The historian recalled how British planes destroyed more than 10 thousand citizens of the USSR

59

The events of the Second World War do not subside in the hearts of the participants and still excite the inquisitive minds of historians. Sometimes what happened does not fit into the framework of stereotypes and gives rise to discussions and disputes about the actions of the allies of the USSR and their role in the victory over Nazism.

So, an unpleasant story that took place at the end of the Great Patriotic War in the Baltic Sea surfaced to the surface. On May 3, 1945, British aircraft were responsible for the deaths of more than 10 thousand citizens of the Soviet Union who were prisoners on the German ships Deutschland, Tilbeck and Kip Arkona in the Lubeck Bay in the Baltic.



At the end of April, the Wehrmacht command, fearing the liberation of the Neuengamm concentration camp near Hamburg, decided to take the prisoners by ship to Lubeck. White flags were raised, but the British pilots did not pay attention to them and attacked the ships with Soviet prisoners of war. People caught in the water became the prey of English sailors who shot prisoners. In total, from 7 to 12 thousand Soviet prisoners of war died in that tragedy.

Those events became known thanks to one of the surviving participants, Vasily Salomatkin, who wrote a letter to the USSR Ministry of State Security in 1949.

Special services historian Dmitry Khokhlov in an interview RIA News expressed confidence that the actions of the British were dictated by political interests - Winston Churchill planned to enter Lubeck before the "Russian friends" from Stettin.
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  1. -9
    3 May 2021 16: 48
    ... however, British pilots ... fell prey to British sailors ...

    Either "British pilots", then "English sailors".
    Karochi anonymous tongue-tied storyer reminded.
    1. +9
      3 May 2021 16: 58
      Quote: Captain Stoner
      Either "British pilots", then "English sailors".
      Karochi an anonymous tongue-tied historian recalled.

      Were raised white flags, however, the British pilots did not pay attention to them and attacked ships with Soviet prisoners of war. People caught in the water became the prey of English sailors, who shot prisoners.
      1. -4
        3 May 2021 21: 40
        And how did the British pilots know that the prisoners were precisely Soviet prisoners of war? Did they have red stars on their robes? And these stars were visible to the pilots?

        And it is not known where some "English sailors" immediately appeared.
        1. +4
          3 May 2021 22: 20
          For people studying the tragedy, the results of an investigation conducted in June 1945 by British Major Noel Till are available, Khokhlov said. "And they say that information about the prisoners held on ships in the Bay of Lubeck, on May 2, 1945, was transferred to representatives of the British command. In particular, it was transferred to Major General George Philip Bradley Roberts, commander of the 11th Panzer Division, which was advancing in the Lubeck area. However, for unknown reasons, it was not brought to the attention of other units of the active army, which in the last days of the war were aimed at the fastest possible capture of key centers. "
          1. 0
            4 May 2021 00: 06
            You should read Khokhlov, Noel Till and anyone else.
            But from the opus that is now being commented on, it is practically impossible to understand anything at all. As my school teacher used to say, "Scraps from Scraps."
      2. +1
        3 May 2021 22: 10
        Quote: isofat
        Quote: Captain Stoner
        Either "British pilots", then "English sailors".
        Karochi an anonymous tongue-tied historian recalled.

        Were raised white flags, however, the British pilots did not pay attention to them and attacked ships with Soviet prisoners of war. People caught in the water became the prey of English sailors, who shot prisoners.

        And what did you explain? Once again, they quoted the text of the article verbatim - do you think we can't read? So where did the English sailors come from?
        1. -1
          3 May 2021 23: 22
          race, this was a comment specifically for Captain stoner... In his reply, I saw that Mr. needed help.

          You, apparently, know how to read. You have other problems. (possibly) laughing
    2. +6
      3 May 2021 17: 10
      Karochi an anonymous tongue-tied historian recalled.

      I have my own account with the British pilots.
      The city center, which has no military significance, was destroyed.

      On the night of 27 and 30 August 1944, the British Air Force raided Königsberg, which killed more than 6000 civilians and destroyed the historic city center.


