YOU ARE READING

The Wilhelm Gustloff: The Forgotten Greatest Maritime Disaster in History

Non-Fiction

On January 30th, 1945 The Wilhelm Gustloff, a Former Cruise Liner, Now Carrying Over 10,000 Refugees Fleeing the Invading Red Army, Was Struck by 3 Soviet Submarine Torpedoes. Resulting in over 9,400 Men, Women and Children Losing Their Lives. Nami...

#biography #european #history #maritime #non-fiction #ships #shipwreck #tragedy #war #wwii

Sub-Chapter: Dimitris Stavrakakis

30 1 0

by Olaithe

by Olaithe

                                    
                                              
                            
                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                              
                              Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
                            
                          
                          
                          Dimitris "Dima" Stavrakakis was a Polish/Greek wreck diver. 
                          He was the one that proudly took up the task of placing Heinz Schön's urn at the bottom of the wreck.

                          When asked about the task by interviewer Pierre Kosmidis, he said:
                          "With utmost respect, we placed the plaque and the urn at the wreck and my first thought was that at last, Heinz found his friends."
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          "No matter what you have read about the Wilhelm Gustloff shipwreck, you just cannot grasp the sheer magnitude of the tragedy, where so many thousands of people, including women and children," Dima said.
                          "Once I was inside the ship and placed and lit my torch, huge piles of bones and sculls were all over the places, skeletons were piled over a meter high in some places."  He adds.
                          "Each shipwreck is a reminder of human tragedy; you have to approach it with respect and dignity."
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                          *NOTE: Sadly, as of July 5th, 2016, Dimitris passed away on a common diving trip while off the coast of Oland Island. 
                          Apparently, he died of natural causes, even though he was 50...
                          He was a married man with kids and lived in Gdynia Poland.*