[Extract from a speech by the C-in-C Navy to the Commanders-in-Chief on 15. 2. 44]
Although no word should really be lost over it, I feel myself bound to emphasize this point yet again. As officers we have the obligation to be the guardians of this unity of our people. Every disunity would also affect our troops. We have to guard this unity of our people, which in the National Socialist state has proved itself to a degree previously unimaginable. It is the duty of every officer to do so, and he who offends against this and thus against his people, must be smashed by me. I believe it to be necessary to train our young officer candidates, who have to be in a position of command after a very short training period particularly from this aspect. They must be trained militarily, but above all will also be trained in such a way that, as officers, they must be the unconditional guardians of our National Socialist State.
I always come back with very great joy from my visits to the men of the outpost boats, M.T.B.'s, destroyer and U-boat forces, from troops who, compared with 1918, stand tower-high, because the unity of our people stands behind them. If this had not been the case the troops would long since have broken up. From the very start the whole of the officer corps must be so indoctrinated that it feels itself coresponsible for the National Socialist State in its entirety. The officer is the exponent of the state, the idle chatter that the officer is nonpolitical is sheer nonsense.
Extract from a speech, on the requirement that officers "must be the unconditional guardians of our National Socialist State"
Authors
Karl Doenitz (admiral; submarine commander (1939-430; naval commander (1943-45))
Karl Doenitz
German admiral, supreme commander of the Navy, head of state and convicted war criminal (1891-1980)
- Born: 1891-09-16 (Grünau) (country: German Empire; located in the administrative territorial entity: Kingdom of Prussia)
- Died: 1980-12-22 1980-12-24 (Aumühle) (country: West Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Schleswig-Holstein)
- Country of citizenship: Germany
- Occupation: autobiographer; military officer; politician; soldier (period: 1910-01-01 through 1918-01-01, 1920-01-01 through 1945-01-01)
- Member of political party: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Nuremberg trials (charge: war crime, war of aggression; defender: Otto Kranzbühler; role: defendant)
- Military rank: Admiral (period: 1942-03-14 through 1943-01-30); Commodore (period: 1939-01-28 through 1939-10-01); Fregattenkapitän (period: 1933-10-01 through 1935-10-01); Fähnrich zur See (period: 1911-04-15 through 1913-09-27)
- Military branch: German Navy; Imperial German Navy (since: 1910-04-01); Kriegsmarine (since: 1935-06-01)
Date: 15 February 1944
Literal Title: Extract from a speech by the C-in-C Navy to the Commanders-in-Chief on 15. 2. 44.
Defendant: Karl Doenitz
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-640
Citations: IMT (page 2645), IMT (page 9407)
HLSL Item No.: 452869