Quote #19

I don't believe this man has any notion of what is going on in the world. He is acute, in no ways dull, but his mind seems to have blocked out the salient features of the trials thus far. He rejects the atrocities, the killing of millions of Jews, the barbarism of the SS, the entire criminal modus operandi of the Nazi Party. He sees only that he was innocent of any crime, past or present, and that any attempt to incriminate him or any of the others on trial with him is political connivery. He feels Germany's actions were the result of oppression after the last war, on the one hand, and on the other takes no cognizance of his own culpability in being a faithful servant to Hitler and his regime. He denies atrocities at sea and is still doubtful about them on land.

More from Karl Donitz

  1. The enemy holds every trump card, covering all areas with long-range air patrols and using location methods against which we still have no …
  2. I rate Admiral Donitz as the best of them all, land or sea. He was unique in his handling of the German submarines and they were our most d…
  3. Our losses...have reached an intolerable level. The enemy air force played a decisive role in inflicting these high losses.
  4. As a submarine Admiral whom I knew to be held in the deepest admiration and respect by Officers and Men of the U-Boat Fleet, I held Admiral…
  5. The Fuhrer has nominated me as his successor. In full consciousness of my responsibilities I therefore assume the leadership of the German …
  6. Donitz, Hitler's legatee of defeat, promoted the success of the Nazi aggressions by instructing his pack of submarine killers to conduct wa…
  7. This took me completely by surprise. Since July 20, 1944, I had not spoken to Hitler at all except at some large gathering. ... I had never…
  8. Certainly inside my heart I know degrees of difference. But I can't blame any of these men who share a common fate with me. The big folly o…

All Karl Donitz quotes