SHRINKING DANUBE RIVER

Last year, the countries of Eastern Europe suffered through spells of heavy rainfall that produced massive flooding with extensive property damage. This year there has been a drought and water levels are low, particularly in the Danube River. As a result, some relics of WWII are becoming visible after being submerged for six decades.

Shrinking Danube Waters Expose WWII Wrecks

People in the town of Batina watched as a World War II German military jeep, was dragged from the drought-shrunken Danube River on 22 August.

Batina fire chief Josip Valkai ran an expert eye over the so-called Kubelwagen. "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." Previously just a few relics of battle have been found - 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 that week were a tank whose turret surfaced several days before and an armoured personnel carrier. Smaller items recently dredged from the river bottom include Schmeisser rifles and a crocodile-leather wallet, its contents soaked past recognition.

Not only in Croatia but downstream in Serbia, rusty remnants of warships believed to belong to Nazi Germany's Black Sea Fleet have begun emerging in recent days. Ships plying the Danube have been warned to steer clear because of live ammunition believed still to be on the wrecks. The river depth, normally as much as 50 feet in some places, has fallen to barely 10 feet.

War relics are no novelty in the Batina area of north-eastern 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. The vessels in the Danube are believed to have been deliberately blown up by retreating German troops to impede Soviet forces in the final stages of World War II. The Russian government, 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. "There maybe documents that could help identify victims."

Of interest is that the water is only 10 feet deep, down from the normal depth of fifty feet, indicating the severity of the drought.