THE ARCHIVE [Das Archiv]
31st May 1935
[May 1935, Vol. 14 p. 227]
New Terminology to be used in the Armed Forces
The Reich Minister for War, General von Blomberg, decided that the new titles for the Commanders in Chief of the three services which are laid down in the National Defence Act dated 21st May 1935—cf. Wa. p. 213—should in future also be used in correspondence. .
Thus the following alterations are to be made—"Reichswehr" becomes "Armed Forces" [Wehrmacht], the "Minister of the Reichswehr" [Reichswehrminister] becomes the "Reich Minister for War and C-in-C of the Armed Forces" [Reichskriegsminister u. Oberbefehlshaber Der Wehrmacht], the Reichswehr Ministry [Reichswehrministerium] the "Reich War Ministry" [Reich-kriegsministerium—RKM], the "Chief of the Army Staff" [Chef der Heeresleitung] "The C-in-C of the Army" [Der oberbefehlshaber des Heeres—Ob.d.H.], and the "Chief of the Naval Staff" [Chef der Marineleitung] becomes the "C-in-C of the Navy"
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[Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine—Ob.d.Mj. The title for the Air Force is on the same lines: "The C-in-C of the Air Force" [Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe—Ob.d.L].
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[April 1936, vol. 25, p. 45] 20th April 1936
Promotions in the Armed Forces on the occasion of the Fuehrer's birthday
On the Fuehrer's birthday, which the Wehrmacht celebrated on all stations by the holding of parades—cf. Si. p. 60—the Fueh-» rer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces promoted the Reich Minister for War and C-in-C of the Armed Forces, General von Blomberg to Generalfeldmarschall with immediate effect,— also the C-in-C of the Army, Baron v. Fritsch, General of the Artillery to full General [Generaloberst], the C-in-C of Navy, Admiral and Hon. Doctor Raeder, to General Admiral, the Reichs Minister for Air and C-in-C of the Air Force, Air Chief Marshal [General der Flieger] Goering, to full General [Generaloberst], The Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor further gave orders that the C-in-C of the Army, Baron v. Fritsch, [General of the Artillery], and the C-in-C of the Navy, Admiral and Hon. Doctor Raeder, should be given a rank equivalent to that of Ministers of the Reich. They will continue to hold the titles of office they have held hitherto. The Cs-in-C of the three services remain under the military control of the Reich Minister for War and the C-in-C of the Armed Forces.
Lutze, the Chief of Staff of the SA, sent telegrams to the Reich Minister for War and the Cs-in-C of the three services expressing the congratulations of the SA on the occasion of their promotion.
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[January 1937, vol. 34, p. 1503-04] 30th January 1937
Commemoration session of the Reich Cabinet. Gold Party badge presented to all members of the Cabinet On the afternoon of January 30th the Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor had summoned the members of the Reich Cabinet [Reichsregierung] to the Cabinet room of the Chancellery for a ministerial conference, which took the form of an impressive celebration of the fourth anniversary of the day on which the Hitler Cabinet had been convened by President von Hindenburg.
The Fuehrer recalled the political development of the past four years, which had assumed epoch-making proportions, such as no one could have foreseen four years ago. The Fuehrer thanked the members of the Reich Cabinet for all
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they had done and for their loyal cooperation, paying special tribute to the great achievements of the individual ministers in the own spheres of work.
Having regard to the fact that the ban on the entry of members into the party is to be removed very shortly, the Fuehrer, as a first step in this direction, then personally enrolled into the party the members of the Cabinet who had not previously belonged to it, and presented them at the same time with the gold partybadge, the highest party honour. The Fuehrer also conferred the gold party badge on General von Fritsch, Gen-Admiral, Dr. Raeder, the Prussian Minister of Finance, Professor Popitz and the Secretary of State and Chief of the Presidential Chancellery, Dr. Meissner. The Fuehrer also decorated the following party members with the gold party badge: State Secretary Dr. Lammers, State Secretary Funk, State Secretary Koerner and Air Commodore [General der Flieger] Milch, State Secretary.
The President of the Cabinet Council, General Goering, thereupon thanked the Fuehrer in moving words in the name of the whole Cabinet for all the greatness and beauty which they had all experienced and helped to create in the past four years under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. He assured the Fuehrer that his most loyal colleagues were in the Cabinet and that all of them would gladly stake their all with enthusiasm to help the Fuehrer to the limit of their ability to carry out his great and unique plans. General Goering closed his address with best wishes for the personal welfare and the life and work of the Fuehrer.
The Reich Minister for War, Generalfeldmarschall von Blomberg thanked the Fuehrer in the name of the Armed Forces for the unique experience which every soldier had had in the past four years. The Reich Foreign Minister, Baron von Neurath, gave a vote of thanks in the name of these members of the Cabinet who had not previously belonged to the party.
