The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade
(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)
Ship No 8 (Wave 1)
VeliKaia Partia Bolshevikov ( AKA VKP[B] )
(Великая Партия Большевиков)
Overview Of The Velikaia Partia Bolshevikov
The Velikaia Partia Bolshevikov was a lenin class tanker and was owned by Kasptanker.
It was one of the official ships (unofficial flotillas of fishing boats were also involved) organised by Stalin in 1942 at Krasnovodsk (Russian: Красноводск) (Modern day Türkmenbaşy) to transport Polish exiles (also mistakenly called "deportees") who had been held captive in Siberia/Kazakhstan labour camps over the Caspian Sea to Pahlevi (Pahlavi) now called Banzar-e Anzali which is in modern day Northwest Iran.
Ship Movements
From passenger testimonies & any other available data this is a "best educated guess" of the ships movements.
- Embark: ? | Time: ?
- Depart: ? | Time: ?
- Arrive: 01/04/42 | Time: ?
Extract From "The Ross Report"
According to the Ross Report, here is who was on this ship;
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Related Accounts
- Providence Watching: Journeys from Wartorn Poland to the Canadian Prairies - edited by Kazimierz Patalas (Link: Here) - P137 "I was assigned to the 21st infantry regiment...On April 1, we were transported by a boat with the grandiose name "Velikaia Partia Bolshevikov" (The Great Bolshevik Party)"
- Account Of Henryk Kłopotowski (10th Division, 27th Infantry Division) from his sons website ( Link To website)"- In Krasnovodsk we were loaded onto a ship and taken to the port of Pahlevi in Persia (currently Rasht, Iran) where we arrived on April 1, 1942".