Salt To The Sea
By Spencer Murphy and Ethan Halsey
Summary
This book is about four people who are trying to get to safety away from World War II. In the beginning these people did not know each other but as time rolls on they finely met up with each other. As the story progresses we find out more and more about the main characters. Near the end, they get on a ship known as the will-helm Gustloff also known as the ship with the worst maritime disaster on it's record.
The main characters evolution
Through out this story, we follow four characters, Florian, Joana, Emilia, and Alfred. The evolution of all four are different. Florian evolves from a dark and brooding character to a caring and kind man. Joana evolves not as much as Florian but still evolves. She still wants to care for the people who are involved with the war. Emilia, again, does not evolve as much. Emilia, by the end of the book, is still a preservant fifteen year old girl. Alfred evolved from a creepy sick in the head kind of guy to an evil bad, low, person
Theme
This true story is told from four different peoples encounters of WWII and what happened to the ethnic Germans during this wartime tragedy. Many young people and their families do not have experiences of war but through this story the author is able to make facts and history human allowing us to maybe feel or understand situations far from your own.
History of the Wilhelm Gustloff
On January 30, 1945 The Wilhelm Gustloff, once cruise ship designed originally to be named after Adolf Hitler was sailing on the Baltic Sea carrying over 10,000 German refugees. Most were woman and children, elderly men, and some 1,200 wounded soldiers. All cabins were full and other passengers crammed in hallways as the capacity of people were at least three times over capacity. Captain Peterson was looking at several routes and chose a straight path in bad weather forecasting snow in seas that had been reporting Soviet submarines. They did have escorts but one had to return due to a leaking seam. Soon after takeoff the weather began to clear. The captain ordered full illumination for fear of other ships hitting them due to low visibility. Normally, the Gustloff would have been able to outrun a submarine but it had not been taken care of over the years it was used as a hospital it would only travel at speeds of 12 knots. This made them an easy target. The Marinesco narrowed his sites on the Gustloff and fired three torpedoes. Even though the ship had twelve life boats, eighteen smaller boats, 380 life rafts, and many life jackets these numbers were no match for the lives on board. The escort ship LOWE became full and they watched as some survivors disappeared in the night in the icy waters. The German liner sank about 12 nautical miles from what is now known as Poland. This is know to be the deadliest maritime disaster in history. This tragedy was not publicized by the Nazi regime because the didn't want to affect morale. Some survivors kept quiet because they felt guilty. Today, 55.07N, 17.41E is the permanent war memorial site of the resting place of the WILHELM GUSTLOFF.
Recommendation
This book was and will be great book to a teenage and young adult majority. Spencer and I give this book five out of five lifeboats.
Why not the Gulstoff
Today we are still talking about the titanic but not the Gustloff. The tragic sinking of the German cruise liner is known as the worst maritime disaster known to man. But no one talks about it. The reason being it was a ligtament target of war.