Creepy Reason Nobody Talks About The Deadliest Ship Disaster In History

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  • Опубліковано 14 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,9 тис.

  • @JS.5230
    @JS.5230 3 роки тому +2963

    My grandfather and his family were fleeing from the russians during that time and also wanted to board the gustloff. They barely missed the departure of the ship. If they were not that lucky I most likely would not be here, it is crazy to think about how close it was.

    • @WeazleHD
      @WeazleHD 3 роки тому +116

      the grandparents of a friend of mine as well. crazy right?

    • @randied603
      @randied603 3 роки тому +41

      Yeah. Imagine they barely board the ship

    • @CommunistSteak
      @CommunistSteak 3 роки тому +63

      My Great grandfather lost his life in the sinking, and he was Navy so he was a good swimmer

    • @WeazleHD
      @WeazleHD 3 роки тому +17

      @TenSack well i do.. at least. but what the f. i understand your logic but i think it is wrong. there are billions of possible outcomes to every action and every human beeing. if you were born it meant this string of outcomes happend. nothing to owe, nothing to prove.
      it just IS and thats that

    • @harpastanman8952
      @harpastanman8952 3 роки тому +20

      What's the rest of the story?? What happened? How did they make it out instead? I love survival stories 😯

  • @arnonym1801
    @arnonym1801 3 роки тому +836

    I´m from Germany and my grandfather was on the Wilhelm Gustloff as a kid. He, his mother, and his two siblings were on the ship. Only he and his mother made it to Germany alive. His siblings, 2 and 7 years old died.

    • @mtoni93
      @mtoni93 3 роки тому +35

      😢 i'm sorry.

    • @Samxd90
      @Samxd90 3 роки тому +38

      So sad for your loss

    • @giovanniquintana7625
      @giovanniquintana7625 3 роки тому +11

      Sorry to hear

    • @historynerdneiledits
      @historynerdneiledits 3 роки тому +4

      What happened to his two siblings? So sorry for them

    • @Strmbreak
      @Strmbreak 3 роки тому +25

      @@historynerdneiledits they died HE LITERALLY SAYS IT

  • @wolfspirit99
    @wolfspirit99 3 роки тому +2206

    This ship is criminally underrated and unknown

    • @GabrielUngacta
      @GabrielUngacta 3 роки тому +97

      Because its overshadowed by WW2.

    • @cowerdnerddespacito9518
      @cowerdnerddespacito9518 3 роки тому +136

      History is written by the victors

    • @daywalkersarkis3983
      @daywalkersarkis3983 3 роки тому +66

      This was a true crime unforgivable

    • @thebirdbrand
      @thebirdbrand 3 роки тому +5

      What does that even mean…?!?

    • @LITTLE1994
      @LITTLE1994 3 роки тому +51

      I know right. Titanic was bad and got so famous by the movie, but this really put ship disasters to the next level, and nobody realized it.

  • @tribeofone486
    @tribeofone486 3 роки тому +1524

    It’s so strange to have never heard of something that impacted so many lives. Great video

    • @amacca2085
      @amacca2085 3 роки тому +14

      WW2

    • @RundfunkerOnline
      @RundfunkerOnline 3 роки тому +98

      Due to WW2 ignorant people think it is acceptable to ignore the Death of German civilians, even of completely innocent children. I cannot imagine the disturbing view of literally thousands of children drowning, but some people are so inhumane that they ignore their horrible and sad death.

    • @lazarus8018
      @lazarus8018 3 роки тому +10

      @@RundfunkerOnline A lot of them have also said that they wished they could've seen the Atom bombs go off over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    • @amacca2085
      @amacca2085 2 роки тому +9

      @@RundfunkerOnline Dresden

    • @RundfunkerOnline
      @RundfunkerOnline 2 роки тому +13

      @@jerryh2954 Thank you for telling. It’s true, but sadly it often gets overlooked or even ignored, because ignorant people see it as „deserved“, which is a horrible view, that doesn’t make any sense. Two wrongs never make a right.

  • @simple-commentator-not-rea7345
    @simple-commentator-not-rea7345 3 роки тому +472

    During WWII, there were more than perhpas 3 dozen different maritime disasters in which the casulties were higher than the Titanic. And most of them were Axis powers.

    • @noobie1890
      @noobie1890 3 роки тому +7

      The Bismarck...

    • @unddasheit4034
      @unddasheit4034 3 роки тому +51

      @@noobie1890 that's not a disaster

    • @noobie1890
      @noobie1890 3 роки тому +9

      @@unddasheit4034 it was a very well known maritime disaster (for the krauts)

    • @unddasheit4034
      @unddasheit4034 3 роки тому +16

      @@noobie1890 well, they scuttled it because of heavy damage

    • @dutchthespitfire3204
      @dutchthespitfire3204 3 роки тому +3

      @@unddasheit4034 and 2000 peopls died on it

  • @germaninja6055
    @germaninja6055 3 роки тому +285

    My great grandmother was a nurse on this ship. I’ve always tried to educate people about this ship when I can. One of the torpedoes hit the swimming pool where the nurses were staying. My great grandmother was on a walk at the time. Had it not been for that fact I wouldn’t be here

    • @Deep_Dish
      @Deep_Dish 3 роки тому +1

      On a walk?

    • @germaninja6055
      @germaninja6055 3 роки тому +29

      @@Deep_Dish she was doing her nursing rounds on the ship is the story I was told by my grandmother

    • @ЮлианГуруев
      @ЮлианГуруев 2 роки тому +1

      It's strange to see how modern German government support Russia even if modern Russia is leaded by KGB man, so basically same ideology that justify killing innocent people. My both grandfathers were participating in WW2 on Soviet side. But I'm feeling really sorry for innocent souls. It's very depressing how many innocent people died on that war

  • @teknofreak2387
    @teknofreak2387 3 роки тому +58

    I once did an internship in an Rehabilitation Hospital in Germany. One old man was very talkative with me and liked me. He said he lived in east Prussia and during the escape from there he saw terrible things, mass executions etc. On the way, his Brother died of Pneumonia, which caused them to miss their ship. He then told me the name of the ship and that his brothers death saved them. I heard the story of the Wilhelm Gustloff before and will never forget what this man told me.

