GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DONITZ - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/18/1966 - HFSID 24131

GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DÖNITZ
Karl Dönitz signed this typed letter on his personalized stationery in 1966 to a Pastor Greenway.
Typed letter signed "Dönitz" in blue ink. 1 page, 8¼x11½, on personalized letterhead. Aumühle, Holstein, (Federal Republic of Germany), June 18, 1966. In German, translated: "Dear Pastor Greenway, Thank you very much indeed for your letter of May 9th. Your explanations were very interesting to me. Certainly I will have second thoughts now in every case if, and to whom I sent my signature in the USA. I thank you very much that you clarified certain circumstances to me. I want to express my thanks to you and ask you to accept the enclosed photo of me. With heartfelt wishes for your well being and many greetings I remain Yours,". Dönitz lived, and died, in Aumühle after serving time in Spandau Prison for war crimes. During WWII, German Admiral Karl Dönitz (1891-1980, born in Grünau-bei-Berlin, Germany) developed the idea of fighting in wolf packs. In January 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.Lightly toned and creased. Folded in quarters and unfolded. Ink notation (unknown hand) on verso. Otherwise in fine condition.