At the end of the note, the German Government refuses to assume any responsibility for damage or loss incurred in this area.
I produce as the next document, on Page 214, with the new Exhibit Number Dönitz-105, an official German statement made on the occasion of the announcement of the total blockade of 17 August 1940. I only want to mention it.
I now come to several documents dealing with the treatment of neutrals outside the declared danger zones. As the first document, I submit, on Page 226, an excerpt of the Prosecution’s Exhibit GB-196. It is a standing war order from the Commander of U-boats which was also issued before May 1940. I read the first sentences:
“Not to be sunk are:
“(a) All ships readily recognized as neutral so long as they do not (1) move in any enemy convoy, (2) move into a declared danger zone.”
The next document, Dönitz-76, Page 227, shows the concern of the Naval Operations Staff that the neutrals should really be recognizable as such. I read the first sentences of the entry of 10 January 1942:
“In view of the further extension of the war, the Naval Operations Staff has asked the Foreign Office to point out again to the neutral seafaring nations, with the exception of Sweden, the necessity of carefully marking their ships in order that they shall not be mistaken for enemy ships.”
The next Document, Dönitz-77, on Page 228, is an entry dated 24 June 1942, from the War Diary of the Flag Officer of U-boats:
“All commanders will again be given detailed instructions as to their conduct toward neutrals.”
I have already submitted Dönitz-78—excuse me, it has not been submitted. Dönitz-78, Page 229, contains examples of the consideration which the Commander of U-boats showed to neutrals. The entry of 23 November 1942 shows that a submarine was ordered to leave one area solely because there was a great deal of neutral traffic in that area. The second entry of December 1942 specifies that Portuguese naval tankers had to be treated in accordance with directives, in other words, allowed to proceed.