      The Anglo-Saxons were, are and will be freaks who understand only power.
      1. -2
        3 May 2021 18: 41
        So also Dresden was. And who's to blame is right ...
        "The US State Department said the bombing was carried out at the request of the USSR."
        And the current generation of Japanese knows for sure that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by the Union ...
        1. -1
          3 May 2021 22: 55
          To what extent some people feel sorry for Nazi Germany, but for example, Coventry is nothing, there is also the Anglo-Saxons, what they need to feel sorry for them (even though it was they who were allies, not the Nazis). By the way, any Japanese, regardless of age, knows history Japanese-American War and Who Bombed Whom Why Repeat Nonsense?
      2. -5
        3 May 2021 19: 05
        For the sake of truth, it must be admitted that in Konigsberg not only "the Anglo-Saxons were, are and will be freaks who understand only strength" -

        The historic center of the city was destroyed in 1944-1945. Three stages of the destruction of the center can be distinguished: massive bombing by Anglo-American aircraft in August 1944; the storming of the city by Soviet troops in April 1945; demolition of the ruins and part of the surviving buildings, which began in the early post-war years and continued until the mid-seventies of the XX century

        https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/
        1. +2
          3 May 2021 22: 46
          Demolition of the ruins and parts of the surviving buildings, which began in the early post-war years and continued until the mid-seventies of the XX century

          cannot be attributed to the third stage of the destruction of the city, because they are already ruins.
          Your link does not work, If the moderators do not miss, send me a personal message. I want to read the entire content. The second stage also raises serious doubts.

          The first stage, which is the only one before your information, is well known.
          1. -2
            3 May 2021 23: 53
            The first stage is really well known, but history needs to be studied comprehensively so as not to be one-sided. On the second stage, you read the history of Konigsberg-Kaliningrad in the 44-45 years (textbook operations). For the third, read the life of Nikolai Semyonovich Konovalov when he was first secretary of the Kaliningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU.
            1. -2
              4 May 2021 00: 19
              Igor Pavlovich, I also want to make sure of the purity of the source from which you decided to give us information. Please post a working link to your quote above. Yes
            2. 0
              4 May 2021 16: 10
              I understood you. You yourself have found other stages of destruction, after a comprehensive "study" of history.
      3. -1
        3 May 2021 21: 24
        The Anglo-Saxons were, are and will be freaks who understand only power.

        One Austrian artist considered Europeans to be civilized peoples, but Poles and others who lived to the east of the Poles, he attributed already to Asians, who understand only strength.
        And in your views you are no different from that Austrian artist.
      4. -2
        3 May 2021 23: 36
        Quote: Ulysses
        The Anglo-Saxons were, are and will be freaks who understand only power.

        Attributing congenital negative traits to any people smells strongly of Nazism.

        I am sure the British did nothing in that war that the USSR did not do the same. Including Soviet aviation carried out massive raids on Koenigsberg.
        1. -2
          4 May 2021 01: 27
          Quote: Oleg Rambover
          Attributing congenital negative traits to any people smells strongly of Nazism.

          Totally agree with you. Negative traits appear after birth. laughing
  2. +2
    3 May 2021 18: 16
    On May 3, 1945, the Hawker Typhoon attack aircraft of the RAF appeared over the Lubeck Bay. The British command received intelligence that it was planned to evacuate SS officers and camp authorities from Flensburg to Norway. Thielbek sank very quickly, within a few minutes. Of the 2800 on board, only 100–125 were saved. Cap Arcona and Deutschland were hit by a massive fire after several hits. During the fire at Cap Arcona, armed guards prevented the prisoners from leaving the ship. At 15:45 the liner turned over to the port side and partially sank in the shallow waters of the bay. Most of the guards managed to leave the ship - all had life jackets. The trawlers that arrived at the scene pulled 420-490 SS men out of the water. British planes fired at the prisoners who managed to get out, who had to swim in the icy water to the coast, where the Germans opened machine-gun fire on them.
    At 17:00 the air raids ended, and an hour later the British found out who was the victim of the attack and ordered to start rescuing the survivors. Deutschland sank a few hours later.
    The total number of victims was about 7000 people (9000, if we accept the version that there were 2000 people on board the "Deutschland" and they all died)
  3. +1
    3 May 2021 18: 19
    on the German ships "Deutschland", "Tilbeck" and "Kip Arkona"

