http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-08-22-war-relics_x.htm
Posted 8/22/2003 3:20
PM
Shrinking Danube unveils war relics
[ See
photograph #1 from the original article... ]
CAPTION #1:
"Local residents of the village of Batina, northeastern
Croatia, search the Danube River for Nazi equipment Tuesday."
Photographs
from a related article:
[ See
photograph #2 from a related article... ]
CAPTION #2:
"Two Bulgarian fishermen pass by stranded fishing boats on
the bottom of the Danube river near the town of Vidin, some 240
km north-west from capital Sofia. The low waters in the Bulgarian
section of the Danube causes losses of thousands of euros for
Bulgarian ship owners. The water level in the Bulgarian section
of the Danube is at its lowest in 100 years.(AFP/File/Dimitar
Dilkoff)"
[ See
photograph #3 from a related article... ]
CAPTION #3:
"A Bulgarian man pushes his bicycle across the Danube river
near the town of Vidin, some 240 km north-west from capital Sofia.
The water level of the Danube in Bulgaria is at its lowest for
100 years and has caused huge losses to Bulgarian ship owners
who have been unable to move their boats along the river.(AFP/File/Dimitar
Dilkoff)"
BATINA, Croatia (AP) - As the mass of tangled iron emerged
from the water, wide-eyed townspeople marveled at the catch
- a World War II German military jeep, coughed up by the
drought-shrunken Danube River.
Batina fire chief Josip
Valkai ran an expert eye over
the so-called Kuebelwagen just dragged out by a truck.
"The Volkswagen insignia and motor in the rear make it
a dead giveaway," he said. "So does the faintly visible
Nazi swastika on gasoline cans we found tucked inside."
Until now, the leftovers
on this pivotal battlefield have
been small - spent cartridges, the occasional skull.
But as months of drought have drained the Danube to its
lowest level in a century, larger relics are coming to light.
Among the items awaiting
recovery this week are a tank
whose turret surfaced several days ago and an armored
personnel carrier.
Smaller items recently
dredged from the river bottom
include Schmeisser rifles and a crocodile-leather wallet,
its contents soaked past recognition.
Downstream, in Serbia,
the rusty remnants of warships
believed to belong to Nazi Germany's Black Sea Fleet
have begun protruding in recent days 110 miles east
of the capital, Belgrade. Authorities on Thursday warned
ships to steer clear because of live ammunition believed
still to be on the ships.
The river depth, normally
as much as 50 feet in some places,
has fallen to barely 10 feet.
The vessels are believed
to have been deliberately blown up
by retreating German troops to impede Soviet forces in the
final stages of World War II.
War relics are no novelty
in the Batina area of northeastern
Croatia. Up to 60,000 soldiers perished here as Soviet troops
caught up with German forces retreating toward Budapest in
late 1944.
The Red Army triumphed
after 12 days of fighting in one
of the pivotal battles in the allied liberation of the
Balkans.
Batina's old-timers
still remember cavalry soldiers trudging
back across the river on horseback, with one or two bare
horses reined in along their sides - their riders dead or missing.
"It's no wonder
skeletons and various war artifacts keep surfacing
in our region," said Ivica Prakatur, a retired hospital nurse.
Moscow, which funds
a memorial at Batina, plans to send experts
to the scene to investigate some of the finds.
"The river was
wide and deep and certainly holds many mysteries,"
said Anatolij Calisev, a military attache at the Russian Embassy
in Zagreb, the Croatian capital. "Maybe there are documents
that could help identify victims."
The heat wave gripping
Europe, described by experts as one
of the worst in 150 years, is slowly moving southeastward
after killing scores of people across the continent.
In Bulgaria, shipping
officials warned earlier this week
that navigation on the Bulgarian stretch of the Danube could
be suspended by the end of the week. Water levels in some
places had fallen nine feet to their lowest in 100 years.
In Romania, the Danube
had its lowest flow of any August
since measurements began in 1840, the state news agency
Rompres reported. A nuclear power plant in eastern Romania
may have to close one reactor if the water level falls
another 28 inches because too little water would be drawn
to cool it, the government said Friday.
In Croatia, a Ukrainian
barge, the Fyodor Ryabinin,
briefly ran aground Tuesday.
None of this mattered
to kids in Batina, who waded through
the ordinarily mighty river, now barely knee-high.
"I feel like Moses,"
Laszlo Kovacs said as plodded to the
other side.