  • @postmortem3260
    @postmortem3260 3 роки тому +1010

    This is very interesting. It’s a shame not many people know about this. Rip to all the lives lost.

    • @Xgujgjxggxxgkgx
      @Xgujgjxggxxgkgx 3 роки тому +1

      True

    • @lauraandel2298
      @lauraandel2298 3 роки тому +6

      There was another ship nearby that hears the distress call of the Olympia, not the titanic most all of the people were saved they been lying to us for years .

    • @loboloo6991
      @loboloo6991 3 роки тому

      @Laura Andel true

    • @redshuttleredacted6422
      @redshuttleredacted6422 3 роки тому +49

      lots of these lives were nazis and I think that their fate serves them right

    • @NavlinskyGamin
      @NavlinskyGamin 3 роки тому +25

      @@redshuttleredacted6422 *No no Germans

  • @Zoologically_Explained
    @Zoologically_Explained 3 роки тому +1694

    imagine your story being replaced by a story about an unsinkable ship that well um...... sunk

    • @Byebyeyoutube666
      @Byebyeyoutube666 3 роки тому +8

      countryball and satw?

    • @zuzannabrzeszczak1578
      @zuzannabrzeszczak1578 3 роки тому +61

      The only difference is that the tragedy of Wilhelm Gustloff happened by the hands of a communist, who in his mind was doing the service for his own country... to me, it somehow makes more sense than the sinking of Titanic, which could be avoided completely. Like, come on. Hiding from torpedos which can attack you from every angle cannot compare to a freaking ice-berg. Easy math.

    • @princeofpokemon2934
      @princeofpokemon2934 3 роки тому +67

      Apparently the word unsinkable does not really live up to its definition. If I go on a ship that claims to be unsinkable, someone grab the nearest blunt object and just smack me with it.

    • @Sevdetrdls
      @Sevdetrdls 3 роки тому +4

      @@zuzannabrzeszczak1578 maff it’s maff

    • @Irobert1115HD
      @Irobert1115HD 3 роки тому +3

      a ship that later became a myth that is compeletely debunked by now.

  • @ives3572
    @ives3572 3 роки тому +572

    Fun Fact: Sometimes, the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don't seem obviously dangerous. Sometimes, surviving is the hardest thing of all.

    • @hokemoseley2934
      @hokemoseley2934 3 роки тому +11

      That's not very fun at all

    • @lazarus8018
      @lazarus8018 3 роки тому +4

      @@hokemoseley2934 Neither are any other "fun facts" worth hearing

    • @TheLakabanzaichrg
      @TheLakabanzaichrg 3 роки тому +3

      Tbey should be called gloom facts instead

    • @OnePieceWonPeace
      @OnePieceWonPeace 3 роки тому +4

      ALWAYS, surviving is the hardest thing of all. Trust me. Getting your Lamborghini towed is not as hard as cutting off your hand that is wedged beneath a boulder in the middle of a desert. (duh)

    • @kylebolton6007
      @kylebolton6007 2 роки тому +3

      @@hokemoseley2934 nor is it a fact

  • @utkarshraghav2816
    @utkarshraghav2816 3 роки тому +539

    Imagine what would have happened if someone like Alexander Marinesko was in place of Stanislav Petrov or Vasili Arkhipov during the 1983 Soviet Union nuclear false alarm incident.

    • @maxthecharacter1296
      @maxthecharacter1296 3 роки тому +59

      Yikes. The world would've been over.

    • @Saunakiuas06
      @Saunakiuas06 3 роки тому +108

      "Comrade Marinesko! Computer reports multiple nuclear missiles coming towards us.*
      "Send our (hic) own missiles. Capitalist (hic) pigs don't bomb the motherland without (hic) penalty."
      "But comrade, it could be false alarm!"
      "Coward, eh? Fine, I'll do it myself."
      *Presses button*

    • @DarkTaylick
      @DarkTaylick 3 роки тому +14

      Armageddon on a human scale

    • @chromite_chromite
      @chromite_chromite 3 роки тому +22

      @@Saunakiuas06 US: They nuked us! US 2: *C O M M I T W A R C R I M E S N O W*

    • @Asterion_Moloc_1
      @Asterion_Moloc_1 3 роки тому +10

      We would have Fallout 5 UVR (Ultra-VR)

  • @alan_decker
    @alan_decker 3 роки тому +289

    Wow, someone actually covered the wilhelm gustloff, finally.

    • @That1Guineapig.
      @That1Guineapig. 3 роки тому +1

      Ikr

    • @bf2840
      @bf2840 3 роки тому +3

      Finally? Really? There have been many videos about this ship over the years.

    • @AuroraBoost
      @AuroraBoost 2 роки тому +2

      @@bf2840 There many videos but compared to the Titanic it is extremely overlooked

    • @bf2840
      @bf2840 2 роки тому +5

      @@AuroraBoost Well compared to the Titanic every ship disasters are very overlooked. 💁‍♂

    • @AuroraBoost
      @AuroraBoost 2 роки тому

      @@bf2840 Thanks for missing the point I guess...?

  • @caribbeanspice19
    @caribbeanspice19 3 роки тому +194

    i recently found out about this ship...truly horrifying. also, the sinking of doña paz is also a very tragic event that was even worse than titanic imo.

    • @randied603
      @randied603 3 роки тому +8

      Yeah. The Dona Paz collided with a oil tanker (I've think) called MT Vector. They both caught fire and sink

    • @That1Guineapig.
      @That1Guineapig. 3 роки тому +2

      Yeah it was a Huge fire

    • @benthompson2136
      @benthompson2136 2 роки тому +4

      Yea, the known casualties of the Dona Paz were comparable with the Titanic (about 1500) but about 3/4th the casualties of the Dona Paz (3000 - 4000) weren't officially listed on the ship's manifest and we will never know for sure how many died.

    • @Anubis2862
      @Anubis2862 2 роки тому +3

      in terms of survivors Hood only had 3 people survive

    • @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823
      @windsofmarchjourneyperrytr2823 2 роки тому +3

      And the Joola in 2002. 1,800 dead
      2nd deadliest in peacetime

  • @2128jrandall
    @2128jrandall 3 роки тому +68

    Was always fascinated by the Titanic, but never knew this story. Thank you.

