Survived the Camps, Killed by Mistake | Cap Arcona | WW2

In the final weeks of the war in Europe, the SS moved thousands of prisoners out of Neuengamme concentration camp and onto ships in the Lübeck area. Conditions aboard were catastrophic. The Cap Arcona and Thielbek held people who had already endured imprisonment, forced labor and extreme deprivation.

On 3 May 1945, British aircraft attacked ships in the bay after identifying them as German troop transports. The Cap Arcona and Thielbek burned and capsized, killing thousands of prisoners shortly before liberation could have reached them. The attack transformed an already deadly evacuation into a further catastrophe.

This short documentary follows the prisoners’ route to the ships and the tragic failure to identify those aboard. The Neuengamme Memorial’s records keep the victims at the center of the account. They also distinguish the circumstances of each vessel, rather than treating every ship present in the bay as having met the same fate.

Music: Historium Soundtrack Library | Created by Flowmusic & Suno

Sources and further reading: www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de

• kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/en/history/satellite-camps/satellite-camps/bay-of-luebeck-neustadt-in-holstein-sinking-of-prisoner-ships/