The Rzepin train disaster was an alleged railway disaster reported to have occurred near Rzepin, Poland, on 9 July 1952. [1] [2] [3] According to some reports, about 160 Soviet soldiers died in the accident. [1] [2] [3]
The incident was not confirmed by official Polish or Soviet sources, but was reported by Western press agencies. The day after the crash the West German Deutsche Presse-Agentur cited "unanimous reports" from "independent eye-witnesses". [4] The following week the Associated Press in Berlin cited "well-authenticated reports reaching Allied officials" there, [5] [1] and the United Press Associations named the West Berlin Railway Workers Union as a source, [6] along with "allied authorities". [7]
The incident is said to have happened on the east side of the Oder river, between Boczow and Rzepin. [4] [1]
The train was a "Blue Express" [6] travelling through Poland on the Frankfurt Oder to Brest-Litovsk leg of the Berlin to Moscow route. [6] It was carrying Red Army troops on leave to Russia. [6] [4] [1] It left the tracks and crashed into a lake. [4] [1]
According to Allied sources as reported by the Associated Press, the accident was caused by an unnamed high-ranking officer (a general) loading his automobile on a flatcar in the middle of the train, against the advice of railway staff. [1] The train consequently derailed on a curved section of track, and fell into a lake. [1]
Robert A.D. Ford, a diplomat at the Canadian embassy in Moscow, travelled the line the following week and saw a heavy military and police presence at stations en route. He attributed this to the disaster being blamed on Polish guerrillas. [8] This cause was also cited by the United Press agency, which stated "Allied officials" had received reports that anti-communist Polish Partisans had sabotaged the tracks. [7]
The Blue Express train, which was used by Soviet officials, had previously featured in accusations by the Soviets of attempted anti-communist sabotage. [6] [9] From 20 July 1952, the CIA noted that the Blue Express was rerouted through Czechoslovakia, possibly due to sabotage activity in Poland. [10]
In 2009, an initiative to erect a monument in honor of the victims was made, but due to the lack of confirmation of the authenticity of the accident, the initiative was not implemented. [11][ unreliable source?]