  • @GreenEyedGerudo
    @GreenEyedGerudo 3 роки тому +44

    Fun Fact: the actor that played John Jacob Astor in 1997 Titanic was on this ship as a kid 👍

  • @xaviershoooops283
    @xaviershoooops283 3 роки тому +170

    Wow,I love how he’s not disturbed by this stuff

  • @jinxgirl5
    @jinxgirl5 2 роки тому +44

    It's incredible how many lesser-known ship sinkings there are that make Titanic look like a teacup tragedy in comparison. Lusitania is one I only learned of a few years back. Today is the first time I've heard of the Gustloff. There are so many tragedies that get rug-swept that no one knows about them unless they go looking.

    • @dieglhix
      @dieglhix Рік тому +2

      There is a German movie about this with the same name (Wilhelm Gustloff), it's very well made and I will never forget the scenes.

    • @Pugetwitch
      @Pugetwitch Рік тому

      EL FARO❤

    • @ToreDL87
      @ToreDL87 Рік тому +1

      Most of them were in wartime though.
      Titanic is famous exactly for entirely civilian setting.
      Anyone worth their salt knows about Gustloff, same as Titanic there's nothing new about it.

    • @jinxgirl5
      @jinxgirl5 Рік тому +1

      @@ToreDL87 lol k

    • @nathantudor5763
      @nathantudor5763 Рік тому

      Have you heard of the MS Estonia?

  • @jamesricker3997
    @jamesricker3997 2 роки тому +39

    The reason it is so little known is because with everything that was going on in 1945 ,9000 civilians dying was barely noticeable

  • @j.w.b5048
    @j.w.b5048 3 роки тому +64

    There were several ships which were destroyed at the end of the war. Over 20,000 people died during the attacks, mostly civilians or even former concentration camp inmates.

    • @Deep_Dish
      @Deep_Dish 3 роки тому

      Any links?

    • @AbulArbaIjun
      @AbulArbaIjun 2 роки тому +6

      @@Deep_Dish I suppose he means the "Steuben", the "Goya" and the "Kap Arkona". Together with the "Gustloff".

  • @shan8613
    @shan8613 2 роки тому +29

    I just learned about this tragedy from Ruta Sepety’s “Salt to the Sea”. I cried at her book, then even more after realizing that this catastrophic event was actually true. She’s a great researcher and storyteller, I recommend her if you like historical fiction.

  • @pennypay1
    @pennypay1 2 роки тому +21

    I'm 50, and I just learned about this tragedy ten minutes ago. When my husband, a WW2 history buff, gets home, I'm going to ask him what he knows about the ship. I remember studying the Allies and the Axis Powers in 9th grade, but this was never mentioned. And about a year ago, I first learned about the Dona Paz and was told THAT was the worst maritime disaster in terms of fatalities. There's disproportionate focus on the Titanic and a few other 'high-profile' ships. I cynically noted that a ship overcrowded with poor Filipinos didn't generate the same 'interesting' story as the class divides on the glamorous Titanic's maiden voyage. And I suppose there wasn't much sympathy for Axis civilians in this case.

    • @dleyba3199
      @dleyba3199 Рік тому +3

      same, I'm 50 as well, and first time hearing about this too

  • @deanmathewson5136
    @deanmathewson5136 3 роки тому +47

    My Oma's aunt had tickets to the Gustloff for her family, the place that the family was staying in wasn't allowing anyone else in because it was so full of refugees. The aunt need the money so she turned around and sold the tickets. My Oma's family got a spot on a small fishing boat called The Break. On their way across the Baltic her mother called her to the deck to see the wreckage. When she tells the story she say's that she saw the mast and the funnels and all sorts of debris. She probably saw the bodies too, but since she was a child then, she either blocked that part of the memory out or simple chooses not to tell it.

    • @aquilasteckel2533
      @aquilasteckel2533 3 роки тому +6

      Your poor Oma, glad they didnt get on that ship.

    • @Rob774
      @Rob774 2 роки тому

      @@aquilasteckel2533 U think this story is real?

    • @Zeder95
      @Zeder95 Рік тому +2

      @@Rob774 Why shouldn't it be? A lot of these things happened back then. Since there were thousands of people on the Gustloff and many thousands more who tried to flee the same way, there is a large number of people who has stories to tell from their ancestors back then.

  • @lukaszslm
    @lukaszslm 2 роки тому +13

    This should be a lesson never to be repeated again. My uncle survived the war by miraculously not getting on to Gustloff because he was late.

  • @7STB7
    @7STB7 3 роки тому +200

    My grandmother used to tell me about this story and that her mother missed going on the ship for just some minutes as it was already leaving the port.
    I'm glad my great grandmother missed it. Otherwise I couldn't comment on this video today.

    • @LITTLE1994
      @LITTLE1994 3 роки тому +4

      Wow. That is a good thing she did miss it...

    • @BlakeGibbons
      @BlakeGibbons 3 роки тому +1

      Wouldn't make a difference either way lol

    • @7STB7
      @7STB7 3 роки тому +5

      @@BlakeGibbons deine Antwort und Meinung ist mir scheißegal lol

    • @CrispyPillow6
      @CrispyPillow6 3 роки тому +4

      @@BlakeGibbons it would

    • @datvik7187
      @datvik7187 3 роки тому +3

      @Punx is idol and noise lool

  • @xds3185
    @xds3185 3 роки тому +22

    This was incredibly sad and there was no hope for those people :c. Seeing people die in front of you, sinking drowning with sadness that they cannot be saved

    • @ErikDayne
      @ErikDayne 2 роки тому +1

      Unless they’re Nazis in which case it’s fantastic

  • @EpicJoshua314
    @EpicJoshua314 2 роки тому +19

    Interesting fact is that Eric Braeden who plays Victor Newman on "The Young and the Restless" and played John Jacob Astor IV in Titanic (1997) survived the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
    Also, all 4 of the Gustloff's Captains got into the lifeboats and were dry when rescued while thousands of their passengers died and there were crewmembers who frantically tried to break the glass on the Promenade deck to save trapped people until the water lapped over them and were wet when they were rescued.