    CAP Arkona (SAR - Cape)
  4. +2
    3 May 2021 18: 54
    The historian of the special services Dmitry Khokhlov, in an interview with RIA Novosti, expressed confidence that the actions of the British were dictated by political interests - Winston Churchill planned to enter Lubeck before his "Russian friends" from Stettin.

    And therefore (for this) the Royal Air Force bombed ships with prisoners of war. Doesn't this logic seem strange to you? Note that on May 2, the British 11th Panzer Division entered Lubeck.
    PS It can be assumed that such a mistake could have been avoided if they had not rushed to occupy Lubeck before the Russians. But exactly a mistake.
    1. -3
      3 May 2021 19: 10
      The error came out, but what, it happens ...
      1. -1
        3 May 2021 21: 07
        Tell me, is the sinking of "Salzburg" or "Hindenburg" "different"?
        1. -1
          3 May 2021 21: 19
          With this it is better on topwar, there are experts on ships, including about Armenia, Bismarck, Tirpitz read ... And the design of the sites and the nickname and password are one to one when you enter ... The note remembered, it is convenient ...
  5. -1
    4 May 2021 07: 28
    Quote: Oleg Rambover
    Tell me, is the sinking of "Salzburg" or "Hindenburg" "different"?

    Let's start with Gustloff. We read G. Grass with his Trajectory of the crab.
  6. 0
    4 May 2021 07: 59
    Yesterday there was a massive injection of this information on dozens of Russian Internet resources. Everywhere it was slightly different, in some Englishmen they were compared with the Nazis. Everywhere reference was made to Vasily Salomatkin, a prisoner of war, who described events as if he was observing all this from space and at the same time he had data on the number of people on both sides and knew their intentions. I did not even forget to mention how poorly the liberated British fed him. Everywhere information is given in an openly anti-British form. The usual propaganda on the topic of the day. It has minimal relation to the real story. Now they will again pull out nonsense about Dresden, where the death toll is overestimated by an order of magnitude, they will remember about Lend-Lease, which was paid for in gold, and the second front, which was not opened in 1941.
    PS About white flags. A few hours before the attack, the British demanded surrender, but the Germans refused. White flags appeared on the ships only after the bombing began.
    By definition, because of absurdity, the British could not assume that at the beginning of May they were trying to move prisoners of war on ships, and not evacuate SS guard units to Norway.
    1. -2
      4 May 2021 13: 36
      Alexzn... If you also defended our side in history, then I could believe you. Alas... request
  7. 0
    4 May 2021 14: 43
    Quote: isofat
    Alexzn... If you also defended our side in history, then I could believe you. Alas... request

    I protect much more and more often.
    1. -2
      4 May 2021 17: 38
      Quote: AlexZN
      Everywhere information is given in an openly anti-British form. The usual propaganda on the topic of the day. It has minimal relation to the real story.

      And in what form should an eyewitness and a direct participant in those events testify about what happened?

      Fact is fact, British planes destroyed more than 10 thousand citizens of the USSR. Everything.

      Also a fact is your comment, where for some reason you rise to cosmic heights in order to belittle the responsibility of Great Britain.

      You named this article, ordinary propaganda on the topic of the day, this is also a fact. For some reason they dragged Dresden, gold, Lend-Lease ...

      All together makes you put an end to your objectivity. hi
  8. -2
    4 May 2021 18: 10
    Quote: isofat
    And in what form should an eyewitness and a direct participant in those events testify about what happened?

    Just imagine - you are a prisoner on one of the ships, you are bombed, your ship goes to the bottom, you are saved in the icy water ... What information, besides the feeling of horror and death, do you have?

    Fact is fact, British planes destroyed more than 10 thousand citizens of the USSR. Everything.

