GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DONITZ - TYPESCRIPT SIGNED 10/15/1980 - HFSID 41674

GRAND ADMIRAL KARL DÖNITZ
Souvenir typescript of Nazi Germany's instrument of surrender to the Allies, signed and dated by Dönitz in blue ink in 1980, two months before his death. Dönitz was named Führer of Nazi German five days before the original document was signed on May 7, 1945.
Typescript signed "Dönitz/15. 10. 80" in blue ink. 1 page, 8½x11. Titled: "Instrument of Surrender of All German Forces/To General Dwight D. Eisenhower/Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces/And to the Soviet High Command". This is a souvenir typescript of Nazi Germany's World War II surrender treaty and only five days after he became Führer on May 2, 1945. Dönitz signed the original instrument of surrender on May 7, 1945, only two weeks after Adolf Hitler appointed him Führer of Nazi Germany. The original gave Nazi Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies and required the German High Command to issue orders to its fighting forces by 11:00 p.m., May 8, 1945 to surrender as well. May 7 and 8 are better known to the Allies as Victory in Europe Day or V-E Day. 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. Typescript, but not signature, is lightly smeared in places, but legible. Lightly nicked at right edge. Otherwise in fine condition.