    • @WR-NC-ASPL
      @WR-NC-ASPL Рік тому

      Captain need wait for ticket less passengers to escape

    • @ValentinoB
      @ValentinoB Рік тому

      That's crazy! My wife and I rewatched the Titanic recently (because, given recent events, how could you not?) and she told me about JJA's actor being in The Young and the Restless. That was days before I found out about the Wilhelm Gustloff. I just wiki'd him and it seems that he has high grade cancer of the bladder; much respect to the gentleman!
      As an aside, that sounds almost like the Sewol tragedy: the captain and 21 of 33 crew escaped, after telling a ship full of HS students/teachers to stay in their cabins. I think 304 out of 476 people perished, ~250 of whom were students.

  • @Da_SpongeGun
    @Da_SpongeGun 3 роки тому +68

    5:58 Actually the lifeboats on the port side would be the only ones that could be lowered bc the list to port was so bad that the lifeboats on the starboard side couldn’t be lowered without grinding against the hull and spilling everyone in the lifeboat into the water. Unfortunately the davits to lower the lifeboats had been frozen so the only way of getting the boats away was to cut the ropes that were holding the boats to the davits

    • @millzyoutube
      @millzyoutube 2 роки тому +1

      i thought that too

    • @duartesimoes508
      @duartesimoes508 2 роки тому +3

      That happens very often, and the problem appears disregarded. In many sinkings - the last case being Costa Concordia - only HALF of the lifeboats, from one of the sides can be used because of the listing. Counterflooding, when feasible, may also accelerate the sinking. When the MV Estonia sunk in 1994 I guess only the starboard lifeboats could have been launched and even so I believe that with the speed of the sinking, absolute panic, darkness, lack of training and severe list probably not even one was lowered; I certainly saw none on TV, only inflatable lifeboats, some upturned. The sinking of the MV Estonia was truly horrible. When SILJA EUROPA and MARIELLA reached the scene, the ship was gone. There were douzains of lights from life jackets in the water, but most of the people had succumbed to hypothermia, even people inside the lifeboats. At first light, CH-46 helicopters from the Swedish Air Force were scrambled but for most of those on the water it was too late. It was horrible.

  • @daveanderson3805
    @daveanderson3805 2 роки тому +24

    Fun fact. When Marinesco reported back to his base nobody believed his claim that he sunk the Gustloff. He would earn himself a dishonourable discharge for persistent drunkenness and, as I understand it, drunk himself to death. Sometime in the 80s he was posthumously awarded a medal for the sinking of the liner

    • @travistucker1033
      @travistucker1033 2 роки тому +4

      Hero of the Soviet Union.

    • @kerotomas1
      @kerotomas1 2 роки тому +20

      @@travistucker1033 disgusting, getting a medal for killing 9000 civilians

    • @explosivemodesonicmauricet1597
      @explosivemodesonicmauricet1597 Рік тому +4

      @@kerotomas1 Apparently Gorbachev had restored the posthumous title, but then, the SU collapsed in his lifetime, so...karma I guess.

    • @historywatchdog2923
      @historywatchdog2923 Рік тому +1

      ​@@kerotomas1It was an act of war. Second of all, how could Marinesko have known that the Gustloff was packed with more than 10,000 people?

    • @smiglo112
      @smiglo112 Рік тому +5

      @@kerotomas1 Not all of them were civilians. Gustloff was carrying military personel, including high ranking officers (one of them being a Kriegsmarine Lieutenant Commander and submariner that argued that Gustloff should sail closer to the shore but was ultimately overruled by the ships civilian and original captain) and military equipment including but not limited to anti-aircraft guns. It was also not marked as a hospital ship and thus was a valid military target.
      And even if it hadn't and was full of nothing but civilians, this is the Russians vs Germans we're talking about.
      Neither side shied away from commiting absolutely heinous crimes against humanity against basically anyone with the Russians not even caring about their own people. So does it still surprise you that Marinesko got a medal, even if posthumously?

  • @wontnotawill1356
    @wontnotawill1356 3 роки тому +20

    I have a morbid respect for the guy who used all his ammo on mercy killings and drowned so they didn't have to.

    • @jesusisreal3209
      @jesusisreal3209 2 роки тому

      Won't, not a will: very unfaithful thing to do

  • @SupaHoon
    @SupaHoon 2 роки тому +8

    I'm a pretty tough guy. I've been through some rough things. I've worked in medical field for over 20 years. I'm no stranger to death and suffering.
    The story of the German Soldier killing his family just broke me. I have a wife and son and daughter...it's the final act of love.

  • @FluttershyIsAGoddess
    @FluttershyIsAGoddess 3 роки тому +17

    I couldn't imagine having to do that to my family and be forced to drown after. That was sad AF.

  • @gianttacogod
    @gianttacogod 3 роки тому +17

    An og style infographic show. Feels nice.

  • @dcmkeudnf
    @dcmkeudnf 2 роки тому +58

    The Wilhem Gustoff was just one of many ships involved in a huge operation named "Operation Hannibal," which moved people away from the advancing Russians. On the whole the operation was a success despite the loss of this one ship. In fact, it was the most successful wartime evacuation in history. Hannibal was responsible for transporting 2 million Germans safely to the West. The course of the ship was almost certainly set by the Krigsmarine, the German navy, which conducted the operation, not by the captain. Submarines seldom know what ships are transporting when they attack. It could have been German solders. Unless there is some special evidence to the contrary, it is same to assume the submarine captain did not know the cargo was 10,000 civilians.

    • @nathanjones6638
      @nathanjones6638 2 роки тому +3

      How many collaborators were on board, versus how many true refugees?
      Is there any way to know?
      If it were a ship full of willing collaborators, I can't be that sad about them dying.

    • @hamstsorkxxor
      @hamstsorkxxor 2 роки тому +27

      @@nathanjones6638
      At that stage of the war, it would have been almost only women, children, elderly men and young boys on the ship.
      Also, do not be too quick to deal out death and judgement to all collaborators. Statistically speaking, you and your parents probably would have been much more likely to have been collaborators than heroes as well. I am not saying to forgive them, but remeber that the demand for vengeance is much of what enabled the rise of the nazis is the first place.

    • @ryanparker4996
      @ryanparker4996 2 роки тому

      @@nathanjones6638 unless youre going to turn thst cold shoulder towards the soviet union also, then you should shut your evil ideologically possessed mouth.

    • @92mrcheese
      @92mrcheese 2 роки тому

      How come the Germans in Prussia fled from the Soviets but the Germans in East Germany stayed put?

