Berlin, 12th April, 1941.
Secretary of State No. 250
Telegram to the Reich Foreign Secretary
Grand Admiral Raeder who this morning could not get into telephonic communication with the Reich Foreign Secretary, therefore approached me with the urgent request to bring about a final decision on the following two problems:
D-849
(1) Consent to German Naval Forces in the western part of the Atlantic Ocean being allowed to operate freely as far as the internationally customary three mile boundary.
(2) The cancellation of the preferential treatment which American merchant vessels have been enjoying so far in our warfare at sea.
The Grand Admiral motivated the urgency of his request as to (1) with the necessity for now issuing the necessary orders to the U-boats concerned or for employing them in another theatre of war, as to (2) with the expectation that American merchant vessels would now also appear in the Red Sea with war material.
[signed] Weizsaecker.
Copies to:
Under Secretary of State Political Branch Dg. Pol.
Ambassador Ritter.
Message to Ribbentrop conveying Raeder's request for approval for free naval operations in the western Atlantic and the end of preferential treatment for American merchant ships
Authors
Ernst Weizsaecker, von (State Secretary (Foreign Ministry); ambassador)
Ernst von Weizsaecker
German diplomat in the Nazi regime (1882-1951)
- Born: 1882-01-01 1882-05-25 (Stuttgart)
- Died: 1951-08-04 (Lindau)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: diplomat; politician
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Member of: Schutzstaffel
- Military rank: corvette captain
- Military branch: Imperial German Navy
Date: 12 April 1941
Defendant: Erich Raeder
Total Pages: 1
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: D-849
Citation: IMT (page 9999)
HLSL Item No.: 453045
Notes:In the transcript the document number is mis-stated as D "894."