The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II

by Robert P. Watson

Overview

Built in 1927, the German ocean liner SS Cap Arcona was the greatest ship since the RMS Titanic and one of the most celebrated luxury liners in the world. When the Nazis seized control in Germany, she was stripped down for use as a floating barracks and troop transport. Later, during the war, Hitler's minister, Joseph Goebbels, cast her as the "star" in his epic propaganda film about the sinking of the legendary Titanic.

Following the film's enormous failure, the German navy used the Cap Arcona to transport German soldiers and civilians across the Baltic, away from the Red Army's advance. In the Third Reich's final days, the ill-fated ship was packed with thousands of concentration camp prisoners. Without adequate water, food, or sanitary facilities, the prisoners suffered as they waited for the end of the war. Just days before Germany surrendered, the Cap Arcona was mistakenly bombed by the British Royal Air Force, and nearly all of the prisoners were killed in the last major tragedy of the Holocaust and one of history's worst maritime disasters.

Although the British government sealed many documents pertaining to the ship's sinking, Robert P. Watson has unearthed forgotten records, conducted many interviews, and used over 100 sources, including diaries and oral histories, to expose this story. As a result, The Nazi Titanic is a riveting and astonishing account of an enigmatic ship that played a devastating role in World War II and the Holocaust.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306824906
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	312
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Robert P. Watson, PhD, has published three dozen nonfiction books, two encyclopedia sets, three novels, and hundreds of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, and reference essays on topics in politics and history. A frequent media commentator, Watson has been interviewed by outlets throughout the United States and internationally and serves as the political analyst for WPTV 5 (NBC) in Florida. For many years he was also a Sunday columnist with the Sun-Sentinel newspaper. An award-winning author, Watson's recent books include The Presidents' Wives; Affairs of the State; and America's First Crisis, which received the 2014 Gold Medal in History from the Independent Publishers' Association (IPPY). He is a Distinguished Professor of American History at Lynn University.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction: History's Secrets 1

Opening Act: Germany's Titanic

1 A Bold Idea 7

2 The Queen of the Atlantic 13

3 An Urgent Message 19

Starring Role: Nazi Propaganda Film

4 Rewriting History 27

5 Hollywood on the Rhine 33

6 Raising the Titanic 43

7 The Celebrated Selpin 51

8 A New Star 60

9 The Sinking of the Titanic 66

Third Role: Evacuation Ship

10 The Tide of War Changes 79

11 Evacuation 87

12 Neuengamme 99

13 A Cruel Race 109

14 Swedish Savior 119

Final Role: Floating Concentration Camps

15 Exodus 133

16 Floating Concentration Camps 145

17 In the Bunker 158

18 Operation Rainbow 169

19 Death from Above 181

20 Waves 194

Curtain Call

21 Final Act 209

22 Aftermath 221

Appendix I Why Did the Nazis Load Prisoners on the Ship? 239

Appendix II Did the RAF Know About the Cap Arcona? 245

Baltic Sea area, Germany 253

Hamburg-Neustadt area, Germany 254

Notes 255

Bibliography 276

Index 284

Editorial Reviews

“Fascinating, insightful, and dramatic, Robert Watson's The Nazi Titanic offers a unique story from WWII—a single ship whose tumultuous history unfolds as a metaphor for the Nazi ship of state. “Readers will be caught up in a compelling and often startling voyage.”—Howard Blum, author of The Last Goodnight and Dark Invasion

“Robert Watson has brought to vivid life with extensively researched detail the powerful story of this singular ship and the harrowing plight of those sent to a tragic fate in the final hours of the War. It is a riveting, little-known story of disaster and, for all too few, survival.”—Deborah Oppenheimer, Academy Award-winning film producer of Into the Arms of Strangers

“Robert Watson has told the story of the voyage of the Cap Arcona with poignancy and power and, above all, with fidelity to history and respect for those whose lives were lost. The Nazi Titanic is a story worth telling—unpredictable and unendingly interesting. Watson's prodigious research and mastery of the art of storytelling shine forth in every page. How sad and how angry this reader felt when the great ship went down.”—Michael Berenbaum, prominent Holocaust scholar, author, filmmaker, and Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute

“Set with great skill within the larger contest of the war, the Holocaust, and several of its principal perpetrators, this long suppressed, gripping, and moving story is told with the historian's rigor and the narrative artistry of the gifted storyteller. Unforgettable!”—Rabbi David Gordis, President-Emeritus of Hebrew College

Praise for The Nazi Titanic

Deseret News, 4/10/16
“A well-researched book…More of a history of the end of World War II rather than simply a story of a ship.”