    • @tomfrazier1103
      @tomfrazier1103 2 роки тому +3

      @@nathanjones6638 Collaborators? It was full of people on the German side, from pure Na$is to indifferent
      to antisemitism. People whom became in the wrong place & time.

  • @icy2507
    @icy2507 3 роки тому +34

    I did a report about this and ask multiple people about what the most deadliest ship disaster was and they all responded titanic, after that I told them about the Wilhem gustloff and how around 9000 people died, they were shocked and surprised I wished more people knew and in todays society ships can almost carry 10,000 people may all those lost soul rest peacefully trying to escape a devasting war

    • @duartesimoes508
      @duartesimoes508 2 роки тому +1

      What I've found, at 56, is that most of the people around is staggeringly ignorant, and the younger the more they are.
      I learned about the Wilhelm Gustloff in John Tolland's book "The last hundred days".

    • @theducknamednewepicla9507
      @theducknamednewepicla9507 Рік тому

      Yup

  • @changeshifter4852
    @changeshifter4852 2 роки тому +3

    Thank you for enabling subtitles. I couldn't handle the background music, but could still enjoy the video :)

  • @ageeshgeorge9405
    @ageeshgeorge9405 10 місяців тому +2

    i like how infographics talks about every ship whether famous or not he taks about important it is to know this

  • @lizzybearstar1661
    @lizzybearstar1661 Рік тому +6

    Absolutely Heartbreaking. I have always considered this Event in history to be the worst for almost if not almost any ship.

  • @ComicalRealm
    @ComicalRealm 3 роки тому +65

    Note to self: do not board a cruise ship during war.

    • @harrold.j.marakta.1505
      @harrold.j.marakta.1505 3 роки тому +7

      It was an ocean liner.

    • @drdestrukt1367
      @drdestrukt1367 3 роки тому +7

      Well i think if u are trying to flee an active warzone you would rethink that.

    • @ruhri0411
      @ruhri0411 2 роки тому +9

      Strange comment. People didn't want to go on a cruise, they wanted to escape the Russians!

    • @randied603
      @randied603 2 роки тому +3

      It was not about the cruise. It was about fleeing for dear life. And unfortunately, they lose their lives

    • @indridcold8433
      @indridcold8433 2 роки тому

      Do not board any ships. They are floating cesspools of disease where you are surrounded by profuse quantities of strangers with no way off the floating potential epidemic. If you fancy being surrounded by a plethora of disease ridden strangers with no retreat to get distance between the pathogen sacks and yourself, then board and make merriment. If you value your privacy and haleness, then the floating communicable disease factories are neither intended for you nor your kin.

  • @weightycarlos
    @weightycarlos 2 роки тому +6

    2 of the worst maritime disasters had both cases of letting more passengers in way above the ships' capacity.

  • @janfg1578
    @janfg1578 2 роки тому +39

    My great-grandmother had already packed everything to get on board with my grandma and her brother, but cancelled it the day before because she got a sudden feeling of dread. If she didn't, likely nobody of my family would exist today. Fate can be weird sometimes.

    • @Mikebuster
      @Mikebuster 2 роки тому +3

      nor would your comment. fate is certainly weird

    • @pokelogan
      @pokelogan 2 роки тому +1

      same

    • @eqborn
      @eqborn 2 роки тому +1

      Tell me your grandparents were Nazis without telling me your grandparents were Nazis

    • @Zeder95
      @Zeder95 Рік тому +2

      @@eqborn You realize most of the passengers were civilians and families and there were a lot of people who were against/didn't support the Nazis in the german population? People couldn't openly criticise the Nazis because it was too dangerous for them but there were a lot who didn't support them.

    • @eqborn
      @eqborn Рік тому

      @@Zeder95 on an exclusive ship like the Hindenburg? Assumingly wealthy people on a new type of aircraft aren't generally fighting the government. It was likely good riddance

  • @BlenderStudy
    @BlenderStudy 3 роки тому +6

    Thank you for the update, The Infographics Show..!! I recently saw a comparison photo of modern day cruise ships and Titanic.. Titanic is tiny now. 🤣🤣🤣

  • @jamessplane7929
    @jamessplane7929 Рік тому +2

    The Wilhelm Gustloff stopped being used as a Cruise Ship when World War II broke out, not when the war turned against Germany.

  • @kakitembak23
    @kakitembak23 3 роки тому +4

    This so heartbreaking story about the loss of innocent lives during that time of war...Dropping some tears while watching this

  • @lahey4850
    @lahey4850 3 роки тому +14

    You should do a video about the Halifax Explosion!

  • @evanneiswanger4794
    @evanneiswanger4794 2 роки тому +5

    We read a book called ‘Salt to the Sea’ in school about this. It’s amazing

  • @spacetaco4500
    @spacetaco4500 2 роки тому +3

    Honestly i love hearing about these story’s of sunken ships even though they end up being sad and depressing its nice knowing the story’s of these people

  • @danieldusentrieb4082
    @danieldusentrieb4082 3 роки тому +2

    Finally you did a video abaut it thanks.

  • @lightningboltt5437
    @lightningboltt5437 3 роки тому +44

    RIP EVERYONE WHO DIED ON THIS SHIP

  • @Barflax
    @Barflax 2 роки тому +5

    The Wilhem Gustloff was a Military ship belongs to the Navy, not at that time a civilian ship. It's a movie over what happend that you can watch. RIP to all that lost their life

    • @Xpwnxage
      @Xpwnxage 2 роки тому

      Also I'm fairly certain it was armed and despite losing two of them, it had one transport vessel still escorting it. That transport vessel did it's best to pick up survivors out of the water.
      Weird that a channel this professional would get important facts wrong.

    • @Tishbite731
      @Tishbite731 6 місяців тому

      The Russians deliberately targeted it KNOWING it was vast majority civilians onboard. This is unjustifiable.

  • @mrsandvich6929
    @mrsandvich6929 3 роки тому +28

    Eric Braeden, actor who played John Jacob Astor IV in The Titanic (1997) is a survivor of this tragedy.

    • @rorymoore9269
      @rorymoore9269 3 роки тому +12

      Wow. Guess it’s quite sad. Being in a film about a tragedy but suffering a tragedy 6 times as worse

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 3 роки тому +2

    I love your channel keep up the great stuff

  • @TEKKENKING23
    @TEKKENKING23 3 роки тому +11

    This is why I'm not going get on Titanic 2 next year.

