The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade
(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)
Ship No 1 (Wave 2)
Molotow
Overview Of The Molotow
The Molotow was a XXXXX and was owned by XXXX
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: ??/08/42 | Time:
- Depart: ??/08/42 | Time:
- Arrive: 10/08/42 (Ross Report) | Time:
Extract From "The Ross Report"
According to the Ross Report, here is who was on this ship;
| Date | Civilians | Soldiers | Others | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/08/1942 | 280 | 3283 | 932 junaków | 4495 |
Related Accounts
- Account of Kazimierz Zygmunt Drozdowski - "In August 1942, the entire young soldiers' school, and the whole of the military unit in Narpai, was evacuated. We walked to the station in Kermine and took a passenger train to the port of Krasnovodsk. We were marched to the port and were loaded on to the Russian oil tanker 'MOLOTOV'. We were part of the 7th Division under the command of Colonel Okulicki. Later in the war, Colonel Okulicki became a General and replaced Gen. Bór Komorowski as Commander of the Polish underground army. He was subsequently arrested in Poland by the NKVD and was taken to the Lubianka prison in Moscow, where he later died. There were several thousand of us on the 'MOLOTOV'; we were huddled all over the decks. The journey took a night and a day. Eventually, we arrived in the port of Pahlevi and were taken to a large transit camp."