| Why? Why is it? No one seems to have heard Of the Gustloff Disaster? |
Introduction
This project was first planned as a one-page feature depicting the Gustloff disaster. I felt at the time it would 'fit' just nicely along the Titanic feature. Naturally, I was surprised to find I had not 'heard' of this particularly tragic sinking, what with the large number of victims it engendered but then, as many more concluded.... it occurred at a time when so many other disasters of gargantuan proportion took place...
The sad fact of the matter is, the Wilhelm Gustloff sinking barely made it as a footnote of history. The incident was not 'forgotten' because, in order to be 'forgotten', a fact first must have been 'known'.
The more I advanced in my reasearch on the Gustloff, the more I realized this would, indeed, become a fair-sized feature. My search for data on the Gustloff led me to the Goya, then the Reuben and the Cap Arcona then on to the Junyo Maru! As I digested all this raw data, a question kept recurring in my mind "Why?" Not "Why did these ships sink?" It was war! And, sinkings occur in wars. Given the magnitude of the losses in these human life which resulted from these combined combined disasters, another question arose: "Why is it no one seems to know about these disasters?
The easy answer to that one is "No one cared!" but I do not agree with that answer and, I believe, with good cause: before anyone cares or does not care about a given topic, one must first be made aware of the topic! And my guess is that if you were to ask the first fifty persons you meet: "Have you ever heard of the Wilhelm Gustloff?" I am no gambler but I would venture to say no one has!
The Knowledge Research Survey
If you have made it thus far, this tells me you are interested to find out why no one seems to have heard of the Gustloff, or, for that matter, of the Goya, the Junyo Maru et all... I propose you carry out a simple 'knowledge research' test. No matter where you live in the world, randomly ask the following three questions to 10, 25, 50 persons (the choice is yours) and tally the replies:
My educated guess is that you will receive the following replies: No, Yes and Winston Churchill.
If you would like to participate in the making of this feature on the Gustloff, please click the logo below:
Survey details
I plan, in the following discourse to help explain, if not prove, why no one seems to know of the Gusloff but the world seems to know about the famous quote 'The Iron Curtain' and who first uttered it in public. Or so they think!
The Iron Curtain Speech
It is a well known and accepted fact that the world famous term "The Iron Curtain" was first coined by Winston Churchill.
Here's what the Ecyclopedia Britannica has to say on the subject. 1966 Edition, Page 628:
IRON CURTON. A term that came into popular use after World War II to denote the Soviet Union's efforts to seal off itself and its eastern European satellites from normal contacts with western Europe and other communist areas. The term was used by Winston Churchill, Britain's prime misister, in an address at Westminster College, Fulton, MO, on March 5, 1946, when he declared that the U.S.S.R. had rung down an 'iron curtain' across eastern Europe.
Now, in Winston's defence, I must say that 'he' never said 'he' was the originator of that famous quote, the 'iron curtain'. On the other hand, he never said he wasn't. And, based on information contained in documents I came across, I take the position that Winston, knowingly or unknowingly, (more than likely 'unknowingly'), used a term he had come across a few months earlier while reading a dispatch from, appropriately enough, Germany! I have no doubt in my mind that when the first time this term was used, the content of the message was made known to Churchill by its support staff.
Add One Question to Survey!
If you have not carried out the survey suggested above, add one more question:
Again, my educated guess is that you will receive the following reply: No.
End of the suspense: the term was first made public, the night of May 2nd, 1945 in a radio broadcast to the German nation made by Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk, the Foreign Minister under the newly appointed President of the Reich, Admiral Karl Doenitz! [106-563]
The First Iron Curtain Speech
The complete text of the broadcast follows:
"German men and women", he began, and then topld them about the stream of terrified people trying to escape to the west. "The iron curtain in the east moves closer and closer; behind this, hidden from the eyes of the world, all those people caught in the mighty hands of the Bolsheviks are being destroyed"
The conference at San Francisco, he said, was trying to draw up a constitution to guarantee the end of the war - of a third world war that would use horrible new weapons "and bring death and destruction to all mankind."
But a Bolshevik Europe, he predicted, would be the first step toward the world revolution so systematically planned by the Soviets for the past twenty-five years. "Therefore, we do not see in San Francisco what anxious mankind is longing for. And we also believe that a world constitution must be established , not only to prevent further wars but to remove the tinderboxes which start war. But such a constitution cannot be established if the Red incendiary helps establish it...."
"The world must now make a decision of the greatest consequence to the history of mankind. Upon that decision depends chaos or order, war or peace, death or life."
Was Churchill Informed of von Krosigk's Address?
I suggest that Churchill was immediately made aware of this broadcast.
A study of the above statement will soon reveal how closely von Krosigk's views on the situation resembled and parallelled those of Churchill!
The question to ask at this point is "Was Churchill told (made aware) of this public radio statement by von Krosigk and if so, when?" My contention is that he was told of the broadcast 'that night', shortly after its airing. I firmly believe that Churchill wanted to be informed of any statement of importance made by von Krosigk, not only because he was then Foreign Minister of Germany but also because I believe Churchill might even have known von Krosigk 'personally!' And I will even venture to say that he, Churchill was very much aware that he and von Krosigk shared a common view on the Soviet search for world domination.
Who was von Krosigk?
Count von Krosigk had held several posts of importance, among them, the post of Misister of Finance. It is a matter of record that once it was realized the war was irretrievably lost, he had done all in his power to attempt to save the German people from hurther suffering. A devout Catholic, he was also a Rhodes scholar at Oxford! And he felt very strong ties to England.[106-371]
Additional info - including link to phograph
Certain facts, as described in von Krosigk's page lead me to conclude that Churchill had been made aware of Foreign Minister Schwerin von Krosigk's 'Iron Curtain' address to the German people on May 2nd, 1945.
It is also my firm belief that his 'iron curtain' speech in Fulton was of his own volition. Did the term 'iron curtain' originally come from him or was it a remnant piece of data lodged in his sub conscious as a result of having read von Krosigk's earlier address? Who knows.... but the point is made.
Churchill never professed being the originator of that famous term! The assembled international journalists and media people simply reported the news of what Churchill had said. And the world accepted as a done fact that Churchill had first 'originated' the expression.
What's the point? one may ask.
What is the point of this whole exercise you may ask? Good question.
I brought it forth to add support to my first stated belief that it is the job of historians to record history as it evolves, not as they wish it should have evolved. And to let the world interpret their written view on history as they best see fit. All the available information presented above is 'public knowledge', contained in documents perhaps not easily available but available all the same to those who wish to 'discover' them.
I have uncovered to date a number of documents listing the non-famous May 2nd radio speech by Foreign Minister Schwerin von Krosigk. And several depicting the maritime tragedies that make the subject of the present study. Yet, none of those just mentioned 'made' it into the history books. Not, I surmis, as a result of a diabolic or political 'conspiracy' to cover up the deeds but, I suggest, because they were overwhelmed by other events then taking place at the time."
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