Doenitz offers to remain at head of Reich
Admiral says it’s up to Allies
LONDON, England (UP) – Grand Adm. Karl Doenitz, appointed by Adolf Hitler to succeed him as Fuehrer of Germany, offered today to remain at the helm of the government during Allied occupation of the Reich.
He told the German people in a broadcast over the Flensburg radio:
When Germany is occupied, control will be in the hands of the occupying powers.
It rests with them whether or not I and the Reich government appointed by me can be in office. Should I be able to be of use and assistance to my fatherland by continuing in office there, I shall remain in office.
Cites duty
Doenitz said he was willing to continue “if the will of the German people is to have a head of the state or if the occupying powers regard the continuation of the office as necessary.”
He said:
I shall not remain for an hour longer than, without regard to my own person, this can be reconciled with the dignity I owe the Reich whose supreme representative I am.
If duty demands that I should remain in Office, I will try to help you as far as lies in my power. If duty demands that I should go, this step shall also be a service to the nation and the Reich.
Recalls promise
He recalled that he had promised he would try “in the coming times of distress” to provide tolerable living conditions for German men, women and children, but added: “I don’t know whether I shall be able to help you in these hard days.”
Doenitz told the Germans they must face the fact that the foundations on which Hitler’s Third Reich were built had collapsed.
“Unity of the state and [Nazi] Party no longer exists,” he said. “The Party has left the scene of its activities.”
Explains surrender
Doenitz said he ordered the German High Command to surrender unconditionally all German fighting forces in all theaters of war in order to “save the lives of the German people.”
He said:
On May 8 at 11 p.m. [5 p.m. ET], hostilities will cease.
Soldiers of the German Armed Forces who proved their mettle in countless battles will set out on the bitter road to captivity, thus making a last sacrifice for the lives of women and children and for the future of our nation.
We bow in reverence before the thousand-fold proven gallantry and sacrifice of our dead and prisoners.
The Allies will probably treat Doenitz as a defeated commander-in-chief.