As World War II was ending, many of its horrors were already known. Others were just becoming known, and still others were happening unnecessarily close to the war's end.
At least one such episode might have remained a secret because its perpetrators were among the Allies, and victors often get away with murder.
That event is the subject of Benjamin Jacobs and Eugene Pool's "The 100-Year Secret: Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre."
In early 1945, the Soviet Army advanced westward into Germany, while the American, British, French and Canadian forces were slowly but relentlessly moving in from the West.
The Nazi hierarchy, realizing it had lost the war, ordered the evacuation of its concentration camps. Thousands of inmates of the camps were summarily marched toward the west ahead of the Soviet juggernaut - not to save their lives, but to avoid their being liberated and able to testify against their murderous captors.
As they struggled along on foot, those who died of hunger or cold were left by the wayside. Those unable to march any longer were shot by the guards. Untold numbers of prisoners died knowing that Germany was defeated and their rescue was imminent.
The Germans became compressed between the enemy armies and had many more prisoners than they could handle. As the Nazi command structure disintegrated, confusion set in at the lower levels. Contradictory orders were issued. Some guards abandoned their wards and vanished, seeking their own salvation. Others committed mass murders.
In early May in 1945, about 7,000 survivors of the Neuengamme camp were being held aboard two ships, the Cap Arcona and the Thielbek, anchored off the German coast in the Baltic Sea. No clear orders were given for these ships to stay put or to sail.
The British Royal Air Force, which by now completely dominated the skies of Europe, was carrying out ruthless, almost nonstop attacks on both military and civilian objectives in Germany.
Somehow, RAF intelligence came to fear that the two ships anchored in the Baltic were to be used to help Nazi officials escape to Norway or Sweden, and ordered their destruction.
On May 3, 1945, RAF planes repeatedly bombed and strafed the Cap Arcona and the Thielbek, setting them on fire and killing most of the prisoners aboard. Only 350 escaped and made it to shore.
The British public was sensitive to the fact the RAF was razing German cities with ruthless bombing raids and disliked the fact that England was doing to the Germans what the Germans had done to them.
Even Prime Minister Churchill tried to distance himself from the bombing of civilian targets in Germany in the last stages of the war. This delicate situation may explain why the RAF decided to seal its records concerning the attacks on the prisoner ships until 2045.
One of the 350 survivors of those attacks was the Polish-born Jacobs. He and Pool researched the Cap Arcona and Thielbek sinkings for their concise and non-recriminatory telling of a story that merely presents the information known so far.
In 2045, the rest of the '100-year secret' might be revealed.For AP Weekly Features
"The 100-Year Secret: Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre." By Benjamin Jacobs and Eugene Pool. The Lyons Press. 214 Pages. $24.95.
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As World War II was ending, many of its horrors were already known. Others were just becoming known, and still others were happening unnecessarily close to the war's end.
At least one such episode might have remained a secret because its perpetrators were among the Allies, and victors often get away with murder.
That event is the subject of Benjamin Jacobs and Eugene Pool's "The 100-Year Secret: Britain's Hidden World War II Massacre."
In early 1945, the Soviet Army advanced westward into Germany, while the American, British, French and Canadian forces were slowly but relentlessly moving in from the West.
The Nazi hierarchy, realizing it had lost the war, ordered the evacuation of its concentration camps. Thousands of inmates of the camps were summarily marched toward the west ahead of the Soviet juggernaut - not to save their lives, but to avoid their being liberated and able to testify against their murderous captors.
As they struggled along on foot, those who died of hunger or cold were left by the wayside. Those unable to march any longer were shot by the guards. Untold numbers of prisoners died knowing that Germany was defeated and their rescue was imminent.
The Germans became compressed between the enemy armies and had many more prisoners than they could handle. As the Nazi command structure disintegrated, confusion set in at the lower levels. Contradictory orders were issued. Some guards abandoned their wards and vanished, seeking their own salvation. Others committed mass murders.
In early May in 1945, about 7,000 survivors of the Neuengamme camp were being held aboard two ships, the Cap Arcona and the Thielbek, anchored off the German coast in the Baltic Sea. No clear orders were given for these ships to stay put or to sail.
The British Royal Air Force, which by now completely dominated the skies of Europe, was carrying out ruthless, almost nonstop attacks on both military and civilian objectives in Germany.
Somehow, RAF intelligence came to fear that the two ships anchored in the Baltic were to be used to help Nazi officials escape to Norway or Sweden, and ordered their destruction.
On May 3, 1945, RAF planes repeatedly bombed and strafed the Cap Arcona and the Thielbek, setting them on fire and killing most of the prisoners aboard. Only 350 escaped and made it to shore.
The British public was sensitive to the fact the RAF was razing German cities with ruthless bombing raids and disliked the fact that England was doing to the Germans what the Germans had done to them.
Even Prime Minister Churchill tried to distance himself from the bombing of civilian targets in Germany in the last stages of the war. This delicate situation may explain why the RAF decided to seal its records concerning the attacks on the prisoner ships until 2045.
One of the 350 survivors of those attacks was the Polish-born Jacobs. He and Pool researched the Cap Arcona and Thielbek sinkings for their concise and non-recriminatory telling of a story that merely presents the information known so far.
In 2045, the rest of the '100-year secret' might be revealed.
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