    • @randied603
      @randied603 3 роки тому

      Titanic 2?! Dafuq?

    • @icy9478
      @icy9478 3 роки тому +1

      @@randied603 I swear if that mother fker gets sanked by a ice burg there finna be a problem

  • @miapdx503
    @miapdx503 Рік тому +1

    I recently saw a video about this tragedy. And I was stunned that, not only had I never heard of it, I couldn't find anyone who had. Something this huge, this incredible, and it's as if it was a of no significance.
    That needs to change. RIP to the many souls lost...you are *not* forgotten. 🌹

  • @someonee3186
    @someonee3186 2 роки тому +9

    RIP Civilian Victims of the Whilhem Gustoff, those who weren’t involved in those war crimes, May they rest in peacey

    • @justintang2294
      @justintang2294 2 роки тому +1

      They might not have actively participated in war crimes, but they definitely didn't raise objection to all the mass murders and genocides occurring, and in fact they allowed them to continue as long as it kept them alive.

    • @Vollmilchwirdsauer87
      @Vollmilchwirdsauer87 Рік тому

      @@justintang2294 No civilian deserves to die during war. People who think its ok that civilians died are the type of peolpe who comiting war crimes and genocieds.

    • @justintang2294
      @justintang2294 Рік тому +2

      @@Vollmilchwirdsauer87 You must be referring to the Americans and Germans during WW2, because they were okay with the atomic bombings and Holocaust, respectively.

  • @Edgeverse
    @Edgeverse 2 роки тому +5

    This story of this ship is by far scarier than the Titanic. I had more terror in this than full 2 hours of Titanic. What war can take humanity to its frightening. I feel like this would lead us to be the architects of our own destruction.

    • @dbmikeyg255
      @dbmikeyg255 11 місяців тому

      I wouldn't say that the Titanic took 2 hours to sink. People thought they will be saved the tension and false hope made it so much worse in my opinion. These people hade 0 hope due to military action.
      And the people who did hade a extremely lucky escape

    • @Edgeverse
      @Edgeverse 11 місяців тому

      @@dbmikeyg255 I was referring to the movie.

  • @davidlorez8485
    @davidlorez8485 3 роки тому +23

    The music is so calming

  • @thetruckmaster626
    @thetruckmaster626 3 роки тому +2

    The disaster were your mom went diving in the pool.

  • @mateuszslawinski1990
    @mateuszslawinski1990 3 роки тому +24

    Actually, the ship was armed (with AA guns) and was carrying military personnel. It didn't show any signs of being a hospital vessel (such as red cross flag). So it was legitimate mititary vessel.

    • @Unknown-rm8zp
      @Unknown-rm8zp 3 роки тому

      But there the problem was that it carried some civilians too, like he said was that it also had civilians onboard.

    • @joemacscott2677
      @joemacscott2677 3 роки тому +18

      @@Unknown-rm8zp military ships carry civilians all the time. They weren’t on a family cruise. They were refugees on the run. On a ship previously used for military operations. Don’t get me wrong It’s absolutely terrible what happened to them.

    • @pavelslama5543
      @pavelslama5543 3 роки тому +6

      @@Unknown-rm8zp Than it was a crime committed by the German military personnel who let civilians on board an active military ship in the middle of a warzone.

    • @markmitchell450
      @markmitchell450 3 роки тому

      @@Unknown-rm8zp yet there are numerous other incidents of mass civilian ships sunk
      Lithutania off the north west irish coast was another well known one
      This too carried ammunition in large quantities

    • @drdestrukt1367
      @drdestrukt1367 3 роки тому +2

      @@Unknown-rm8zp it carried mostly civilians

  • @Logjambam
    @Logjambam Рік тому +1

    Not making light of the innocent lives lost, but it is a cruel irony for Germany that a ship named after a man who was assassinated was, well... you know.

  • @stealthyezio1273
    @stealthyezio1273 3 роки тому +4

    The book Salt to the Sea had the sink of the Wilhelm Gustloff a very good book

  • @Whitneypyant
    @Whitneypyant 11 місяців тому +1

    Wilhelm Gustloff was a military. It was original an hospital ship but it was converted into military transport that was armed with anti aircraft guns. It wasn’t marked as civilian ship.

    • @ximiea3778
      @ximiea3778 Місяць тому

      So was the Lusitania

  • @IZAQ_
    @IZAQ_ 3 роки тому +7

    Imagine if the Estonia was packed with people like this

  • @liamnehren1054
    @liamnehren1054 3 роки тому +11

    i forget the name of the boat but my great uncle was a sailor on one of the boats sunk by the Russians that was just full of refugees, one of his friends came to my family to tell them that he died, making sure women and children escaped, his sister, my grandmother was heart broken both of her brothers died around then and if it wasn't for her cousins the family name would have gone with them.

  • @antguy3195
    @antguy3195 2 роки тому +6

    If this ship had more than 10,000 people on it, and only 1,000 survived, then why do we still consider the sinking of the Titanic the greatest disaster in maritime history? Titanic only had around 2,200 people on it.

    • @nightsofthefilms
      @nightsofthefilms 2 роки тому +5

      It was what happened afterward. The fallout of the Titanic disaster was like a domino effect. It had a huge impact on the shipping industry, and safety regulations for passenger ships, as a whole! And it doesn’t help that the Gustloff sank in the middle of wartime.
      Many people believed the Germans just got their karma, considering the Gustloff at the time, wasn’t a passenger ship. And did have military personnel aboard.
      But I personally don’t agree with that. Most of the deaths on the Gustloff were refugees, mainly women and children, who wanted no part in the war. So why should they have to suffer for one man’s stupidity, you know?!
      Anyway, the Gustloff, the Mona Páz, both maritime disasters with a horrifyingly high loss of life is definitely something that we as a society should know, or at least acknowledge. However, those disasters didn’t have the same impact on history as the Titanic.
      We don’t remember the Titanic from how many lives were lost. We remember what the disaster instilled for us.
      All maritime disasters, regardless of loss of life, should be remembered. At least, to honor those who died. 🥺🙏🏻😔

    • @antguy3195
      @antguy3195 2 роки тому +1

      @@nightsofthefilms Very enlightening, I genuinely love learning about what happened in the past and I learnt a lot from this. Thanks.
      Also, yes, we should remember these tragedies and the innocent people who died because of them.