[March 1939, vol. 60, p. 1841] 12 March 1939
Heroes' Day and Day of Freedom to bear arms This year, in every place in Greater Germany and in the German colonies abroad, heroes' day fHeldengedenktag] was for the first time also kept as a day of Freedom to bear arms [Wehrfreiheit]. The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces had wreaths placed by a delegation of officers on the tomb of General Fieldmarshall von Hindenburg in the Reich Memorial at Tannenberg, on the grave of General of the Infantry Ludendorf at Tutzing and on the grave of Fieldmarshall Conrad von Hoetzendorf
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in the Hietzingen cemetery in Vienna. The central event of the celebrations, arranged in the garrisons, by the Armed Forces and elsewhere by the party, was the traditional state ceremony in the state opera-house, Unter den Linden, in Berlin, at which General Admiral Dr. H. C. Raeder made the memorial speech in the presence of the Fuehrer; at the end the Fuehrer laid a -wreath on the Unter den Linden memorial and took the salute at the march past by the battalions of honor of the three branches of the Armed Forces.
General Admiral Raeder made the following speech at the state ceremony:
"My Fuehrer, comrades, German men and women, when, at midday, 4 years ago, the flags of the Third Reich were hoisted on the masts everywhere, it was a signal for ecstatic joy which animated the whole people. One of the bases for the honour of the German man, a symbol of freedom and a sign of the right of selfgovernment, was given back to the nation by the Fuehrer. The freedom to bear arms. From now on, it ensures the right of every man, able and worthy to bear arms, to take part in the protection of the homeland, weapon in hand. One of the most unbearable shackles of the Versailles Treaty was broken asunder, the way was laid open for the development of the strength of our' people, curbed for so long, and the hope had come for a future more fortunate because it was assured. A new era of German history had begun.
The Fuehrer has shown his people that the greatest invincible source of strength lies in the national socialist racial community, its force, not only ensuring inner peace, but also enabling all creative racial forces to be opened out. He has given back to the German people, confidence in itself and in its own ability and enabled it to regain by its own strength its sacred right, denied to it during the period of its lack of power, so to tackle the enormous problems of the time with courage and to reach their solution. By this means, the German people and its Fuehrer have done more for the peace of Europe and the world than some neighbours are able to realize. Thus the clear and unsparing summons to fight Bolshevism and international Jewry whose race-destroying activity we have been able to trace only too well among our own people. Therefore the alliance with like-minded nations who, like Germany, are not disposed to allow their strength, dedicated to construction and the task of creating inner peace, to be disrupted by the ideologies of alien peoples or by parasites of a foreign race. And therefore the demand for equality of rights and equal respect
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with all other peoples, which alone can offer the assurance of a peaceful life together on the earth.
Germany must therefore thjnk, first and foremost, of her own safety. According to the Fuehrer's will, the German Armed Forces will be further reinforced and trained so that they may always be ready for their tasks, which have ever increasing responsibility, whatever the armament situation of others may be.. Wherever an advance has been made, it is retained. Wherever a gap should appear, it is closed. Wherever some supplementary armament is required, it is seen to. And no one must think that our weapons are blunt if German soil were to be desecrated or German blood shed. Germany is the protector of all Germans, on this side and on the other side of the frontiers. The skirmishings of America are proof of this."
[April 1939, vol. 61, p. 42] 1 April 1939
Promotion of Raeder to Grossadmiral
The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces has promoted the C-in-C Navy, General Admiral Dr. H. C. Erich Raeder to the rank of Grossadmiral in recognition of his services in building up the Navy. At the conclusion of the launching of the battleship "Tirpitz", the Fuehrer personally announced the promotion to the C-in-C Navy from the quarterdeck of the battleship "Scharnhorst" where all the admirals of the Navy, all unitleaders and commanders were assembled; after a speech, he handed him the symbol of the office of Grossadmiral with the inscription : "The first Grossadmiral of the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler" together with the record of promotion and a letter.
[January 1943, vol. 106, p. 886] 30 January 1943
Grossadmiral Raeder to the Navy
Grossadmiral Raeder gave the following order of the day to the Navy: .
To the Navy. -The Fuehrer has complied with my request that I be relieved of my office and duties as C-in-C Navy and Chief of the Naval War Staff, with effect from 30 January 1943, on account of my state of health. At the same time, he has appointed as my successor F. 0. U-boats, Admiral Doenitz, who is promoted to the rank of Grossadmiral.
