According to Heinz Schön, who had served aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, the survivor tally was as follows:
Torpedo boat T 36, Kapitänleutnant Robert Hering, picked up 564 survivors; the T Löwe, Kapitänleutnant Paul Prüfe, picked up 472; minesweeper M 375/TS 8, Oberleutnant d.R. Karl Brinkmann, picked up 98; minesweeper M 375/TS 8, Oberleutnant d.R. Walter Weichel picked up 43; the steamer Göttingnen, Handelsschiffskapit Friedrich Segelken, picked up 28; the steamer Gotenland, Handelsschiffskapit Heinz Vollmers, picked up 2; torpedofangboot TF 19, Oberleutnant Walter Schick, picked up 7; and the Vorpostenboot Vp 1703, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Hanefeld picked up 1 person.
Throughout the book German place names have been used instead of their Polish or Russian counterparts. Their names today are:
Gumbinnen—Gusev
Gotenhafen—Gdynia
Elbing—Elblag
Danzig—Gdansk
Königsberg—Kaliningrad
Insterburg—Chernyakhovsk
Thorn—Turin
Breslau—Wroclaw
Stutthof—Sztutowo