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WWII Hell Under The Sea S04E02
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面白系トランスクリプション
00:02When a German U-boat commander dives to avoid an incoming enemy aircraft,
00:08he leaves a fellow submarine undefended on the surface.
00:12The moment a submarine is spotted, it's as good as dead.
00:16The decision will tear apart the crew,
00:19as a devout Nazi accuses him of cowardice and disloyalty to Hitler.
00:27In World War II, a subsea weapon allows warriors to fight from beneath the waves.
00:37With cunning, force and tenacity, their enemies strike back.
00:44Revolutionary, but still sometimes primitive,
00:49it's a desperate bid to change the course of war.
00:54Their stories are legend.
01:04May 21st, 1942.
01:08The Caribbean Sea.
01:10German U-boat U-103 is on its seventh war patrol near Cuba.
01:18The hunting is plentiful.
01:26And they're a well-oiled crew.
01:30Commended by Capitan Leutnant Werner Winter.
01:42After a two-torpedo attack, sinks a freighter.
01:50A second ship, the Elizabeth, tries to escape the same fate.
01:55It steams off to the south-southwest.
01:58As they start their pursuit, Winter summons Oberleutnant Xerzi Oskar Kusch to action.
02:05U-103 is his first full-time assignment.
02:09He is the number three on board after the commanding officer and the executive officer.
02:16And he is also in charge of the deck artillery.
02:21Winter's deck gun crew races into position, eager to intercept the target.
02:28He may have had some lucky shots and sunk the freighter without using a pressure torpedo.
02:43Crew aboard the Elizabeth fight back.
02:49And open up their guns to turn the tables on Werner Winter.
02:54He's very disappointed because he's more vulnerable to artillery fire than the freighter itself.
03:02Determined to sink the Elizabeth, but unwilling to risk any damage to the hull of U-103.
03:08Winter orders his first launch officer to launch another torpedo attack.
03:33In just 23 days, they will sink nine ships, totaling over 42,000 tons, before returning.
03:44During the first half of 1942, the Germans were using long-range boats for a surprise attack on U.S.
03:52coast.
03:53And the operation was called Paukenschlag, which means drumbeat.
03:58They exploit the confusion after Pearl Harbor.
04:02The U.S. were not prepared for U-boat attacks.
04:07There was no convoy, there was no air coverage, which was already present in Europe at the time.
04:12Within six months, more than 400 vessels sink in American waters.
04:19German submariners call this period the second happy time.
04:26Their success breeds camaraderie and respect.
04:31Even as Winter and his men occupy tight quarters for long patrols.
04:36In a submarine, you don't have that much space to get away, and so that may create something special.
04:45One could almost call it a cocoon, where different rules apply compared, say, to surface vessels.
04:51It was quite accepted to voice your political opinions.
04:59Winter's young second watch officer, Oscar Cush, thrives on the lively debate.
05:07As a teenager, Cush had refused to join the Hitler Youth.
05:12He would apply to the Kriegsmarine in 1936, torn between wanting to serve his country and hating its Nazi ideology.
05:21The ethos of the U-boat arm fostered this kind of thing.
05:26The U-boat spirit, as they called it.
05:28And one of their tenets was that you would not rat on others.
05:36Within a year of the attack on the Elizabeth.
05:41Oberleutnant Oscar Cush earns his own U-boat.
05:44With excellent endorsements from his former commander.
05:48They were absolutely stellar.
05:51So many things that Winter would have had to do, Cush almost instinctively solved for him.
05:58The new commander of U-154 is just 24 years old.
06:03He introduces himself very, very well by stressing not how many decorations he had earned, but about his experience.
06:12He had the heart of a seasoned mariner in him.
06:16And I can imagine that his crew liked to hear that.
06:22But by March of 1943, the war has changed for Gross Admiral Karl Dunitz's U-boat crews.
06:32After the so-called happy times, the Allies answer back.
06:39They established convoy system.
06:41They established air controls, air patrols, and so on.
06:45And times were getting harder for the German submarines to operate off the U.S. coast.
06:53German submarine losses each month double.
06:56As U-boats are lost, so are well-trained crew members.