    According to the most possible estimates, the number of victims is 9 thousand, Soviet prisoners of war of them no more than 2 \ 3 ...

    Also a fact is your comment, where for some reason you rise to cosmic heights in order to belittle the responsibility of Great Britain.

    England has never denied the fact. A few days later, having buried the victims of the raid in three mass graves, the British command held a memorial meeting and organized a memorial service. Tragedies like these are part of the war.

    You called this article, ordinary propaganda on the topic of the day, this is also a fact. For some reason they dragged Dresden, gold, Lend-Lease ...

    Two facts! I wrote - a fact, propaganda on the topic of the day is also a fact. If he "dragged in", then only Lend-Lease, about Dresden already in this thread managed to write before me (quite expected - how not to worry about the Germans innocently killed by the Anglo-Saxons).
    1. -1
      4 May 2021 19: 08
      Quote: AlexZN
      According to the most possible estimates, the number of victims is 9 thousand, Soviet prisoners of war of them no more than 2 \ 3 ...

      Quote: AlexZN
      Tragedies like these are part of the war.

      Are you talking about the Holocaust, the atomic bombing of Japan, the extermination of 25 million Soviet people, the extermination of 35 million Chinese, ...?
    2. The comment was deleted.
  9. 0
    4 May 2021 19: 17
    Quote: isofat
    Quote: AlexZN
    According to the most possible estimates, the number of victims is 9 thousand, Soviet prisoners of war of them no more than 2 \ 3 ...

    Quote: AlexZN
    Tragedies like these are part of the war.

    Are you talking about the Holocaust, the atomic bombing of Japan, the extermination of 25 million Soviet people, the extermination of 35 million Chinese, ...?

    Why juggle? It was about a TRAGIC MISTAKE.
    1. -2
      4 May 2021 19: 19
      And I don’t jerk, which doesn’t happen in a war.

      Why don't you want us to remind the British of their mistakes? Especially today, when an information war is unleashed against us again, and NATO is at our doorstep?

      Quote: AlexZN
      According to the most possible estimates, the number of victims is 9 thousand, Soviet prisoners of war of them no more than 2 \ 3 ...

      And how many purebred Jews were among the victims of the genocide?

      PS The readers will excuse me, but I am highlighting the cynicism and bias of my opponent from Israel.
    2. -2
      4 May 2021 19: 25
      Why juggle? It was about a TRAGIC MISTAKE.

      Where is the mistake recognized at the state level, where is an official apology made ??
  10. -2
    4 May 2021 19: 38
    Quote: isofat
    And I don’t jerk, which doesn’t happen in a war.

    Why don't you want us to remind the British of their mistakes? Especially today, when an information war is unleashed against us again, and NATO is at our doorstep?

    One can and should talk about tragic mistakes! But how about mistakes. In the notes about the tragedy, everything is presented as a malicious act and the British are directly accused of this.
    I'm already tired when they write about the complex events of the war in a similar style, and in the discussion they will necessarily report on hatred of the vile Anglo-Saxons (who most likely fought against the Russians in general), then it is imperative to mention the Holocaust (after developing the topic, inform those who do not yet know, that the Jews were the backbone of the Wehrmacht, and the top of the Reich leadership were mishlinge).
    1. -4
      4 May 2021 20: 27
      The error in this case is in doubt.
  11. 0
    4 May 2021 19: 45
    Quote: Ulysses
    Why juggle? It was about a TRAGIC MISTAKE.

    Where is the mistake recognized at the state level, where is an official apology made ??

    Why's that? I can already imagine how the Anglo-Saxons apologize for the bombing of the Dora camps where prisoners of war worked. The Russians begin to apologize for Wilhelm Gustloff, where 9 thousand women, children and the elderly have found a mass grave.
    You should not bring the situation to the point of absurdity.
    1. -2
      4 May 2021 19: 58
      You should not bring the situation to the point of absurdity.

      Pot calls the kettle black..

