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Robert P. Watson

The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II Hardcover – April 26, 2016

by Robert P. Watson (Author)

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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.

Print length

312 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Da Capo Press
Publication date

April 26, 2016
Dimensions

6.5 x 1 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

0306824892
ISBN-13

978-0306824890
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“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

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press; First Edition (April 26, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 312 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0306824892
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306824890
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.15 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 1 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,350,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,590 in Ships (Books)
- #2,554 in Jewish Holocaust History
- #13,008 in World War II History (Books)

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4.3 212 ratings

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Ian G. Heller

Fascinating & compelling. Well researched, brilliantly written; should be read by every WWII buff.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 7, 2020

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I have a strange connection to this story.

My dad grew up in Hamburg, Germany in WWII and he told me that, after the war, he "stood on the bronze propeller of the Cap Arcona."

"Do you know the story of the Cap Arcona?" he asked me.

I admitted I hadn't.

"It's very tragic," he said. "But important; you should read about it."

And so I did. However, I've not read any account written as authoritatively and entertainingly as "The Nazi Titanic."

One of the difficult challenges in writing about an historical event must be deciding how much context to include. And in the case of a ship, how far back do you go? Prof. Watson navigates this dilemma effortlessly; there's just enough historical background so you can place the events of the book in the proper context. And if you know anything about Nazi Germany in WWII, Watson gives you plenty of material to build a great "theatre of the mind" in which the events of the book play out -- without overwhelming you with detail. I love history but some books describe so many people and places that I wind up making lists to keep them all straight.

I'm tempted to say "This book reads like an action novel!" But I don't want to detract from the exacting research and outstanding narrative the author has carefully constructed. This is a serious work of history and yet very entertaining. If more historians wrote like Watson, there would be many more readers of history.

I won't include spoilers but suffice to say that the scale of this tragedy is far greater than the Titanic's fate. The entire incident is an important lesson for history and Dr. Watson has done a great job memorializing it.

I bought the book on Kindle but this is one I'll pick up in a bookstore or on Amazon someday in hard copy someday.

5 people found this helpful

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ScarletM

Harrowing Tragedy That Will Stay With Me for a LONG TIME

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 1, 2017

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This was another fascinating read - a story I'd never heard about and I am an avid reader of Holocaust history. This story broke my heart. For days all I can think about are those poor concentration camp survivors who survived the horrors of Neugamme camp, a horrific death march and were then forced onto ships with the Nazi intent of scuttling the ships and killing all the prisoners. To imagine the hardships and suffering these human beings endured -- the untold agony of being shut up in a ship's bowels with no food or water or light. It's unfathomable. I don't blame the RAF although I do think they knew the ships were full of prisoners - I can understand their fear of the war going on - but it doesn't negate the HUGE tragedy of these deaths. For the few people who survived the bombings of the ships and made it to the beach only to be shot or beaten to death - can you imagine such cruelty, such tragedy? This story will stay with me for a long time. It is almost as harrowing as Holocaust by Bullets which I read recently as well.

One person found this helpful

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KAREN M LEE

Professor Watson brings to light a true tragedy from the ending days of World War II that has been mostly uncovered.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 7, 2016

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This book was a very good read. Professor Watson gave us a story that I expect most people were unaware of. He framed this great tragedy by setting the scene before the war with the building of the Cap Arcona coming of age in the golden days of the large luxurious ocean liners in parallel with the rice of Nazi fanaticism in Germany. He continued to parallel the history of the Cap Arcona and Nazism, it's use in propaganda and the events that lead up to the fall of Hitler, and the ultimate disaster of friendly fire, taking place with in conjunction with the end of the war in Europe. He also delves into accountability which was greatly overshadowed and overlooked in the last couple of days of the war in Germany. The research required to present this story was incredible. Professor Watson has a writing style that makes the read a page turner even with the significant amount of detailed historical facts being presented. Highly recommended. ,

7 people found this helpful

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mrmawg

Review of the Robert P. Watson book "The Nazi Titanic"

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 4, 2016

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Review of my order of book "The Nazi Titanic" by Robert P. Watson. The book was on order for about two weeks and arrived in my home mail box in an adequate shipping box. The book is mint condition. The book tells the sad, truly disturbing tell about what SHOULD have been that of a truly magnificent ocean liner whose stated purpose for creation was warped into that of a much troubled warship. The ship and her crew were commandeered by the cruel, mindless Nazi propagandists and ultimately ended its operational life being mistakenly destroyed by Allied aircrews right at the very time that World War 2 was in its very last days. The Cap Arcuno (the ship's real name) is a vessel whose life story should not ever be forgotten by future generations, in hopes that we will always be able to avoid the insanity that led to her truly sad, untimely ending.

5 people found this helpful

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Ldympr

Little known piece of history

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 16, 2016

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I have to admit when this book came up on my recommendation list, I thought it must be a joke, by the title alone. One of the news shows I watched went into more depth with their author. I checked the price, a little high for me. After three days I decided to get it. I'm very glad I did. A well written book with plenty of research involved. As with many stories of the war, their are few happy endings. Thank you for the tenacity to flesh this story out. Anyone interested in this time period should read this book. My hope is that some of these families find comport in the final resting places of family members. Thank you for your hard work
My great uncle was on a hell ship, he made it home. He never even knew about this ship.