07:02Veterans move to newly commissioned submarines to fill out their ranks.
07:06And existing crews get replacements.
07:13Oberleutnant Zerze der Reserve Ulrich Abel has been assigned to U-154 as first watch officer and will be second
07:20in command.
07:23In civilian life, he was a county judge.
07:26He served previously on a minesweeper, and this will be his first war patrol aboard a U-boat.
07:34In another key role, Chief Engineer Kurt Druschel is only a recent graduate of U-boat Engineering School.
07:42He has never served on a U-boat either.
07:44When the submarine operates submerged, the engineer is the second most important character to the crew beside the submarine commander.
07:54He has to be confident so the people know we can rely on that body.
08:02To build the crew's confidence, the former engineer stays on board U-154 to show Druschel the ropes for the
08:09start of the patrol, and would later transfer off the U-boat and return to port.
08:21In his role as the new commander, Cush settles in aboard the submarine.
08:30Included in the décor is a portrait of Adolf Hitler in a place of honor.
08:38Without a second thought, he removes the image of the Führer, and dispatches it to be hung elsewhere.
08:49There's a symbolic dimension to this, but it's typically Cush.
08:53He sees something that runs against the way he feels, he will take care of it.
08:58He didn't want to wake up in the morning, but his first look was at Hitler. He could do without.
09:04Cush replaces the picture with one to his liking.
09:10If there's any doubt.
09:12It's the first real split.
09:14It sets the tone, it shows them that Cush politically will be on the very opposite side of where they
09:22find themselves.
09:27When U-154 leaves for its fifth war patrol, they depart from the U-boat base at Lorient, France.
09:36Cush and his new crew travel thousands of kilometers to the southwest Atlantic, off the coast of Brazil.
09:48After the long transit, in the morning hours of May 8th, 1943.
09:55Lookouts spot a target, a fuel tanker without an escort.
10:02Fuel is used by tanks. Fuel is used by aircraft. If they destroy tankers, they take away the ability of
10:10the allies to transport this very important raw material.
10:17The new commander orders their first strike.
10:25As the first watch officer aboard U-154,
10:29Oberlointen and Zerzey to reserve Ulrich Obel will coordinate the surface torpedo attack.
10:42Despite an unexpected zigzag by the target,
10:48Obel lets loose two torpedoes
10:51when the tanker is just 400 meters away.
11:01Even at that very close range, they don't score a hit.
11:08This is, of course, a very dark moment for the crew.
11:11How can you miss a big 8,000-tonner with two torpedoes?
11:16But Obel manages to do that and is probably a reflection of his training.
11:21Minesweepers don't shoot torpedoes.
11:24As the tanker speeds up,
11:26Cush must salvage the situation
11:29and assumes control of the attack.
11:32With some adjustments,
11:34he sets up another salvo.
11:47This time, one of the torpedoes strikes the fuel tanker.
11:52The crew could hear an underwater metallic sound,
11:55almost like a car crash.
11:58And so they figure out,
12:00yes, we hit that vessel,
12:02but it did not explode.
12:05Alerted by the strike,
12:07the tanker called Moto Carline
12:09sends out distress calls.
12:17and as sailors open fire with their guns.
12:28Not wanting to expose the U-boat to a lucky shot,
12:33Cush turns the submarine away
12:35to observe from a distance.
12:41Later, as they watch,
12:44there's an explosion.
12:46They could not know that the torpedo was actually stuck,
12:50and then something must have happened,
12:53maybe a fire broke out,
12:54and then that thing just went off,
12:57like a delayed detonator.
12:59It seems the torpedo lodged in the ship's hull,
13:02finally activated.
13:05Oscar Cush continues to prowl nearby,
13:08waiting to fire a torpedo
13:09and finish the wounded tanker.
13:13When a danger above draws their attention away,
13:17a BBY Catalina bomber closes in,
13:21alerted to the presence of the submarine by the tanker.
13:26Cush orders the U-boat down.
13:34The pilot spots U-154 and attacks.
13:45As the U-boat dives,
13:52aerial bombs hit the water.