  • @patriciajacobs8224
    @patriciajacobs8224 3 роки тому +77

    *So really the story of The sinking of the Titanic isn't so TITANIC as these disasters!*

    • @randied603
      @randied603 3 роки тому +2

      Basically, yes. And this is still the biggest disaster in maritime history

    • @naopak6750
      @naopak6750 3 роки тому +4

      The story of Titanic is titanic because someone wants to hide the real truth about how it was sunk.

    • @bobsleigh9464
      @bobsleigh9464 3 роки тому

      @@naopak6750 how did it sink in reality?

    • @naopak6750
      @naopak6750 3 роки тому +3

      @@bobsleigh9464 I don’t believe in most conspiracy theories but i do believe it’s easier to make people believe in a lie the bigger that lie is. A lot of government high officials were on the ship that didn’t agree on certain things with some other officials/non-officials who weren’t on the ship. I suggest you do some research and make your own opinion on the subject. The real question is whether you believe some people are capable of doing horrendous things for profit. And all the things they would do to cover it up.

  • @JayHeartwing
    @JayHeartwing 2 роки тому +5

    The deadliest maritime disasters worse than the Titanic:
    The MV Wilhelm Gustlof, happened in wartime
    The MV Doña Paz, happened in peacetime

  • @Chisszaru
    @Chisszaru 2 роки тому +3

    As a guy who lives close to the baltic sea, i can agree that it is a cold sea. As i sm a Swede, the Baltic sea is the only sea i can go to, and you don't really want to go there to cool down, even during the summer, it's that cold. It's sad that so many died that day. It's almost like with the ship named Estonia, which also sank in the Baltic sea decades later, with at least a few hundred dead

  • @dupleforce7023
    @dupleforce7023 3 роки тому +3

    The background music changes the feeling of it

  • @erikpeittersen9296
    @erikpeittersen9296 3 роки тому +7

    I could not imagine killing your wife and kids. Staring into them knowing it's the best way out for them. I could not imagine the wife and kids eyes, heart breaking

  • @andreanalen8588
    @andreanalen8588 3 роки тому +12

    Lots of diving videos on the wreck on UA-cam, apperantly still a lot of bones and belongings left there

    • @Nate-bn5kk
      @Nate-bn5kk 3 роки тому

      Are you sure they're bones? Bones don't last very long in sea water.

    • @andreanalen8588
      @andreanalen8588 3 роки тому +2

      @@Nate-bn5kk not salt water brackish water. And yes there are X hundred year old human remains in a lot of wrecks of the Baltic ocean!

  • @IAmMrQ
    @IAmMrQ 2 роки тому +4

    What an absolute nightmare for so many souls.

  • @sirsaltzalot9369
    @sirsaltzalot9369 3 роки тому +35

    Why was I never taught about this….? Also, the atmosphere you created in this video with the soundtrack and voiceover was top notch. Well done.

  • @donm5354
    @donm5354 3 роки тому +14

    Like Private Joker in FULL METAL JACKET said "The DEAD know only one thing - it is better to be ALIVE".

  • @krd8511
    @krd8511 2 роки тому +21

    I read about this in School. Apparently the Wilhelm Gustloff had AA guns and was painted like a navy ship. It was also used to transport troops and equipment back to Germany. By definition the ship was a military ship and therefore fair game for the soviets. That doesn't make it less tragic though. I wonder if the soviets could see any civilians or even knew what kind of ship they were firing on.

    • @duhni4551
      @duhni4551 2 роки тому +6

      With WWII technology and on top of that in middle of the night, no chance they would see nothing but the light and silhouette of the ship. I don't know did they mark civilian ships with flags or something though, that would make sense but then again, who knows. Things happens in wars.

    • @Vollmilchwirdsauer87
      @Vollmilchwirdsauer87 Рік тому

      @@duhni4551 Red Cross ships had to be white, marked with the red cross and needs to be reported to the red cross in switzerland. They didnt see the need to mark the ship because they were aware of other reported russian attacks on medical units during the war.

    • @Zeder95
      @Zeder95 Рік тому +1

      Since a lot of mass evacuations of civilians were done by ship in that time and situation, they should have known that there are likely a lot of civilians on the ship.

    • @mashka2299
      @mashka2299 Рік тому +1

      @@duhni4551 Hospital ships were painted white with a red cross, had no weapons on board and operated without a convoy. I think ordinary civilian ships were at greater risk of being sunk than hospital ships. Also wikipedia says that Wilhelm Gustloff had a warship convoying it so it was definitely not a civilian ship.

  • @45pints87
    @45pints87 Рік тому +3

    “They stand for Germany they die for Germany” Viktor Reznov

  • @AbulArbaIjun
    @AbulArbaIjun 2 роки тому +6

    1:02 "...the province of East Prussia - squeezed between the Soviet Union and Poland..." This province wasn't squeezed until after the war. In January 1945 it still belonged to Germany. Gotenhafen (today Gdynia) belonged to Poland, but was occupied by Germans during the war. Most of the civil refugees came from East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia, at this time still German provinces.
    9:18 "...not only include German civilians, but Prussians...". Prussia was a German state, dissolved after the war.

    • @ottosaxo
      @ottosaxo Рік тому

      You are merciless, but right. There is always such a little sigh of relief if finally someone really knows the facts. Well, the big majority of the Silesians headed directly to the west, not to the north. Even today, most of their descendants are living deep inland, in Southern Germany, whilst Pomeranians and East Prussians preferred to stay in the north. If it was possible, they even tried to settle down in landscapes that resembled their lost home countries. But of course, they weren't welcome anywhere. Nobody was eager to share their rooms and beds with those strangers from far away.

  • @wellsilver3972
    @wellsilver3972 3 роки тому +63

    Some of these people werent even nazis, there was no way for the russains to tell as it was a political not a physical appearance.

    • @Tanknuggets217
      @Tanknuggets217 3 роки тому +17

      The Soviets wanted revenge for their motherland.

    • @IsengardMordor
      @IsengardMordor 3 роки тому +13

      @@Tanknuggets217 yeah by sinking a ship carrying refugees.

