Saving Germans From Russia's Vengeance

The Wilhelm Gustloff was part of the largest evacuation exercise in modern times. An evacuation which surpassed the Dunkirk exercise, both in regards to its tactical operation and in the sheer number of lives saved. Yet it, like the sinking of the Gustloff, is one of the least known major successful operations of World War II.

 

By early January 1945, Gross Admiral Karl Doenitz had realized that Germany was soon to be defeated and, wishing to save his submariners, had radioed a coded message on January 23rd, 1945 to Gydnia (Gotenhafen) to flee to the West! Code name: Hannibal.

 

Submariners were then schooled and housed in big ships laying in Baltic ports, with the bulk of them at Gotenhafen. They were the Deutschland, the Hamburg, the Hansa and the Wilhelm Gustloff.

 

The stage was set!

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