14:01It is this feeling of helplessness,
14:03of not knowing whether the next one will be the one.
14:13It must have been the toughest thing for U-boat commanders,
14:17and the crews.
14:24Cush and his men escape the underwater bombs,
14:27but miss their opportunity to sink the fuel tanker,
14:31which limps back to port despite the damage.
14:40Nearly three weeks later,
14:42as U-154 approaches a convoy,
14:47a system relatively new to German submarines,
14:49activates below deck.
14:55The U-boat carries a passive radar receiver,
14:58called a MATOX.
15:00The MATOX is a very simple device,
15:03interestingly produced by a French company.
15:07It's an antenna,
15:09it's a wooden cross,
15:11where we have an aerial or antenna around it,
15:13so it looks like a kite for children.
15:17While the U-boat is on the surface,
15:19close, the MATOX receiver is mounted on the deck.
15:23A cable runs down the open hatch into the submarine.
15:27When radar transmits from a surface ship or aircraft,
15:30less than 30 kilometers away,
15:32the MATOX receiver detects it,
15:34and an alarm sounds.
15:36It just gives you time to wait and get underwater.
15:42Aboard U-154,
15:44the MATOX indicates that at least one vessel in the convoy
15:48is actively searching with radar.
15:52Even though they might be detected by the enemy radar,
15:56Kush risks a surface approach.
15:58It looked like he knew they were searching,
16:01but as long as I don't have an indication that they would track me,
16:05I could get faster to the enemy,
16:06to a position for a perfect attack.
16:10U-154 closes in on the convoy's starboard side
16:13to get within the escort screen.
16:19Then Kush takes matters into his own hands
16:23to conduct the attack himself.
16:31With the spread of torpedoes to target four ships,
16:36Oberleutnant Cersei Oskar Kush launches an ambitious attack.
16:40He has usurped the job normally performed by the first watch officer.
16:47He remembers what had happened.
16:50Abel had shot and missed.
16:51I feel very strongly that Kush decided
16:55we don't want to have a second motor car line situation here.
17:02Using all four torpedoes available in his bow tubes,
17:05he scores hits.
17:07The distance to the convoy was perfect.
17:11But Kush isn't finished.
17:13He spins the U-boat around.
17:18And fires their two stern torpedoes
17:22at an 8,530-ton fuel tanker.
17:29Kush's decision to prosecute the attack himself
17:32delivers results.
17:38He has hit three targets,
17:40including the fuel tanker, Florida.
17:46The escorts fire star shells
17:48and illuminate the carnage.
17:52But despite the remaining targets,
17:54all of their torpedo tubes are empty.
17:58Kush must withdraw the U-boat away from the escorts
18:02to give the torpedo crews time to reload.
18:13When they are ready,
18:15Kush considers another approach.
18:18But the activity topside makes it dangerous
18:21to creep in on the surface.
18:24And it's too dark for a submerged periscope attack.
18:30Kush decides to stand down until morning,
18:33leaving targets damaged, but not sunk.
18:40Hours later,
18:42Kush prepares to try again.
18:45He lines up another shot through his periscope.
18:50But one of the escorts turns in their direction,
18:53from about 3,000 meters away.
18:55A typical destroyer at that time
18:58would run with high speed of 32, 35 knots.
19:01This means he will run three to four minutes
19:04until he's at the spot.
19:07Kush does not have much time to get the U-boat down.
19:10He orders an emergency dive.
19:20As U-154 goes deep,
19:23the job of Chief Engineer Kurt Druschel
19:25is to relay commands to the dive crew.
19:29It's a tricky situation.
19:31Kush had ordered a crash dive.
19:33It means that the boat will come down
19:36at a very or relatively steep angle.
19:41With the plunge,
19:43the U-boat quickly passes its safe diving limit.
19:47It takes an experienced engineer
19:50to pull out of that dive.
19:52Apparently, Druschel was overtaxed by this maneuver.
20:04Kush maintains a calm presence,
20:06despite the danger.
20:09No submarine commander would try to find out
20:12what the crash depth of his submarine really would be.
20:15Don't want to risk to get to that security margin.
