DÖNITZ: I think in the summer of 1943 I received a letter from the Foreign Office in which I was informed that about 87 percent of the crews of merchant ships which had been sunk were returning home. I was told that was a disadvantage and was asked whether it was not possible to do something about it.
Thereupon I had a letter sent to the Foreign Office in which I wrote that I had already been forced to prohibit rescue because it endangered the submarines, but that other measures were out of the question for me.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: There is an entry in the War Diary of the Naval Operations Staff which deals with this case. I submit this entry as Dönitz-42, on Pages 92 to 94 in Volume II of the document book.
I shall read as introduction the first and second sentences of Page 92. The entry is dated 4 April 1943.
“The German Foreign Office pointed out a statement of the British Transport Minister according to which, following sinkings of merchant vessels, an average of 87 percent of the crews were saved. On the subject of this statement the Naval Operations Staff made a comprehensive reply to the Foreign Office.”
Then there is the reply on the next pages, and I should like to call to your attention a part of it first, under Heading 1, about the number of convoy ships sunk. What is the importance of that in this connection?
DÖNITZ: That so many people certainly returned home.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Furthermore, under Heading 2, it is mentioned that the sailors do not need a long period of training, with the exception of officers, and that an order for the picking up of captains and chief engineers already existed. What is the meaning of that?
DÖNITZ: It is intended to emphasize that a matter like that is being judged in the wrong light.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: One moment, Admiral. By “a matter like that,” you mean the usefulness, from a military point of view, of killing the shipwrecked?