Description:

DIARY OF U-530 ENGINEER AND P.O.W.
Very brief diary of U-530 engineer Gerhard Piesnack covering only the 22 days of his internment in Argentina following the very late surrender of his vessel. Entries begin on July 10, 1945 at Mar del Plata, Argentina onboard the Argentinian cruiser BELGRANO: "...good food, bananas, oranges, mandarins and cigarettes... Thinking a lot of you, promised to be with you on vacation and now I'm sitting here behind barbed wire... Handing over all knives, scissors and all other objects... Inspection of all pictures and letters. Letters had to be relinquished. The majority of the people are German friendly. The street is 50m away from the ship, they are waving to us. - Night march-off to Martin Gasia [sic] with the bus 402 km. Martin Garcia is a penal colony. Here we are meeting 7 other Germans from the Graf Spee, but we are not allowed to speak with them. Nevertheless we speak a few words to each other when they pass our fence. - Arrival on the island Martin Garcia at La Plata size 10 square km.- Meeting at the sports equipment, it is slowly becoming boring... Our living area is being disinfected, attached photos above my bed. - Daily boredom... Today we had lesson in Spanish. In the afternoon we lay an hour in the sun. In the afternoon we try some dance lessons. Examination by the dentist... Fighting is breaking out again between nco's and officers. Our soccer game was moved again to tomorrow... Today we were allowed to leave the barbed wire for half an hour to play soccer… Quarreling about venereal disease, a meeting takes places, and the crew distance themselves from their superiors. - The mood is gloomy here; we are supposed to be transferred destination unknown. - Fighting again at breakfast. The first 17 men are getting ready to leave, the mood is gloomy, nobody knows what the destination is, a lot of rumors. I'm not leaving until Monday or Tuesday. - The first 17 men are packing their bags, we have to split up, but we hope to be together with them again.- The whole day is boring, it is being rumored that we will go to North America... Today we are supposed to leave… 11:30 steamer direction Buenos Aires 4:00 Buenos Aires Immigrants' Hotel... 30.7.1945 We are departing Argentina, arrived today at 4:30 at the Immigrants Hotel. I will never forget this day in my life, we are being very well treated, in the evening we sit together with good food, wine, liqueur, chocolate and other good things and tomorrow morning we are leaving...". With a picture of his girlfriend, addresses of crew mates, notes, etc. U-530 surrendered two months late with deck gun jettisoned, no log book, and no crew identification papers. It was also rumored that the sub had dropped off two passengers... Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun. Provenance: TIME-LIFE Collection, The War Museum.

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March 17, 2016 10:30 AM EDT
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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