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ABOUT THE WEBMASTER
DAVID F. KRAWCZYK
Only a
few short years ago, I stumbled across the incredible
story of the Wilhelm Gustloff quite by
chance. Since early childhood, I've had an avid
interest in the history of World War II. Needless to
say - I was quite shocked that I had never heard of a
tragedy on this scale. When combined with my
fascination of society's much higher-profile Titanic
disaster, it was inevitable that I should set out to
ensure that this story has its proper place in history.
In
November 2004, I launched this website after months of
careful research, development and assistance from numerous
individuals and organizations. Almost immediately, correspondence
began to flow in from many - indicating a latent desire
for this important event to become more than just a
footnote in history.
Currently,
I'm a consultant and assistant on a documentary film
production headed up by Marcus Kolga of Realworld
Pictures. To be released in Fall of 2006, the film
will be a very important contribution by following the
story of three noted survivors of the tragedy.
Recently, I spent one incredible and humbling week in Gdynia Poland
(and surrounding area) with Eva Rothschild-Dorn, Heinz
Schön, and Horst Woit. You will be able follow this
developing story right here on this website.
I
have my Masters degree from the University of Notre Dame
(Notre Dame, Indiana USA) and an honours bachelor's degree from McMaster University
(Hamilton,
Ontario Canada). Contrary to what you may assume, they
are both business degrees that I have put to good use in
the corporate world - especially in running my own business
computer consulting firm for many years.
On
other personal notes, my great grandmother and great grandfather sailed to Canada
from the port of Gdynia ( the same port the Gustloff
sailed from on its fateful night) well before even
World War I. In 1989 I sailed the Gulf
of Finland off the Baltic Sea aboard a smaller Soviet
version of the Gustloff - cruise
ship Konstantin Simonov (see picture here).
I cruised past some of the same submarine bases like the
Kronstadt that the S-13
(the sub that sunk the Gustloff) would have
called home.
I reside in the
greater Toronto area (Ontario, Canada) with
my wife and two children.
Contact
me here:
David
Krawczyk
2360 Lyndhurst Drive
Oakville, ON L6H 7V7
CANADA
dave@wilhelmgustloff.com
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