DEATH ON THE SPREE: THE "HEIMATLAND" KATASTROPHE
Today in Berlin: 5 July 1951
On July 5 1951 in Berlin a group of 128 young schoolchildren from Prenzlauer Berg primary schools in Greifswalder Straße and Wehlauer Straße boarded a small ship moored in the Treptow harbour at Treptower Park. Together with another group of 100 schoolkids who had just left on board of the “Edelweiß”, the children were heading for a picturesque little place on the edge of Berlin, Hessenwinkel, in Rahnsdorf at the Müggelsee.
The cruise was organised as part of school holidays events for the youngest. To make sure that all of them could participate the captain took on board far more young guests that his vessel was actually allowed to. By approximately 30. It had, after all, been done before…
And then the unthinkable happened: some 300 metres into the cruise 400 litres of petrol exploded on board. The "Heimatland" stood in flames.
The ship’s captain, Erich Weise, who had bought the ship only several months earlier, replaced the faulty old diesel engine with a refurnished 1939 petrol engine... The increasingly powerful stench of the exhaust fumes had made a lot of children of board queasy. And was a sign that something was wrong.
Twenty eight young children and two teachers died in the worst inland water transport catastrophe in Berlin and Germany: they burnt to death or drowned as most of the 6 to 13-year-olds at the time could not swim yet (Berlin still was a sea of ruins and teaching children how to swim was not on top of most parent’s agenda).
One of the young children who died that day was Klaus Jürgen Mahlitz - his one year older sister, Rosemarie, was among the survivors. Six days before the tragedy struck, little Klaus celebrated his ninth birthday.
Together with other victims of the catastrophe, he was buried at the cemetery in Friedrichsfelde. The ruling party, SED, propaganda turned it into a state event, making sure that the party’s largesse and endless empathy were duly noticed. So much so, in fact, that the article published the next day in the “Berliner Zeitung” quotes names of leading party members, prime minister, secretaries, etc; blames the ship’s captain directly for the suffering of the victims and their families (something he was punished for with all severity despite the fact that responsibility lay to at least 50% , in fact, by the authorities); but it fails to mention any of the victims.
It should be said that the "Heimatland's" captain became the scapegoat in this tragic story: while it was true that swapping the diesel engine for a petrol-fuelled one was not legitimate or wise - but it was a state-owned body that failed to perform the final seaworthiness tests.
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Very sad story
A horrible, needless tragedy.