Before I refer to the individual documents, I should like to say two things concerning the groups.
First: I ask the Tribunal to recall that in general questions on naval warfare I also defend Admiral Raeder. I already mentioned, when I first applied for documents, that all the charges against naval warfare cannot be dealt with separately as concerning Dönitz or Raeder; therefore Dr. Siemers and I agreed that I should deal with these charges together. I ask the Tribunal in evaluating the question to take into consideration whether the charges are relevant.
Second: A large number of the objections which the Prosecution has made are directed against the fact that the war measures of the Allies are mentioned in the documents. I believe that I have been completely misunderstood especially in this field. I am not interested and it is not my intention to disparage any war methods, and I shall demonstrate later in detail that the documents are not suitable for this. But I should like to state from the beginning that I want to show with these documents what naval warfare was really like. I could not demonstrate this by showing only the German methods; but I also have to submit to this Tribunal the methods of the Allies in order to prove that the German methods, which are similar to the Allies’ methods, were legal. The Tribunal has even recognized this to be correct by approving the use of British Admiralty orders and an interrogatory of the Commander-in-Chief of the American Navy, Admiral Nimitz.
I am very grateful that these documents were approved; and my own documents in this field are along the same line.
I shall now refer to the individual documents against which objections have been raised; first to the Document Dönitz-5, which is in Document Book 1, Page 7.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Kranzbühler, the Tribunal has examined all these documents; so I think you can deal with them as far as possible in groups.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Very well.
THE PRESIDENT: If possible, follow the order of Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Mr. President, it will not be possible for me to follow the order of Sir David, because then I shall have to return repeatedly to the line of ideas which I have already mentioned. I believe it will facilitate and speed up the proceedings if I form groups according to the order in which I intended to present them; and I should like to remind the Tribunal that that was expressly approved for me yesterday.
THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Kranzbühler, it would be very much more convenient to the Tribunal if you followed the order in the groups. But if you find that impossible, the Tribunal would not make it a matter of an order.