Many ships carrying civilians were sunk during the war by the Allies and by the Axis Powers. However, based on the latest estimates of passenger numbers and those known to be saved, "Wilhelm Gustloff" remains by far the largest loss of life resulting from the sinking of one vessel in maritime history. Günter Grass said in an interview published by "The New York Times" in April 2003: "One of the many reasons I wrote "Crabwalk" was to take the subject away from the extreme Right... They said the tragedy of "Wilhelm Gustloff" was a war crime. It wasn't. It was terrible, but it was a result of war, a terrible result of war."