20:23We have to fight.
20:26We have to fight for it.
20:32I hope this is a move on.
20:32And there are no more.
20:32What's the kill for us?
20:37We will get off the supply chain.
20:38And do we feel pretty much any more.
20:42Is that the end of their craft?
20:44We have to keep a little bit of the operation.
20:48The enemy that falls on the ship,
21:01But the rapid descent exacts a toll from the U-boat.
21:06Humps, vents, and valves start to leak.
21:13U-154 can no longer pursue the Allied convoy.
21:35The failed attack increases the strain between Cush and the two officers.
21:44I think we can all understand the tensions that would emerge
21:49between a highly intelligent commander with imagination, with experience, and so on,
21:55and someone who's seven years older and who must have approached Cush often with envy,
22:03with feelings that betrayed his own shortcomings.
22:12By mid-June 1943, they still suffer from leaks and other mechanical troubles.
22:20Their surface radar warning unit, the MATOX, has also stopped working.
22:28U-154 begins a return journey.
22:32He's already out for about three months at the time.
22:36His crew is already getting exhausted.
22:39They still have to wake their way back.
22:44On June 28th, 1943, Cush establishes contact with another U-boat.
22:51They rendezvous south of the Azores Islands.
22:57The commander of U-126 is Oberleutnant Sursi Siegfried Keats.
23:02Keats and Cush knew each other from the Naval Academy.
23:07They began their officer training at the same time.
23:12Keats is able to provide Cush with a replacement for their MATOX before reaching the Bay of Biscay.
23:21That's probably the most dangerous part of their mission.
23:25Some call it the Valley of Death.
23:27To get them safely back to port,
23:30Gross Admiral Karl Dönitz implements various strategies to protect his U-boats.
23:36The largest threat are the aircraft of the Allies.
23:40And so he gives orders, run as fast as possible.
23:43And then he introduced a new system of combining the approach or departure
23:49by having two, three, or four submarines sailing together.
23:53With its capacity to detect an aircraft using radar,
23:57the MATOX is an essential piece of equipment as they run the bay together.
24:08Just before 3 a.m. on July 3rd,
24:12the MATOX set supplied to Cush activates.
24:17Within seconds, U-154's conning tower is flooded with light.
24:26A powerful beam blinds the German crew on board U-boat 154
24:30as it enters the infamous Bay of Biscay.
24:36A Wellington bomber flies low over the water.
24:40By 1943, the Allies are mostly using Wellington bombers.
24:45They're twin-engined aircraft.
24:46They're able for long-range operations,
24:48especially once you fit in extra fuel tanks.
24:50And they're fairly easy to produce or remake
24:53if you're converting bomber command ones to coastal command ones.
24:57A ley light is one of their new accessories.
25:01A very, very powerful light.
25:03In fact, the first versions were literally searchlights,
25:06which have been fitted onto aircraft.
25:10The moment a submarine is spotted, it's as good as dead.
25:17Overloidnet-Zerze, Oskar Kusch's gun crew mobilizes.
25:22However, the gun jams, and they can't get off a shot.
25:27But the aircraft bypasses U-154 and pursues U-126 instead.
25:36For some reason, the British pilot apparently decided that Keats was the easier target.
25:42So he left Kusch alone for the time being and concentrate entirely on Keats.
25:50The Wellington drops aerial bombs into the water near U-126.
25:59Before the aircraft could come around for another pass,
26:03Kusch orders an emergency dive.
26:05The last things that could be seen from Kusch's boat
26:10was that the crew of Keats's boat had trouble
26:15with the Matox antenna and cables.
26:24In case of an emergency dive,
26:26they have to take the Matox antenna,
26:28take it with them downstairs to close the hatch
26:31to start the diving process.
26:33With their own bridge clear,
26:36U-154 slips beneath the waves.
26:44Kusch's executive officer,
26:46Uber-Leutnant Sersi Ulrich Abel,
26:48wants to know what happened topside.
26:54Kusch tries for an update from U-126.
26:59He uses a communication method
27:02called an underwater telegraph.
