especially for those civilians living in east prussia at the time. they knew exactly what awaited them when the soviets were approaching. they knew that the same act of barbara qassam, the same massacres that happened to them as had happened to the russians and the german army had evidenced in its invasion of the soviet union in 1942. however, they were under orders. they were not permitted to leave until the end of january 45. the nazi government forbade any one to leave. to do so would show signs of acknowledgment that they were going to lose the war. finally hitler agreed and gave permission to start evaluating and that did save about 2 million civilians. so at this point of the refugees are starting to amass the harbors on the baltic sea. it is today of course of poland. in the final days of january 27, 8, 29, the refugees are trying to get aboard the ship and its one of them. nearly 10,000 german refugees attempt to escape across the baltic sea to germany which was supposed to be about 812 hour trip. as you know they met a tragic end. some time

especially for those civilians living in east prussia at the time. they knew exactly what awaited them when the soviets were approaching. they knew that the same acts of barbarism, the same massacres would happen to them as had happened to the russians as the german army had advanced in its invasion of the soviet union in 1942. however, they were under orders, they were not permitted to leave until the very end of january 1945. the nazi government forbade anyone to leave or to do so would've shown signs of defeatism, and acknowledgment that they were going to lose the war. well, finally hitler agreed and gave the apple permissiopermissio n to start evacuating these civilians. that's operation hannibal was born which did ultimately save about 2 million civilians. so at this point the refugees are starting to amass on harbors all along the baltic sea, and it is part of poland. so in the final days of january, january 27, 28th, 29th, these refugees are trying to get aboard the ship. and the wilhelm gustloff is one of them. nearly 10,000 german refugees

the soviets, in late 1945, they're closing in, they're in albania, east prussia. they do know these civilians are trying to get out. they're very aware of the civilians aboard ships like the gustloff, but for alexander, this is a target he could not resist, and again, because of the -- animosity is an understatement between germany and the soviet union at that time. this is what he considered a legitimate target. this is captain wilhelm, and one of four captains aboard the gustloff. why four captains? well, there are military aboard, and so he was in charge of them. then there are all the civilians, and so the civilians captain is a frederick peterson. the two do not agree on anything, except perhaps their destination. zahn wanted to travel as fast as possible. he was pushing to go 15 knots per hour. peterson wanted to hold back. he was concerned that the gustloff, which had been in dry dock for almost five years at this point, wouldn't really be able to withstand going fast. they disagreed on what route to take. follow the coastal route? hug the coastline to avoi