Admiral, I now put to you an entry in your war diary of 17 September; there we find:
“All commanders are again advised that attempts to rescue crews of ships sunk are contrary to the most elementary laws of warfare after enemy ships and their crews have been destroyed. Orders about picking up captains and chief engineers remain in force.”
THE PRESIDENT: It is differently translated in our document book. You said: “After enemy ships have been destroyed...” In our translation it is “.... by annihilating enemy ships and their crews.”
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I think it should be “by,” Mr. President, not “after.”
DÖNITZ: This entry in the war diary refers to the radio order, the four regular radio messages which I sent during the Laconia incident and which were also acknowledged.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: One moment, Admiral. Please explain to the Tribunal first how such entries in the war diary were made. Who kept the war diary? Did you yourself keep it or who did that?
DÖNITZ: Since I am not to conceal anything here, I have to say that the keeping of the war diary was a difficult matter for me because there were no reliable officers available for this task. That entry, as I suspected and as has been confirmed to me here, was made by a former chief petty officer who tried to condense my orders during the entire case into an entry of this sort. Of course, I was responsible for each entry; but this entry had in reality no actual consequences; my radio order was the essential thing.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, the decisive point here, in my opinion, is whether that entry is a record of your actual reflections or whether it is only an excerpt from the wireless order, an extract which had been noted down by a subordinate according to his best knowledge and ability.
DÖNITZ: The latter is correct. My own lengthy deliberations were concerned with the order of the Naval Operations Staff, the order of the Führer, and my own serious decision, whether or not I should discontinue that method of warfare; but they are not included in the war diary.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, will you explain what is meant in the war diary by the entry, “All commanders are advised again,” and so on.