FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Mr. President, according to the principles of the Statute, a soldier is also made responsible for the orders which he executed. For this reason it is my opinion that he must be able to state whether on his side he had the impression that he received cynical and opportunistic orders or whether on the contrary he did not have the impression that everything was done to avoid a conflict and that the orders which were given actually were necessary and right.
THE PRESIDENT: You have dealt with this order about the United States ships, now.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, I have almost finished.
[Turning to the defendant.] Did you want to say something more about the third point, Admiral?
DÖNITZ: I wanted to mention two or three more points on this subject.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I think that is possible.
THE PRESIDENT: You may go on, but we hope that you will deal with this point shortly. It appears to the Tribunal to be very unimportant.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, Sir.
DÖNITZ: For instance, I had suggested that mines be laid before Halifax, the British port of Nova Scotia, and before Reykjavik, both bases being important for warships and merchant shipping. The political leaders, the Führer, rejected this because he wanted to avoid every possibility of friction with the United States.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: May I formulate the question this way, that you, from the orders for the treatment of U.S. ships, in no way had the impression that opportunism or cynicism prevailed here, but that everything was done with the greatest restraint in order to avoid a conflict with the United States?