    • @Dev-ne9jg
      @Dev-ne9jg 3 роки тому +8

      @@IsengardMordor FOR THE MOTHERLAND

    • @IsengardMordor
      @IsengardMordor 3 роки тому +18

      @@Dev-ne9jg its still a war crime though.Otherwise the soviets wouldnt have tried to destroy the wreck with explosives several years after the sinking. What did they have to fear one wonders...

    • @potato8606
      @potato8606 3 роки тому +7

      @@Tanknuggets217 they murdered polish population for the motherland too?

  • @AmericanJustus
    @AmericanJustus 3 роки тому +3

    I can only recommend the book Salt to the sea which is about the last moments on the Wilhelm Gustloff.

  • @yesyoucanTellme
    @yesyoucanTellme 3 роки тому +28

    Привет all, imagine being lost at the ocean and be rescued by Wilhelm Gustloff.

  • @EskimoP
    @EskimoP 3 роки тому +2

    Infographics show you never disappoint me...I will watch til I die💯💙

  • @Ms12369
    @Ms12369 3 роки тому +3

    This video really just shows you the value of branding and marketting

  • @BubuluIX
    @BubuluIX 3 роки тому +7

    Very interesting, I knew about Gustloff tragedy, but didn't know there were any Croatians on board.

    • @randied603
      @randied603 2 роки тому

      I only thought there were only Germans onboard

  • @claireconover
    @claireconover 3 роки тому +15

    I thought I knew about most notable shipwrecks but I genuinely didn’t know about this one… and holy cow! what a horrible story!

  • @devinwatson4594
    @devinwatson4594 3 роки тому

    Good vid guys keep it up

  • @kiromikhail4925
    @kiromikhail4925 2 роки тому +5

    My grandpa died on this ship trying to escape the Russians. Rip pop Muller

  • @narutoakatsukigirl
    @narutoakatsukigirl 3 роки тому +1

    This channel never slips A+ content

  • @smokingun710
    @smokingun710 2 роки тому +4

    Thank you for teaching us about this, we will never forget the lives lost.

  • @oliversherman2414
    @oliversherman2414 2 роки тому

    I love your channel

  • @svp2864
    @svp2864 2 роки тому +4

    For the same reason Americans don't talk about concentration camps for Japanese population in USA during WW2, don't talk about Japanese war criminals experimenting on live humans and asked to join USA research efforts for biological weapons after the war, Dresden bombing, suffering of Hiroshima and Nagasaki civilians, nuclear experiments on native Marshal islands population, etc. Some topics are just extremely uncomfortable from political point of view.

  • @mountainous_port
    @mountainous_port 2 роки тому +2

    This is heartbreaking.

  • @steventesar5223
    @steventesar5223 3 роки тому +10

    This needs to be made into a movie!

    • @AbulArbaIjun
      @AbulArbaIjun 2 роки тому +1

      There a two movies about it: "Nacht fiel ueber Gotenhafen" ("Darkness fell on Gotenhafen", 1960) and "Die Gustloff" ("The Gustloff", 2008). I don't know, if they are available with English subtitles.

    • @zachbraxton1997
      @zachbraxton1997 2 роки тому

      I would if I could

  • @leobuz1823
    @leobuz1823 3 роки тому

    I love ur vids mate

  • @felixyorutsuki7819
    @felixyorutsuki7819 3 роки тому +18

    Well the thing with titanic was the maker called it "unsinkable"

    • @LadyTarasque
      @LadyTarasque 3 роки тому +1

      Thought it was the media who said that, and the maker just rolled with it o-o

    • @porterj9360
      @porterj9360 3 роки тому +3

      The company who commissioned the titanic never claimed it was "unsinkable" it was all media hype

    • @noobie1890
      @noobie1890 3 роки тому

      It was supposed to be, but apparently there was a fire in the hull and it was around the same area the iceberg impacted.
      Wether it was around the area or directly on it, the integrity of the hull was probably compromised and busted far easier than it originally could have.

    • @bowdownbedwenches4563
      @bowdownbedwenches4563 3 роки тому

      @@noobie1890 No, Apparently there was GOD. Unsinkable, lol.

    • @musicfan5921
      @musicfan5921 3 роки тому

      @@noobie1890 that has been proven false, titanic had a small coal fire, like many steam ships had, the workers removed 800kg of coal to the port side in order to find the SMALL fire and put it off, the night titanic sank, that extra weight prevented titanic to capsize and last longer than expected, making the evacuation of all lifeboats on board even possible.

  • @duartesimoes508
    @duartesimoes508 2 роки тому +1

    Search for the MV Goya too. A very similar sinking with horrendous casualties too.

  • @gracequach6769
    @gracequach6769 3 роки тому +4

    If there's any upside to this hellfire situation, it's that the baby was okay

    • @ColorMeTeal
      @ColorMeTeal 3 роки тому

      yeah but imagine how it felt to be the other children in the ship like using a lifejacket and it suddenly makes you get upside down or face the water directly and end up drowning

  • @TheGwennyGreen
    @TheGwennyGreen 2 роки тому +1

    My grandfather was on the ship and survived 🤍 I just now learned so much about what he went through all through this video. Thank you.

  • @samuelmijares2073
    @samuelmijares2073 3 роки тому +3

    There is a really good book about this called Salt To The Sea. I read it in highschool and it's really interesting

  • @LITTLE1994
    @LITTLE1994 3 роки тому +18

    Yeah, everybody ALWAYS forgets about that disaster.

    • @Zexceeda
      @Zexceeda 3 роки тому +14

      Nobody ever cares about the war crimes committed against Nazis. They're NAZIS right?!
      Sadly though, no. These aren't killers. These are f-king civilians. I understand the concept, but despise the practice.

    • @derschubsi
      @derschubsi 3 роки тому +2

      @Facts don’t care about your feelings , UA-cam ! By that logic it was also fair for the Germans to sink American supply ships, although they also had passengers on board

  • @LazrsT
    @LazrsT 3 роки тому +2

    The number was estimated to be about 10,573 people or so, and 1,230 people survived

  • @RRoxas65
    @RRoxas65 3 роки тому +8

    There's another ship incident that had happened in The Philippines that took more than 4,000 lives, and that ship was Doña Paz.