The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade

(1 Samodzielna Brygada Spadochronowa)

CASPIAN SEA SHIPS

Ship No 3 (Wave 2)
The Zhandov

Overview Of The Zhdanov

The Zhdanov 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: 1942 | Time:
  • Depart: 03/08/42 (Andrej Debicki) | 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
10/08/194222853355-5640

Related Accounts

  • Account of Andrej Debicki "On the third day of waiting, the ship "Zhdanov" came in and the embarkation of troops began. What a depressing sight they were. Human skeletons, walking, crawling, sick on stretchers, some too sick to crawl calling for mercy, begging not to be left behind. And nobody was. The ship was filled to the gunnels and then some. Somebody with a sense of humour said that this scene reminded him of the River Styx, the boat overflowing with the dead, with only Charon the Ferryman missing from the picture and the direction of the final destination of Hades reversed. But it did not matter anymore. We were finally and irrevocably, irreversibly out of hell. The day was August 3, 1942, and we were floating on the Caspian Sea. Our collective thoughts however, were for a long time with those civilians we had to leave behind after Stalin closed the borders to further evacuations, who because of the whim of a tyrant, had the doors to freedom shut in their faces."
  • The account above places leaving as being on 03/08/42 and yet arrival is 10/08/42 per the Ross report. This cannot be right!