      Absurd, this is Petrov and Bashirov, blowing up twice the Czechoslovakian arms depots of the Bulgarian "entrepreneur". feel

      Your superiors themselves have brought the situation to the point of absurdity, now we will determine the "red lines".

      What is not clear to you in the situation?
  12. 0
    4 May 2021 20: 09
    Quote: Ulysses
    You should not bring the situation to the point of absurdity.

    Pot calls the kettle black..

    Absurd, this is Petrov and Bashirov, blowing up twice the Czechoslovakian arms depots of the Bulgarian "entrepreneur". feel

    Your superiors themselves have brought the situation to the point of absurdity, now we will determine the "red lines".

    What is not clear to you in the situation?

    The veterinarian spoke to you?
    Determine on health!
    Was Penelope's absence so annoying?
    Are we already on you?
    1. -1
      4 May 2021 20: 27
      Like a veterinarian, veterinarian.
      You have all the signs of schizophrenia, my friend.
      The speech is incoherent, confused, an obvious split of consciousness with Penelope and agents Petrov and Bashirov in the head.

      A sad sight.

      Is the patient still able to return to the topic of the article?
    2. -1
      4 May 2021 20: 30
      Alexzn... It is foolish to think that in 1945, in the month of May, someone will evacuate the prisoners. The war is over, and the crimes must be answered. To commit new crimes, no one wants to.

      The Germans found a way to destroy the prisoners with the hands of the British.
      This is in the best version for the British that they were simply bred.

      But the consistency of the actions of the Nazis and the British, as well as the fact that the British were warned a day before, raise great doubts in this version.

      The fact remains that a country unfriendly to us today, Great Britain, is to blame for the deaths of several thousand of our compatriots.
  13. 0
    4 May 2021 20: 41
    Quote: isofat
    The fact remains that a country unfriendly to us today, Great Britain, is to blame for the deaths of several thousand of our compatriots.

    Well, finally, they have designated a fact as a fact.
    The problem is that it is unfriendly now and an ally then. Therefore, the events then and now must be considered in accordance with the temporal context.
    1. -1
      4 May 2021 21: 30
      Alexzn... Except for you, all this fact is only being discussed. You insist on your version - there was a mistake. And at the same time you state the absurdity of what is happening, the evacuation of prisoners, 1945, May 3, when the war actually ended.

      Quote: AlexZN
      By definition, because of absurdity, the British could not assume that at the beginning of May they were trying to move prisoners of war on ships, and not evacuate SS guard units to Norway.

      What mistake? The Nazis threw the British like suckers in order to destroy the prisoners with their hands. Or, sorry, there was a conspiracy. Nazis and our allies. This is indicated by the consistency of their actions. The British ignored our information.
  14. -1
    5 May 2021 05: 14
    Quote: isofat
    Fact is fact, British planes destroyed more than 10 thousand citizens of the USSR. Everything.

    Memorial of the Cap Arcona in the Poel Island.

    The prisoners were from at least 30 nationalities: American, Belarussian, Belgian, Canadian, Czechoslovakian, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Luxembourger, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian , Spanish, Swiss, Ukrainian, Yugoslavian and others.

    Do you need a translation?
    And here ???

    German trawlers sent to rescue Cap Arcona's crew members and guards managed to save 16 sailors, 400 SS men, and 20 SS women. Most of the prisoners who tried to board the trawlers were beaten back, while those who reached shore were shot down. The prisoners who managed to swim ashore were mainly gunned down by the SS. Only 350 of the 4,500 former concentration camp inmates who had been aboard the Cap Arcona survived.
    1. +1
      5 May 2021 10: 09
      1) The prisoners were of at least thirty nationalities (they are listed). Further from the text it can be seen that there were 4500 prisoners in total, and the figure of 10.000 Soviet citizens is clearly overstated.
      2) Despite the dire circumstances of this episode of the war, three hundred and fifty prisoners managed to survive.
      3) In addition to the prisoners, 16 crew members, 420 SS-sheep (400 men + 20 women) were rescued.
    2. 0
      5 May 2021 16: 23
      What prevents us from determining the reliability of the specified information? This article says:

      In total, from 7 to 12 thousand Soviet prisoners of war died in that tragedy.

