The next document is Dönitz-89, on Page 246. It is a list drawn up by the Naval Operations Staff of violations of neutrality committed by the United States from September 1939 to 29 September 1941. The document is essential to counter the document of the Prosecution, Exhibit GB-195, which contains an order from Adolf Hitler of July 1941 in which it is stated that in the future even the merchant ships of the United States must be treated within the German zone of blockade in the same manner as all other neutral ships, that is to say, they should be sunk.
The Prosecution has interpreted this order as proof of a cynical and opportunistic conduct of U-boat warfare by Admiral Dönitz. I wish to show, by submitting this list, that from the German point of view it was completely understandable and is justifiable if in the summer of 1941 one did not grant the United States a better position than any other neutral.
Now I come to the subject of the treatment of shipwrecked survivors. These documents are in Volume I of the document book. The first document, Dönitz-9, on Page 11, offers a description of over-scrupulous measures taken by German U-boats to save survivors in September and October 1939. This is essential for Admiral Dönitz...
THE PRESIDENT: There must surely be a group of these, is there not? Haven’t you got a number of documents which deal with shipwrecks?
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, there are a number of documents.
THE PRESIDENT: Can you not deal with them all together?
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, Mr. President, I can assemble them. They are Documents Dönitz-9, Page 11, Dönitz-10, Page 12, Dönitz-12, Page 18, and Dönitz-13, Pages 19 to 26, and Page 49, and Dönitz-19 on Page 34. All these documents are related to Exhibit GB-196 of the Prosecution. That is an order from the winter of 1939-1940 in which the rescue measures of U-boats are limited. Sir David objected to that group that it was not important if, after this order of the winter 1939-1940, rescues were still carried out. I cannot share this opinion. If the Prosecution accuses Admiral Dönitz of having given an order about the limitation of rescue measures in the winter of 1939-1940, then it is essential to point out for what reasons such an order was issued and what practical consequences it had in fact. It is my assertion that that order can be traced, first, to the fighting conditions of the U-boats along the British coasts, and second, to over-scrupulous rescue measures taken by the commanders. The order did not prohibit measures of rescue generally, and that will be shown by the statements made by the commanders, which I have submitted under Dönitz-13.
THE PRESIDENT: Is it possible for you to give us a page where we can find these GB documents? For instance, GB-196.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes. It is in the British document book on Page 33. In the document book of the Prosecution, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: GB-195?