Wilhelm Gustloff Tally

[Jody]

Wilhelm Gustloff

Hello,
Here is a postcard of the ship in the pre-war days.

Regards,
Jody

[Jody]

Wilhelm Gustloff

Reverse of postcard:

[John R.]

That is a very nice example Jody. The period postcard goes with it quite well. John

[Trance_Eyes]

Super nice tallies gents!!! As there is so much to learn about the Tallies even before getting to the history of the ship these threads are invalubale information to us fledgling collectors.

Keep em coming folks, loving it !!!

[Gregorio Torres]

Here is my Gustoff tally with a nice KdF postcards with a view of this ship. The captally is the same model that Ron´s.
And there is not controversy now about the bigest tragedy in the sea: Gustloff had more than 10.000 people aboard and just 1200 of them was rescued. 3000 deads more than in Goya.
Greg

[Gregorio Torres]

This is the reverse of my tally. As you can see, somebody one day cut the long threads, probably when the tally was in use and they was loose, but you can see the traces of them in certain points.
Regards
Greg

[Norm F]

difference from KM

This is the reverse of my tally. As you can see, somebody one day cut the long threads, probably when the tally was in use and they was loose, but you can see the traces of them in certain points.
Regards
Greg

Very interesting to see the reverse of this ribbon and Jody's as well, highlighting the difference in the weaving of the lettering between these cruise ship ribbons and the Kriegsmarine ribbons.
A whole other area to study to differentiate from reproductions!
Best regards,
---Norm

[JustinG]

Always something new.

Very interesting to see the reverse of this ribbon and Jody's as well, highlighting the difference in the weaving of the lettering between these cruise ship ribbons and the Kriegsmarine ribbons.
A whole other area to study to differentiate from reproductions!
Best regards,
---Norm

I agree NormF, this brings up another land mine in the world of tally collecting. this was my first impression when I saw these tallies, I thought that this might be a reproduction.
Funny that they would use a different weave rather than keep with the standard for the times and the tallies/muetzenbands.
Well, always learning.
I am assuming that other vessels such as the Robert Ley and such have similar reverses, and the tally that John Robinson displayed on the Kriegsmarine tallies/muetzenbands part 1, ( the white version) page 1 Wilhelm Gustloff has similar to the black ship tallies? Am I correct in my assumption?
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...gsmarine+tally
Regards,
JustinG

[VtwinVince]

Current computer models estimate the number of dead on the Gustloff at between 10 and 12 thousand, substantially more than either the Goya or Steuben. Among them were my grandparent's neighbors.

[bodes]

Here is a cap tally from the Wilhelm Gustloff which was sunk by a Soviet torpedo in what is considered the worst single ship disaster in maritime history. Thanks for looking. Ron

Ron, I had a neighbor who was a survivor of the Wilhelm Gustloff.....She was on the deck of the ship when the torpedoes struck.....Luckily being flung off....

She didn't talk much about it, and I wasn't aware of the disaster at the time.....However, I do remember her saying she wouldn't eat fish 'til her dying day.....She had visions of the fish consuming the bodies......

She married an American GI (my neighbor) who fought in the second world war, and was re-stationed there following the war.....He said she had only the clothes on her back and about $10 in her pocket....She was dirt poor......

I always got a kick out of her calling me Junge Mann whenever I came to see her husband, so we could talk about the war and drink homemade wine.....Good memories.....Bodes

[rott51]

Interesting story Bodes, thank you! It is amazing what many of that generation had to endure. - Ron

[VtwinVince]

That is interesting, as there were only a few hundred survivors, rescued by Kapitaenleutnant Hering.

[D Funk]

Wow

Wow those tallies are beautiful!

[rott51]

I forgot to mention (because I didn't realize they might be related in some way) that these two items were also with the Gustloff tally when I obtained it. I noticed in the artifact section of the Wm. Gustloff historical website that there is a DAF pin exactly like this one and that many wore these. The tinnie I have no idea about. Thanks, Ron

[Trance_Eyes]

The pin translated

"Bremen and its sacrificed harbour"

If this is the correct translation then sacrificed to what? The nazi cause?