      Give a link to your source of information, perhaps then it will be unnecessary to look for other evidence of those events. Yes
      Here's an example:
      https://fitzroymag.com/istorija/ad-v-buhte-ljubeka-kak-britancy-rasstreljali-uznikov-nacistskih-konclagerej
      1. +2
        5 May 2021 21: 47
        Let him give a link

        Seal (Sergey Petrovich) Today, 05:14

        I only briefly summarized what I understood from English.

        And in this article, there are no links you are talking about either. The historian of the special services is a historian in uniform, he cannot be objective by definition.
        1. -2
          6 May 2021 01: 57
          Found the source, Sergey Petrovich expects that only numbers are available to us.
        2. -2
          6 May 2021 02: 04
          Quote: Xuli (o) Tebenado
          I only briefly summarized what I understood from English.

          Therefore, we played along with the liar that you understood everything. laughing
    3. -2
      6 May 2021 01: 51
      Quote: Seal
      Only 350 of the 4,500 former concentration camp inmates who had been aboard the Cap Arcona

      Your passage says that only on one vessel Cap Arcona out of 4500, 350 prisoners were saved. And there were three of them.
      In the same document you are citing, Sergey Petrovich, it is alleged that at the end of the month, there were more than 10000 thousands of people. Your attempt to fool readers has failed. laughing


      and this is a screen from your text, document one.


      How much is opium for the people Sergey Petrovich?
      1. +1
        6 May 2021 22: 11
        isofat (isofat) Today, 01:51
        Your passage says that out of 4500 Cap Arcona alone, 350 prisoners were saved. And there were three of them.
        The same document that you cite, Sergei Petrovich, states that at the end of the month, there were more than 10000 thousand people in the camp.

        10000 thousand people = 10000 x 1000 people = 10.000 x 1.000 people = 10.000.000 people =
        10 million people.

        I cannot imagine this "camp" in which the number of prisoners is approximately equal to the population of Sweden.
        1. -1
          7 May 2021 00: 02
          trampoline instructor... Excuse me, we will remove the unnecessary. ... more than ten thousand people. smile
          1. +3
            7 May 2021 09: 42


            Dictionary of winged words and phrases

            Religion - the opium of the people

            An expression that arose on the basis of the statements of K. Marx, who wrote in the introduction to Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law: “Religion is the sigh of an oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of soulless order. Religion is the opium of the people " (K. Marx and F. Engels. Works, vol. 1, p. 415).
          2. +4
            7 May 2021 16: 40
            So, isofat polygrafich, in your native Russian you write with ahipkami, elementary arithmetic and the same elementary works of Marx you do not know.

            And what is your historical-journalistic "education"?
            1. -1
              7 May 2021 18: 06
              Please don't stop, keep on ... love
      2. +2
        6 May 2021 22: 17
        How much is opium for the people, Sergei Petrovich?

        You don't look like Ostap Suleiman Bert Maria Bender Bey at all. So don't pretend to be the son of a Turkish citizen here. He was a smart man.
        1. The comment was deleted.
        2. -1
          7 May 2021 17: 11
          Quote: Trampoline area instructor
          So don't pretend to be the son of a Turkish citizen here. He was a smart man.

          trampoline instructor... Okay, let's be honest. I, too, will not hide the impression you made on me.

          You are very similar to a tree, which was attached to its avatar in memory of a smart cat.
          1. The comment was deleted.
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    4. -1
      6 May 2021 02: 20
      PS Seal (Sergey Petrovich), if you compare the screen and your quote, you will notice that you have distorted the original. You are a crook. laughing
      1. 0
        8 July 2021 08: 41
        Quote: isofat
        PS Seal (Sergey Petrovich), if you compare the screen and your quote,

        1. Since I have only one message, then how could I quote myself in it?
        2. So whose quote is it? And the quote is yours.

        Quote: isofat
        Fact is fact, British planes destroyed more than 10 thousand citizens of the USSR. Everything.

        So who really is liar и swindler?