27:04The underwater telegraph,
27:06it's a hydrophone producing a sound
27:08where submarine commanders can communicate
27:11with each other in the water,
27:13not using radio transmissions.
27:16But there's no reply.
27:21The device is very dependent
27:23on environmental conditions,
27:25on salinity,
27:26on temperature,
27:28and on dense gradients in the water.
27:31If the message doesn't get through,
27:33you never know.
27:37In time,
27:39the crew of U-154
27:40hear a series of distant bangs.
27:43In this particular case,
27:45the sounds could be interpreted
27:46either as perhaps distant artillery fire,
27:51or worse,
27:54an implosion
27:54at the end of
27:55Keats and his men.
27:59Abel becomes frantic.
28:01My theory is
28:02that
28:03the fouled up cables
28:05of the Matox antenna
28:07make it impossible
28:09to close
28:10watertight
28:11the tower hatch.
28:13There is
28:13a fatal inrush of water.
28:21Abel demands
28:22they surface
28:22to search
28:23for U-126
28:24and its crew.
28:26Like Cush,
28:27he also has a friend
28:28on board the other U-boat.
28:30Abel had the notion
28:31that
28:32there was still
28:32something that
28:33could be done
28:34under the circumstances,
28:35that he needed
28:37to return to the surface,
28:38have a look around.
28:44Cush remains
28:45submerged.
28:46He prioritizes
28:47the survival
28:48of his men.
28:52Keats is never
28:53heard from again.
28:59Three months later,
29:01U-154
29:02sets out again
29:03to the South Atlantic.
29:06Oscar Cush
29:06returns in command.
29:09Oberleutnant
29:09Xerzi
29:10Ulrich Abel
29:11remains on board
29:11as First Watch Officer.
29:15It's an unwelcome
29:16surprise.
29:18This must have
29:19hurt Abel.
29:20Typically,
29:21you only did
29:22one such
29:23cruise
29:24under an experienced
29:25skipper,
29:26and then you
29:27got your own boat.
29:29Basically,
29:29he did not convince
29:31Cush
29:31to write him
29:33a recommendation.
29:39It's nearly
29:40summer off the coast
29:40of Brazil
29:41when the U-boat
29:41arrives.
29:46For this patrol,
29:47an Army staff
29:48surgeon joins
29:49them on board.
29:51Hans Nothderft
29:52studies the effects
29:53of heat
29:54on the U-boat
29:54and crew.
29:56At these latitudes,
29:58temperatures
29:58inside a submarine
29:59can reach up
30:00to 36 degrees
30:01Celsius.
30:04There's only
30:05so much
30:06your body
30:06can take.
30:08You cannot
30:08breathe right.
30:09You yearn
30:10for fresh air.
30:13These long
30:15patrols
30:15to South America
30:16are so different
30:18to the patrols
30:20in the North Atlantic.
30:21German submarines
30:22do not have
30:22any refrigerators
30:24as the Americans
30:24had.
30:25No ice-cold
30:26Coke or ice cream
30:28on a submarine.
30:34On the morning
30:35of November 3rd,
30:361943,
30:37the sound operator
30:38picks up propeller
30:39noises from ships
30:40in the vicinity.
30:42At periscope depth,
30:45Cush sights
30:46a large convoy.
30:50He had come
30:52upon that convoy
30:53at the most
30:54inopportune time,
30:56early in the morning,
30:58there was no way
30:59he could catch up
31:00on the surface
31:01without being attacked.
31:03U-boats usually
31:04stay submerged
31:05to avoid detection
31:06during daylight hours.
31:10Cush decides
31:11to stalk the convoy
31:12until nightfall.
31:16But underwater,
31:18U-154 can only travel
31:20at three or four knots.
31:22The convoy sails
31:23at eight knots
31:24or more.
31:27The U-boat
31:28falls further
31:29and further behind.
31:31Cush worries
31:32that he won't have
31:33enough time
31:33to make up the distance
31:35after the sun sets.
31:37He was very clear
31:38in his mind,
31:39I need to get
31:40into a better position.
31:46So in mid-afternoon,
31:48Cush comes to the surface
31:49and risks
31:50a daylight approach
31:51to catch up.