New York Post, 4/24/16
“Reveals a little known chapter of the Third Reich.”

Library Journal (starred review), 5/1/16
“This work has much to offer both scholars and casual readers. Anyone interested in the maritime history of the Third Reich will enjoy.”

Daily Mail (UK), 5/12/16
“[Watson] details the tragicomic catastrophe of the Nazis' most ambitious film venture and the terrible fate of the cruise liner that stood in for the Titanic.”

New York Journal of Books, 5/15/16
“An easily read, well-written, and interesting story of a largely unknown event of World War II…This story needed to be told lest we forget.”


Advance praise for The Nazi Titanic

“The Nazi Titanic is a superb marriage of deep research and first class storytelling—a fascinating tale of a German luxury liner whose fate eerily and tragically mirrored that of the Third Reich.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter

“Wow! What an incredible and tragic story. Just when you think nothing more could be written about what the Jewish prisoners suffered during the Holocaust, along comes this remarkable account. I cried with pain at Professor Watson's portrayal of hell during the final days of World War II. A must read for anyone who cares about the brutality of war.”—Alan Dershowitz, acclaimed Harvard Law School professor and award-winning author

“Combining rigorous scholarship with a compelling You-Are-There narrative, The Nazi Titanic is at once fascinating, engaging, chilling, and revelatory. It's a journey everyone should undergo.”—Martin Goldsmith, classical music radio host and author of The Inextinguishable Symphony and Alex's Wake

Examiner.com, 5/13/16
“In The Nazi Titanic, Robert P. Watson gives this tragic episode the attention it has always deserved.”

Washington Times, 5/30/16
“A gripping—and disturbing—book.”

InfoDad blog, 6/2/16
“[Watson's] careful exploration of what happened and why is intriguing and raises meaningful issues…Readers drawn into the story by a book title with the word Titanic in it will find considerable intriguing material here.”

Columbus Dispatch, 6/12/16
“Watson's compelling book…tells the story of the ship and its passengers, setting it in the context of the chaotic and horrifying end of the war…Watson makes good use of accounts of those who survived or witnessed the boat's sinking to craft a dynamic account of the ship's last days and hours…An almost-forgotten subject well worth bringing to light.”

Intermountain Jewish News, 6/17/16
“[A] striking historical account…Watson tells this story directly and with no holds barred...Painstakingly researched and written with the skill of an expert storyteller...Gripping and informative.”

Jewish Book Council, 7/19/16
“The story of this ship and its final passengers is a stark reminder that every life lost during that deadly period is precious...Watson is able to weave an interesting story and draw attention to the poignancy of the last days of the Third Reich... An interesting book about an unknown chapter of Holocaust history... The book reads as a novel...Anyone interested in maritime history and learning about one of the Holocaust's unexamined incidents will find this book of supreme interest.”

Milwaukee Shepherd Express, 7/18/16
“Watson shows us in a compelling way that even a subject as thoroughly studied as World War II can still offer up its secrets, its cover-ups, its long untold stories, its lessons for us today.”

Midwest Book Review, July 2016
“A riveting and astonishing account of an enigmatic ship that played a devastating role in World War II and the Holocaust. An impressive, comprehensively detailed, and truly exceptional history of a hitherto suppressed tragedy, The Nazi Titanic is a consistently compelling read from beginning to end.”


"Fills in a gap in naval history...Solid research...The narrative is accurate and exact...Anyone interested in operations in the Baltic at the close of WWII in Europe, or anyone interested in air operations against shipping will find this book well worth consideration."
—Warship International, September 2016

"[A] fascinating story...A tale of Hitlerian hubris."—Hadassah Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2016
In his latest work, historian Watson (America's First Crisis: The War of 1812) probes the tumultuous history of the SS Cap Arcona, a German luxury liner launched in 1927 that regularly ferried cargo between Hamburg and Buenos Aires. The vessel was referred to as the Nazi Titanic, since it functioned as a prison ship during its later years, including when it was sunk by the British Royal Air Force in 1945, killing thousands formerly incarcerated in Nazi concentration camps. Through an in-depth investigation of the ship's many journeys, Watson delves into the social and military history of the Third Reich and the intrigue surrounding the German film industry. The author's meticulous research draws on archival sources and oral history interviews; the book further benefits from endnotes. VERDICT This work has much to offer both scholars and casual readers. Anyone interested in the maritime history of the Third Reich will enjoy. Film lovers will find this account complements our knowledge of motion pictures for propaganda during the Nazi occupation.—Felicia J. Williamson, Dallas Holocaust Museum

Library Journal