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Hitler had chosen his most loyal military officer and the one and realistic calculator",* the time Donitz spent in the lunatic person whom he believed could restore the Reich's fortunes. asylum would have left mental scars that would have surfaced As noted by eminent historian Chester Wilmot: if he'd again been threatened with incarceration. That fear and "The importance Hitler attached to the holding of these U- his loyalty to the Third Reich meant he had no choice but to boats bases reflected the rising power of Dénitz, who was fast stall on the notion of surrender when, on | May 1945, he first becoming the most influential of his counsellors."”! heard about his succession after Hitler's death. Donitz then Hitler favoured Dénitz and was so fascinated about the new announced to the Wehrmacht: U-boats' capabilities and the possibility of turning the tide in "Against the British and Americans I shall continue the the Atlantic that "from the start of 1945 they were almost in struggle so far and so long as they hinder me in carrying out daily consultation".” With the new U-boats being able to stay the fight against Bolshevism."* submerged the entire trip from Europe to South America or With D6nitz still in command of a large navy and enough Antarctica, the chances of a percentage of the Nazi war Wehrmacht to cause further problems for the Allies, his machine escaping were vastly improved, as was the ability to announcement was a threat that the Western Allies in deal with the British and American navies. particular took very seriously; it made them realise that peace At the Fiihrer Naval Conference on 3 January 1945, Donitz was still far from certain and "Unconditional Surrender" might bragged about how the new U-boat fitted with the Schnorchel need reassessing. could "achieve success in waters where Germany was forced to The London Times, the day after Dénitz's announcement, cease operations more than three years ago". Dénitz's 1945 advised caution: claim was nothing new: back in 1943, he had already claimed "Dénitz may gather a force sufficiently large to cause trou- that the new U-boats would create "entirely new possibilities"* ble. The fighting spirit of the navy is probably still high. and his boasts meant that Hitler There is a formidable number of U- ordered the construction of Dénitz's A boats based on Norway, where the U-boats as a top priority. In the closing days of WW I, enemy also has 200,000 land forces The faith that the Nazi hierarchy Donitz had been taken and some hundreds of aeroplanes. It had in the new U-boats never dimin- 4 is thus likely that Dénitz contem- ished, even as Russian soldiers were prisoner... He was sent to... plates making his stand there rather streaming into Germany. On 6 the Manchester Royal Lunatic than in the overrun Reich or in the March 1945, Goebbels spoke up southern redoubt now threatened about the sentiment shared amongst Asylum. After extensive from the north and south. He may te Thee ie considerable hope for us psychological tests, he was Sta Dut cannot alter, the ere. Our U-boats must get to work certified Insane and was left In light of Dénitz's pledge to con- hard; above all, it may be anticipated to be "treated" for a year tinue the fight and the vast force still that as the new type gets into action, far greater results should be achieved under his command, and considering Allied fears, could "peace" have been than with our old U-boats."* struck—a peace that had guarantees Goebbels again noted in his war diary how pleased the Nazi for all sides? Dénitz could have asked for Germany to be ierarchy was: rebuilt and not humiliated like at Versailles, for the Western "Clearly, the revival of our U-boat war has made a great Allies to fight the spread of Bolshevism, and for leniency if not impression on the war." clemency from the victors, including a whitewash of his per- Goebbels's perceived "revival" was recorded on 28 March sonal wartime history, in exchange for a total surrender and for 945, only a month before his death in supposed desperation! assing on extremely sensitive intelligence. Only a week after D6nitz, as Hitler's most trusted envoy after Goebbels, was Doénitz had declared that the war would continue whilst aware of Nazi plans for the East as well as the concentration Bolshevism persisted, he ordered the surrender of all German camps. And though some historians suggest he should never forces. have been tried as a war criminal, in the face of the raft of evi- All the facts indicate that Dénitz's history has been dence to the contrary, the only aspect that should raise eye- suppressed, and against all reason Donitz is still not perceived brows about Dénitz's sentence at Nuremberg is its length. His y mainstream historians as having been a major player in light sentence was due to his stance in supplying the Allies Nazi Germany. Clemency was shown with such a short prison with information that was invaluable, especially when he had sentence, the communist threat had been realised by the virtually all knowledge of the mysterious U-boats that were Western Allies, and West Germany rose out of the ashes of being spotted around the world after the war. May 1945 to become the powerhouse of Europe, with many of Britain, being the nation to apprehend Donitz, was the main the major companies that bankrolled the Nazi Party forming beneficiary of Donitz's intelligence and, as his arrest on 23 huge conglomerates. May 1945 was the second time he had been incarcerated by Other than formally calling for a German surrender and Britain, the British interrogators would have known just which bringing the war in Europe to an end, Donitz carried on as buttons to switch to get the answers they wanted. President of Germany for a further three weeks and was only In 1918, in the closing days of World War I, Dénitz had arrested on 23 May 1945 by British forces. been taken prisoner by the British Navy. He was sent to a D6nitz, twice imprisoned by the British and a reluctant prisoner-of-war camp and then transferred to the Manchester admirer of the British naval tradition (which did nothing to Royal Lunatic Asylum. After extensive psychological tests, he dampen his hatred for Britain), was the one person who knew was certified "insane" and was left to be "treated" for a year. the exact state of play concerning the Nazi U-boats, including In spite of Goebbels's comment that Dénitz was "a very cool the new and formidable Type XXI U-boats. Dénitz was also In the closing days of WW I, Donitz had been taken prisoner... He was sent to... the Manchester Royal Lunatic Asylum. After extensive psychological tests, he was certified "insane" and was left 14 = NEXUS to be "treated" for a year. www.nexusmagazi ne.com OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2005