I took over the direction of the Navy in hard times. During the long years I was in office, I strove with all my powers to develop it, from the very beginnings of its construction, into a powerful instrument which the Reich needed for asserting its interests and tasks in the world. Carried through by the trust
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of our beloved Fuehrer and supported by the most faithful cooperation of the whole Navy, I have been permitted to make a decisive contribution to the accomplishment of this lofty task in the greatest and most difficult period in the history of our people. The victories arid successes which the Navy has gained in Greater Germany's light for freedom, under my leadership will go down in history. I am proud to be able to say this. They were gained by the unconditional devotion of everyone. Officers, N.C.O.'s, and crews, officials, employees and workers have worked together in friendly rivalry, with a noble community spirit and in true comradeship, to make their contribution to the gaining of victory. It is for me a deep inner duty and my heart's need to express my thknks to the whole Navy for the countless proofs of this spirit.
Long live the Fuehrer
Berlin, 30 January 1943 Raeder, Grossadmiral
Extracts from Das Archiv, including announcements of new military titles, promotions (Raeder, Goering, and others), Nazi honors for cabinet members, Raeder's promotion to great admiral, and his final order upon retirement
Authors
Werner Blomberg, von (Minister of Defense)
Werner von Blomberg
German field marshal (1878-1946)
- Born: 1878-09-02 (Stargard)
- Died: 1946-03-14 (Nuremberg)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: military officer; military personnel; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party (series ordinal: 3.805.226; since: 1937-01-30)
- Military rank: general field marshal
- Military branch: German Army
- Position held: minister of war
Adolf Hitler (Fuehrer, Reich Chancellor, Supeme Commander of Wehrmacht)
Adolf Hitler
Austrian nationalized German politician, leader of the National Socialist party and dictator of Germany (1889-1945)
- Born: 1889-01-01 1889-04-20 (Braunau am Inn) (country: Austria-Hungary; located in the administrative territorial entity: Archduchy of Austria above the Enns; statement is subject of: Adolf-Hitler-Geburtshaus)
- Died: 1945-04-30 (Berlin Führerbunker) (country: Nazi Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Berlin; statement is subject of: death of Adolf Hitler)
- Country of citizenship: Cisleithania (period: 1889-04-20 through 1918-11-11); First Republic of Austria (period: 1919-01-01 through 1925-04-30); Nazi Germany (end cause: death of Adolf Hitler; period: 1933-01-30 through 1945-04-30); Republic of German-Austria (period: 1918-01-01 through 1919-01-01)
- Occupation: painter (statement is subject of: paintings by Adolf Hitler); political writer; politician (reason for preferred rank: generally used form); soldier
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party (period: 1919-09-12 through 1921-07-11); Nazi Party (series ordinal: 556)
- Member of: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Aktion T4; Beer Hall Putsch; The Holocaust; ethnic cleansing
- Significant person: Albert Speer; Benito Mussolini; Eva Braun; Joseph Stalin
Hermann Goering (Reich Marshal; Commander in Chief, Luftwaffe; Commissioner for Four-Year Plan)
Hermann Göring
German Nazi politician, military leader and convicted war criminal (1893–1946)
- Born: 1893-01-12 (Rosenheim)
- Died: 1945-01-01 1946-10-15 (Nuremberg Court Prison Nuremberg) (reason for deprecated rank: error in referenced source or sources; reason for preferred rank: most precise value)
- Country of citizenship: German Empire; Nazi Germany
- Occupation: aircraft pilot; art collector; politician; war criminal
- Member of political party: Nazi Party (period: 1922-11-01 through 1923-11-23, 1928-04-01 through 1945-04-29)
- Member of: Sturmabteilung
- Participant in: Beer Hall Putsch; Nazi plunder; genocide; war crime
- Significant person: Alma Hedin (role: friend)
Erich Raeder (admiral, Navy commander in chief (1935-43))
Erich Raeder
German naval officer and Großadmiral during World War II
- Born: 1876-04-24 (Wandsbek)
- Died: 1960-11-06 (Kiel)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: historian; naval officer
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Nuremberg trials (role: defendant)
- Military rank: Großadmiral
- Military branch: German Navy; Imperial German Navy; Kriegsmarine
Date: 31 May 1935
Literal Title: Extracts from "The Archive" (Das Archiv) . . . New Terminology to be used in the Armed Forces
Defendant: Erich Raeder
Total Pages: 5
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-2879
HLSL Item No.: 452962
Notes:Five items: Blomberg on titles, 31 May 1935; Hitler's promotions, 20 April 1936; Hitler and Goering on party honors, 30 January 1937; Raeder's promotion, 1 April 1939; Raeder's retirement, 30 January 1943. The pagination is 1-3, 6-7; pages 4-5 are missing. This document was apparently not entered as evidence against Raeder.