KRIEGSMARINE
After the end of the Second World War in May 1945, Heinrich Bleichrodt, who had commanded the 22nd U-boat Flotilla until the German surrender, was taken into Allied captivity and held as a prisoner of war until his release on 25 September 1945. In the immediate postwar period he faced war-crimes charges connected to the September 1940 sinking of the British passenger liner SS *City of Benares*, which had been carrying evacuated children; the prosecution alleged that he had knowingly attacked a vessel transporting non-combatants, yet Bleichrodt steadfastly maintained the German wartime position that neither he nor his crew could have identified the passengers, and the case was ultimately dismissed, resulting in his acquittal. Despite the acquittal he declined to offer any apology to the survivors, in contrast to several members of his former U-48 crew who later expressed regret. Following his release he found civilian employment with the Bundeswasserstraßenamt, the Federal Waterways Authority, in Münster, where he contributed to the reconstruction and administration of Germany’s inland waterway system during the early years of the Federal Republic. Later he relocated with his family to Munich, where he worked as a factory manager and, according to some accounts, also operated a small locksmith workshop, leading a quiet private life far removed from his earlier naval career. Married since 1937 and the father of a son, Wolf Heinrich, Bleichrodt remained in Munich for the rest of his days, largely withdrawing from public attention and avoiding further involvement in naval or political affairs. He died in Munich on 9 January 1977 at the age of sixty-seven, closing a postwar existence marked by legal vindication, modest professional work in the waterways and industrial sectors, and a deliberate retreat into private life after the dramatic events of the U-boat war.
Source :
https://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/10/foto-veteran-heer-di-masa-tua-pasca.html
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