3 people found this helpful

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Dragonfly2

A Must Read for History Buffs

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 29, 2016

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Spellbinding non fiction account of a tragic event that was supposed to be classified until 2045 by British intelligence. Professor Watson researched this event and helped get the facts released. Truth really is stranger than fiction. This is a carefully documented story about a ship which was the pride of the German fleet was sunk by British Aviators who had no idea that there was human cargo consisting of concentration camp "walking corpses" . This was one during the final hours of WW2. Only Professor Robert Watson, whom I have listened to at lectures many times, can tell this fascinating series of events so candidly and poignantly. This is extremely well indexed and footnoted and should be read by history buffs. It's a real eye opener. Once I started it I had to stick with it until I finished.

9 people found this helpful

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Ned Middleton

I am so glad I did!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 22, 2017

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My immediate misgivings about the word ‘Titanic’ in the title were quickly dispelled once I realised this tragic ship had been used by the Nazi regime to rewrite the way in which the Titanic had been lost. I study shipwrecks (it’s what I do!) and was already aware of a number of German passenger ships lost during WW2. The Wilhelm Gustloff (torpedoed by a Soviet submarine) with 5,348 lives lost although some believe 9,400 were killed. The Goya suffered a similar fate with an estimated loss of 7,000-8,000 lives. The Cap Arcona (carrying prisoners) was attacked by the RAF with an estimated 5,000 dead.

Goebbels was the head of the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda. With the German film industry under his firm control he embarked on a film which almost bankrupted the state by using manpower and materials much needed elsewhere. The objective was to re-write the sinking of the Titanic in a bid to portray greedy, super-rich British and American businessmen conspiring to ensure the captain raced through ice-packed seas in a bid to get to New York ahead of schedule just to see the stock value rise. Any dangers faced by the passengers were dismissed and the warnings voiced by the only German on board were ignored.

Over budget and behind schedule, the film was ready by December 1942. It was a masterpiece but, for reasons which are very well explained, could not be shown to German audiences. What we do learn, however, is that the chaotic scenes of the sinking were so realistic that in 1958 director Roy Ward Baker employed the footage in his film ‘A Night to Remember.’ The ship used for the realistic on-board scenes was the Cap Arcona and the first quarter of the book describes the making of the film - leaving the premature death of the director in a tantalising ‘did he jump or was he pushed’ conundrum.

Launched in Hamburg on 14 May 1927, the Cap Arcona displaced 27,561 grt and was operated by the Hamburg-South America Line. Requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in November 1940, she was used as accommodation for sailors, allowed to become a rusting hulk and remained out of service for over 4 years. In January 1945 she was used to transport over 25,000 German troops and civilians across the Baltic between Gotenhafen and Copenhagen. On 30 January the Wilhelm Gustloff was lost and on 11 February the same Soviet submarine sank the General von Steuben with the loss of another 3,500 lives. On 20 February Captain Johannes Gertz, master of the Cap Arcona shot himself rather than face another trip back to Gotenhafen.

By 30 March the Cap Arcona’s engines were finished. Given partial repairs she was decommissioned and returned to her owners in Hamburg where concentration camp prisoners were being transported in a bid to conceal their existence from advancing Allied forces. The Cap Arcona and other ships were pressed into service as prison ships with prisoners locked below deck. Some later claimed the ships were going to be sunk by the Germans in order to remove all evidence of the prisoners’ existence. On 3 May 1945 Allied aircraft attacked the Cap Arcona as part of their general assault on German shipping in the Baltic. The wreck was broken up in 1949.

With far too many books about shipwrecks having the word Titanic in the title, it is easy for readers to dismiss this as just another example of another author wishing to associate his shipwreck story with the most famous shipwreck. On this occasion I overlooked that association and I am so glad I did! What I discovered was a well-researched and well written account of the war years faced by a single ship that was once the pride of the Hamburg-South America Line.

If you are looking for details - you will find them here. If you are looking for a darned good read you will also find it here. What more can I say.

NM

8 people found this helpful

"Killertomato"

Ein unglaublich gutes und spannendes Buch über ein Ereignis, das viel zu wenig bekannt ist in Deutschland

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on February 15, 2018

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Lieferung, Verpackung und Preis-Leistungsverhältnis waren absolut ok und in Ordnung. Das Buch selbst hält was es verspricht. Ich wundere mich tatsächlich, daß noch kein Filmemacher oder Drehbuchschreiber auf die Idee gekommen ist, diesen Stoff zu verfilmen. Das wäre mal ein Kracher, ein zugegeben sehr trauriger, aber bad news sind gute Filme! Absolut lesenswert, natürlich in Englisch. Hier und da gibt es kleinere Grammatikfehler und bei deutschen Namen tun sich die Angelsachsen und die Amis traditionell etwas schwer und auch beim aufschreiben, aber davon einmal abgesehen ein gutes Buch.
Absolut empfehlenswert!

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graham

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 27, 2017

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great book

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The Nazi Titanic: The Incredible Untold Story of a Doomed Ship in World War II Hardcover – April 26, 2016

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