them. In this quote a German tried avoid the Russian soldiers, but she failed. German refugees had to survive bombings, shootings, and threats of the Russians. WWII was a hard time for refugees fleeing Germany of Stalin's Red Army because their families were separated and dismayed They have the threat of someone killing them based on their race, and they were in tough physical conditions and scenarios. From beloved ones lost too racism, WW2 was difficult for German refugees. Imagine you were a German refugee fleeing. What types of decisions would you have to make?

Eliza Chace F Block

June 5, 2017

Bibliography; "Book Review: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys." The Book Smugglers. 10 Feb. 2016. Web. 02 June 2017. PINSON, Gaël. Fortunes De Mer - WILHELM GUSTLOFF 1945. Web. 02 June 2017. "Salt to the Sea: How the Wilhelm Gustloff Was Sunk." Time. Time. Web. 02 June 2017. Sepetys, Ruta. Salt to the Sea. New York: Philomel, 2016. Print. "Victims of the Nazi Era: Nazi Racial Ideology." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 04 June 2017. {"isAjaxInProgress_B003NWP99Y":"0","isAjaxComplete_B003NWP99Y":"0"} Ruta Sepetys (Author) › Visit Amazon's Ruta Sepetys Page Find All the Books, Read about the Author, and More. See Search Results for This Author Are You an Author? Learn about Author Central Ruta Sepetys (Author). "Salt to the Sea Hardcover – February 2, 2016." Salt to the Sea: Ruta Sepetys: 9780399160301: Amazon.com: Books. Web. 04 June 2017. PINSON, Gaël. Fortunes De Mer - WILHELM GUSTLOFF 1945. Web. 04 June 2017. "Posts about Wilhelm Gustloff on Joyanna Adams." Joyanna Adams. Web. 04 June 2017.