Donitz: The Last Fuhrer - Portrait of a Nazi War Leader

Dönitz was born near Berlin. He entered the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in 1911 and during World War I served on surface ships before transferring to submarines. He ended the war a prisoner-of-war of the British. He remained in the navy after the war's conclusion and rose in the ranks of the Reichsmarine, becoming a Grand Admiral (Großadmiral) and serving as Commander of Submarines (Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote, B.d.U.) and later Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine) despite never joining the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party.

Under his command, the U-boat fleet fought the famous Battle of the Atlantic. He also served as Reich President for twenty days following Adolf Hitler's suicide.

Controversially, after the war he was charged and convicted of "crimes against peace" and "war crimes" and held in custody as a prisoner of war for ten years. By ordering the unrestricted submarine warfare conducted by Germany in the North Atlantic, he allegedly caused Germany to be in breach of the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936. However as evidence of similar conduct by the Allies was presented at his trial, his sentence was not assessed on the grounds of this breach of the international law.[1]

On his repatriation he moved to a small village near Hamburg. During his later years he wrote two autobiographies covering different periods in his life. He died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve 1980.

Peter Padfield
Hardcover with d/w 524pp Victor Gollancz 1984 1st Ed

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