GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DONITZ - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 08/16/1976 - HFSID 283425
Sale Price $425.00
Reg. $500.00
GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DÖNITZ
World War II German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz wrote this letter on his
personalized stationery in 1976. In it, he lists the three books that he had
written after being convicted of war crimes at Nuremberg.
Autograph letter signed "your Dönitz" in blue ink.1 page,
8¼x5¾, on Dönitz's personalized stationery. Aug. 16, 1976. Written in German,
translated: "Dear Mr. Granat! I thank you for your letter of 7/31. I
wrote after Spandau from 1958 three books': 1) '10 Years and 20 Days' , Lehmanns
publishing house, 8 Munich 21; these are the 10 years from 1935 to 1945 and the
20 days at the end of the war as the head of state. Please read this book, also
released in the U.S.A., it deals only with my official business, 2) 'My
Changefull Life', is the description of my personal life. Publishing house:
Musterschmidt, 34 Göttingen, Turmstr. 7 3) 'German Sea-Strategy during World War
II. The Answers of the Grand Admiral to 40 Questions.' Publishing house as 1).
When you read these books, your questions will be answered. With best
greetings,". Lightly toned and creased. Folded in half and unfolded.
Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Envelope signed.
6¼x4½. Postmarked Tegernsee, West Germany, Aug. 16, 1978. Addressed to
Mr. Gerard G. Granat, President of Philmore Manufacturing Co., Inwood, New York.
Two West German stamps and air mail label affixed. Envelope is open and empty.
Lightly toned, foxed and creased. Normal postal stamps, which touch address.
Flap on verso has separated from back of envelope; show-through from adhesive
stains (does not touch address). Neatly opened at left edge. Adhesive residue on
flap and paper loss inside envelope from flap (no show-through). Otherwise in
fine condition. Dönitz was held in Spandau Prison, in Berlin's borough of
Spandau, for 10 years after being convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg War
Crimes Trials. He shared the prison with six other Nuremberg convicts, including
Rudolph Hess and Albert Speer. During World War II, German Admiral Dönitz
(1891-1980, born in Grünau-bei-Berlin, Germany) developed the idea of
fighting in wolf packs. In January of 1943, Hitler named Dönitz to replace
Erich Raeder as Commander in Chief of the German Navy.In that
capacity, Dönitz gave permission for a radically improved U-boat to be built in
1944. Working closely with Albert Speer, the Minister of Armaments,
Germany was producing 42 of these all-electric boats a month by 1945, but it was
too late to make an impact on the outcome of the war. As the war was coming to a
close, Hitler selected Dönitz to succeed him as Führer. After forming a
new government, Führer Dönitz negotiated Germany's surrender on May 5,
1945. At the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, Dönitz was found guilty of war crimes
and was sentenced to ten years in prison. He was 79 when he died on Christmas
Eve in 1980.
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