31:57November 3rd, 1943.
32:00Now operating
32:01on its diesel engines,
32:03U-154 runs
32:04at a speed
32:04of 14 knots
32:05or about
32:0726 kilometers
32:08per hour.
32:09At this rate,
32:11Oberneutnant
32:11Oscar Cush
32:12expects to reach
32:13the convoy
32:14by about 2 a.m.
32:19of the sun.
32:19Even before
32:20nightfall, though,
32:20they are detected
32:21and enemy aircraft
32:23drops into view.
32:26U-154's
32:27Matox unit
32:28fails to warn
32:29the crew.
32:31The flying boat
32:32has kind of
32:33lowered itself
32:34carefully
32:34to remain
32:35out of sight.
32:41One big trick
32:42is always
32:42to come out
32:43of the sun.
32:45With a moment
32:45to choose,
32:46Cush orders
32:47a dive.
32:53But without
32:54hesitation,
32:55the first watch
32:55officer,
32:56Oberneutnant
32:57Cersei Ulrich
32:58Abel,
32:58challenges
32:59the orders.
33:02Abel
33:03overrules
33:04Cush
33:04in this situation
33:06and said,
33:06you all stay
33:07at your weaponry
33:08when it's about
33:092,500 meters away.
33:11Open up.
33:12U-154
33:13begins to fire.
33:19at a range
33:20of 1,000 meters
33:21and under attack.
33:24The Catalina aircraft
33:25alters its course
33:27to drop its payload.
33:34Oscar Cush
33:35quickly counters
33:36and orders
33:37a hard turn.
33:39The submarine
33:40veers sharply.
33:43The aircraft
33:44still delivers
33:44its attack.
33:50500-kilogram bombs
33:51explode as little
33:52as 20 meters
33:53away from the U-boat.
33:55There's a lot
33:55of concussion force.
33:57Shrapnel
33:57from the bombs
33:58may pierce
34:00through the pressure
34:00hull of the submarine.
34:02Cush orders
34:03another dive.
34:05And this time,
34:06everyone complies.
34:18once they are deep,
34:19they assess the impact.
34:22There are several leaks
34:23and some equipment
34:24is damaged.
34:25But they have survived.
34:28It's a moment
34:29of working together.
34:32Abel distracted
34:32the aircraft
34:33with gunfire
34:34and Cush orders
34:35the sharp swing
34:36to evade the bombs.
34:38That's what saves them.
34:40This almost
34:41unspoken
34:42cooperation
34:43under pressure.
34:45The old
34:46minesweeper commander
34:47and the old
34:48U-boat commander
34:50getting it right.
34:54Back at periscope depth,
34:58Cush observes
34:59that the Catalina
35:00still circles.
35:03There is no
35:04way to return
35:04safely to the surface.
35:07And submerged,
35:09they still lack
35:09the speed
35:10to catch the
35:10Allied convoy
35:11as they had
35:12the day before.
35:14Cush decides
35:15to abandon
35:16the chase.
35:19But Abel
35:20and Chief Engineer
35:21Kurt Druschl
35:22pressure Cush
35:23to surface
35:24despite the presence
35:25of the plane,
35:26believing they can
35:27still catch the convoy.
35:31No.
35:35They, I don't think,
35:37ever could feel
35:38the responsibility
35:39that rested on Cush,
35:41not just for the boat,
35:43but for all the men,
35:45including the two of them
35:46who always criticized him.
35:49I think they were
35:50incapable of thinking
35:52beyond the low-hanging fruit
35:55that they thought
35:56were within their reach.
36:03In December,
36:04they begin
36:04their return journey.
36:06Cush and his crew
36:07have failed to sink
36:08a single ship
36:08on the patrol.
36:14Before they arrive
36:15in France,
36:17Abel and Druschl
36:18approach staff surgeon
36:19Hans Nothderft
36:20with a brazen request.
36:25They pressed the army
36:27officer to turn
36:28Oscar Cush
36:29into the authorities.
36:31He was the highest
36:32ranking officer
36:34on board.
