Der tragische Tod des ersten Offiziers Dankert, ex MS "Milwaukee"

Abstract

"In the summer of 1937 Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Secret State and Security Police (the Gestapo) and Himmler’s right hand, took a voyage on the Hapag motor ship Milwaukee. Apparently the power of this major Nazi figure was still relatively little- known. Upon returning from the journey, he saw to it that several members of the ship's company, including the captain and the first officer, no longer be allowed to leave the country - they had not behaved subserviently enough towards the 'new masters'. First Officer Dankert’s sole remaining task was guard duty in the harbour, a degradation made worse by the nerve-racking Gestapo interrogations he had to face. One day he was advised to appear in the personnel office of the Hapag nautical department on the following day. Anticipating the termination of his career as an officer, Dankert shot himself on board the TS Neumark. The author was a witness to this scene and conveyed the sad news to Hapag. As it turned out, the company had only wanted to inform First Officer Dankert that the proceedings against him had been suspended and that he was once again eligible to take command of a ship." (author's abstract)