Evening star., 1939-10-12
Dutch Cook Relates
How Bremen Escaped, f,
Ready 10 Burn
Barrels of Gasoline on
Deck as Liner Fled
Under Soviet Flag
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u.s." he quoted the captain as say
ing, "for I've sworn that the Eng
Nsh wopt seize me and my ship
while I'm alive. would rather
sink the Bremen"
brought Back Pictures.
Post brought back pictures of crew
activity on the voyage, showing
among other things how they paint
ed the hull of the liner while
suspended in lifeboats.
One picture showed q group in
which Post was conspicuous as the
only one not giving the Nazi salute.
"Sir, sir, what a journey We have
had" the Hollander said in sum-
ming up the trip.
Il can tell you have sailed many
seas in my life and have seen many
ports, but I have experienced moth
ing like this.
"A load fell from my chest when
we on the Bremen saw the coast Of
Murmansk appear out of the mist.
THE old man Capt. Ahrens)
brought us through and no matter
what you might say about Nazi
captain, he, together with all these
clever boys, outwitted the British
Navy"
Captain Reported Promoted.
He told of delays in New York
and how the vessel sailed August
80 with only a few officers knowing
where she was going.
The Bremen, 51,731 tons and $20,-
900, 900 flagship of the German mer-
chant fleet, was delayed in New
York while United States customs
oficials inspected her for possible
arms.
She sailed only SO hours before
Germany invaded Poland. Many
sources subsequently reported she
had reached Murmansk safely. Muir
mansk is above the Arctic Circle.
The Frankfurter Zeitung reported
October that the crew-mOre than
900 men-returned to Bremerhaven,
the Bremens home port, on Sep
tember 20 and that Capt. Ahrens
had been promoted to commodore by
Adolf Hitler.
Nobody knew what route would
be TAKEN" Post said.
1--WE were making fun of the fact
that everybody in the world was
asking where is the Bremen?' But
the prospect of running the English
blockade was not very cheering.
Ships Sides Painted.
"The first morning out everybody
who had nothing more urgent to do,
including butchers, stewards and
cooks, plus few sailors, all got pots
of gray paint. Lifeboats were swung
out and the men applied the paint
to the sides of the ship, welding
paint brushes with long handles.
I'm no time the Bremen was not
the Bremen any more. You may
have heard pump or drown but
we had to paint or drown In the
mist at 200 meters 1856 feet dis
tance you could not have seen the
Bremen.
"The Bremen was called by radio
from various stations, but, of course,
kept silent. And you know the
proverb: BE as silent as German
Among the almost 1000 members of
the crew there came a terrible ten
sion as nobody knew where we were
going.
Later, in the day of September 3,
we were all called together in
large salon. The captain, standing
In the center, said: Men. war in
Europe has started. It doesn't look
very good for us, for I've sworn
that the English won't seize me and
my ship while I'm alive. I would
rather sink the Bremen
Everybody gave the Nazi salute
except myself, the only Hollander on
board. For, to be frank, as a Hol-
lander, the prospect of disappearing
below the surface for good didn't
attract me very much. But what
could I do? I was in it and had to
60 on now, willingly or. not.
From the icy cold we concluded
we were far up north, which proved
10 be the case afterward.
I'VE were again called together by
the captain, who told us that be-
tween England and Iceland there
was q watch of English ships every
10 miles; that they might not be
men O. war, but anyhow they were
ships ready to seize us and take us in.
Drills were conducted regularly
to ensure that we would be able to
get into the lifeboats as quickly as
possible in case of emergency. All
day we were istening-in for alarm
signals which were set up every
where in the ship.
'The cabins of the crew in the
fore of the ship were left vacant so
that in case of a collision the crew
would be safer. Barrels of gasoline
were on deck so that if English men
O. war neared the Bremen could be
Get on fire"
Got Very Little Sleep.
Everybody took few things with
him to carry in the lifeboats. Trunks
and suitcases, of course, were not