tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post7733347007904474884..comments2024-03-27T02:19:24.477-05:00Comments on Faces of the Hindenburg: Eduard BoëtiusUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-31705330907023012052023-12-12T20:57:08.045-06:002023-12-12T20:57:08.045-06:00I requested a friend of his to get his autograph w...I requested a friend of his to get his autograph which I have a signed booklet. I received an email before I got the item. It said hang on to this autograph. It was the last thing he signed. He died later that day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-90483837296986497022021-11-08T12:22:51.044-06:002021-11-08T12:22:51.044-06:00A lot of cool information is on this blog. I am ve...A lot of cool information is on this blog. I am very happy I see this page.custom football jerseyshttps://www.athleisurex.com/football-team-uniformsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-89579082013750178342014-03-02T21:05:43.761-06:002014-03-02T21:05:43.761-06:00After reading about Eduard Boëtius’ narrow escape ...After reading about Eduard Boëtius’ narrow escape from death after his ship was hit by Russian torpedo, I have several things I would like to share. It is about my own family’s narrow escape from a similar situation and its historical background.<br />My mother’s family was fleeing Latvia for Germany across the Baltic, being unable to get to neutral Sweden. A Russian submarine was following the ship they were on with the intention of sinking it. A bad storm came up and the Russian sub lost their ship. I remember my grandmother telling me about how nervous the captain was. If it were not for that storm, I would not be in existence to make this post.<br />Others were not so lucky. There is one disaster that surpasses both the Titanic, the Lusitania and the Hindenburg combined – the sinking of the Gustloff by a Russian sub during World War II. About 9300 people were lost. Most of them were refugees fleeing the advancing Soviet army. This is 6 times as many as were lost on the Titanic. If you combine the death tolls from the Titanic, Lusitania and Hindenburg, this is 3 times the loss of life. 5000 of these were children. The story of the Gustloff is told here:<br /><br />http://www.wilhelmgustloff.com/unknown.htm<br /><br />Why would anyone sail in a dangerously overcrowded ship in submarine infested waters? It is only to get away from something more horrible – Soviet occupation that was coming through East Prussia and Poland. Here is a description from my family’s personal accounts of the Soviet occupation as it happened in Latvia from 1940-1941 which in Latvian is called “Baigais Gads” or “Year of Horror”. The Soviet Union after occupying the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, set about to rid them of “Anti-Soviet elements” with absolute terror. The Cheka (NKVD) was the Gestapo on steroids. You never knew if and when the Cheka will come for you or why. Sometimes it was over nothing. On the night of June 13th to 14th, 1941, thousands of people, men, women, children, elderly, infants were rounded up in a night of terror and shipped off to the Gulag. The first to die of harsh conditions of the train ride to Siberia and the Gulag were the infants and the elderly. The men were separated from their families and most of them died from overwork in the Siberian interior. Many persons remained in the Gulag for the rest of their lives after World War II, forgotten by the rest of the world. My maternal grandmother was a school teacher in Riga. Once some of her pupils used crayons to rework the portraits of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. My grandmother went into a panic as she disposed of the pictures, replacing them with new ones, hoping the wrong person didn’t see them. When I tell this story to people, especially younger, people, they just cannot understand why an innocent prank like this could have deadly consequences. When the Germans pushed the Soviets out of the Baltic States, an NKVD torture chamber was opened up. Inside were drains for catching blood as victims had their ears or noses chopped off. Victims were mutilated by the NKVD in some gruesome way before they were executed. I remember the icy fear I felt seeing the sickening pictures of the mutilated face of the founder of the Latvian Scouting movement General Karlis Goppers in Latvian publications. Being atheists, the Soviets brutally crushed all religion. My father also told me about a Catholic priest that had been boiled alive by the Chekists. When the Eastern front collapsed and the Russians were pushing back into Latvia, a rumor circulated that when the Russians came back, everyone would be required to report someone to the NKVD. This sparked a mass exodus from Latvia, and people making desperate attempts to cross the Baltic.<br /><br />Dagmara Lizlovshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14744785407281199347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-90618005801334187002013-01-02T08:24:02.695-06:002013-01-02T08:24:02.695-06:00Hi David,
That must have been fascinating to talk...Hi David,<br /><br />That must have been fascinating to talk/write with Captain Boetius. He certainly lived a long and interesting life aside from his experience aboard the Hindenburg.<br /><br />PatrickPatrick Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01690842509026070505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7812058365408775514.post-48977373010095928482013-01-01T21:15:21.282-06:002013-01-01T21:15:21.282-06:00captain edward boetius sent me a picture of the fl...captain edward boetius sent me a picture of the flaming hindenburg<br />years ago. indeed , a tresured piece of history.<br /><br /><br /> david helmsdavid helmsnoreply@blogger.com