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Death
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August 5, 1944 |
מפקורה SS Mefküre Mafkura Mefkura
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SS Mefküre מפקורה was torpedoed and sank in the Black Sea
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Place Note
On August 5, 1944 (אב 16, 5704), some time after midnight, SS Mefküre מפקורה was illuminated by flares from an unknown vessel, but she failed to respond and carried on.
At 10:00AM, SS Mefküre מפקורה was was hit with gunfire and torpedoes.
Russian submarine, SHCH-215 Щ-215, captained by Commander A. Strizhak А. И. Стрижак, torpedoed SS Mefküre מפקורה.
The Captain of SS Mefküre מפקורה cited being fired upon before he was able to make out warning signals or respond to them.
He stated that he was ordered to halt SS Mefküre מפקורה, at which point, he claimed he instructed all passengers to put on their lifejackets.
Survivors claim that they did see flares, but the warnings went unheeded, and the Captain took no precautionary steps.
SS Mefküre מפקורה took a third shell fired dead center, and sank north-west of the Bosphorus at position 41º57'N, 28º47'E.
The Russians cite: They thought SS Mefküre מפקורה was carrying Polish officers on their way to the Allied armies.
Turkish authorities cite Mefkure מפקורה's was sunk on August 4, 1944, between Ahtapolu and Rezve, about 25 miles northeast of Igneada, off Bulgaria, by 3 unknown submarines.
The survivors were machine-gunned while struggling in the water.
305 people were killed, only 11 survived, 5 passengers, and 6 crew members, including the Captain and some of his officers, who were first to take to the lifeboats.
After hours in the cold water, the survivors were picked up by Bülbül בולבול, which had been stopped by several patrol boats prior to the sinking of SS Mefküre מפקורה, and had taken shelter at Igneada in the storm, and taken to the medical control and delivered to the Red Crescent authorities in Kırklareli, Tekirdağ, before going to İstanbul by train.
Among the victims of the sinking were at least fifty orphans who had been rescued from Transylvania.
A communique of August 8, 1944, from the German Naval High Command cites: "The Jews are continuing to send Polish and Serbo-Croatian partisans for the Allied forces in the Near East through their emigration offices, placing them on boats used for transporting emigrants. We have identified those listed below as passengers on the Mefkura when it left Rumania...."
Event Note
On August 5, 1944, Warman died when SS Mefküre מפקורה was torpedoed and sank.
Event Note
On August 5, 1944 (17 אב), Henia Hager Friedman died when SS Mefküre מפקורה was torpedoed and sank.
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