36:35He was not a navy guy
36:36and so it could appear
36:39as though he had
36:40no horse in the race.
36:48Nothderft refuses.
36:50In addition,
36:51he asks them
36:51not to report Cush
36:52when they arrive
36:53in Lorient without him,
36:54hoping time and distance
36:56would cool the emotions
36:57on board.
36:59So this was a promise
37:01they gave him
37:02out in the Atlantic
37:03and that is the situation
37:06when they finally
37:07reach Lorient again
37:08just before Christmas
37:10in 1943.
37:14Abel agrees
37:16it's a vow
37:17he will not keep.
37:21January 20th, 1944
37:23Lorient, France
37:27Oberloytener Zerze
37:28Oscar Cush
37:29commander of U-154
37:31is recalled early.
37:36He's arrested
37:37at the train station.
37:39The charges stem
37:40from a three-page report
37:42made by his first watch officer
37:44which accuses Cush
37:46of cowardice,
37:47anti-Nazi sentiments,
37:49softness towards Jews
37:50and listening
37:52to foreign radio broadcasts.
37:56Within six days,
37:58a military tribunal
37:59finds Cush guilty
38:00of continuously subverting
38:02the military strength.
38:08The accusations
38:10were of a political nature.
38:12They were not
38:13of a military nature.
38:15So the shock
38:17was that this
38:18could be enough
38:19in the famous
38:21U-boat branch
38:22to condemn
38:24a man,
38:25a good man,
38:26to death.
38:28Cush refuses to confess
38:30to any crimes
38:31or beg for mercy.
38:35Former commanders,
38:36like Capitan Leutnant
38:38Werner Winter,
38:39want Karl Dönitz
38:40to intervene
38:41on Cush's behalf.
38:43They realize right away
38:44that the one individual
38:46who can change it all
38:47is Grand Admiral Dönitz,
38:50the great guru
38:51of the U-boat force.
38:53But Dönitz does not act.
38:56He refuses to even speak
38:58with Cush.
39:13On May 12th, 1944,
39:17Oscar Cush faces
39:18a firing squad.
39:26He had already imagined
39:28this moment
39:28in his own sketches,
39:30inspired by another artist.
39:32And he had come across
39:34the romantic painting
39:35by Francisco Goya,
39:38where the Spaniards
39:40rise up against
39:41the usurpers.
39:42They are all caught
39:44and get executed.
39:46And these victims
39:48look their tormentor,
39:50shall we say,
39:51directly,
39:51in the eyes.
39:56Cush 2 will refuse
39:57a blindfold.
40:21His accuser and former
40:23first watch officer
40:24doesn't witness the execution.
40:28less than three weeks prior,
40:30Oberleutnant Ulrich Abel
40:32leaves on his first patrol
40:33as commander of U-193.
40:36His own people
40:38must have felt
40:39great apprehension
40:40about serving under someone
40:43with that kind of background.
40:47A day later,
40:49Abel's U-boat goes missing
40:50in the Valley of Death,
40:51the Bay of Biscay.
40:57Kurt Druschl and the crew
40:58of U-154
41:00sail two more patrols
41:01under a new commander.
41:04Less than two months
41:05after Cush's death,
41:06after Cush's death,
41:07it's attacked and sunk
41:08by an American destroyer
41:09near the Azores
41:11with the loss of all hands.
41:17During World War II,
41:18Germany executes more than
41:2030,000 of its own
41:21soldiers and sailors,
41:23compared to fewer than 50
41:24British troops
41:25condemned to the same fate.
41:31A terrible legacy
41:32of service
41:33to the Nazi regime.
41:36Cush, he was not
41:38following blindly
41:39the Nazi system.
41:40He had his own mind
41:42and that definitely
41:44cost his life.
41:45In 1996,
41:47Cush is exonerated.
41:49The law was passed
41:51in Berlin
41:52to do away
41:54with all of the verdicts
41:55that had been
41:56announced
41:57under Nazi rule
41:59if they had
42:00a political background.
42:02So he stands
42:03for many others
42:04and the injustice
42:05that would last
42:06another 50-plus years
42:08after the war.
42:09His legacy lives on.
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