On Page 230 there is a document which I have already mentioned. It contains an account of court-martial proceedings taken against a commanding officer who had torpedoed a neutral by mistake.
The next document, Dönitz-79, on Page 231, is an order decreeing the manner of treating neutrals which remained in force up to the end of the war. I do not think I have to read it. It again stresses the necessity of neutral ships being easily recognizable as such and refers to shipping agreements which have been made with a number of countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland.
THE PRESIDENT: What is the correct date of it? You said...
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: August 1944, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: That is on the original...
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: The original date was 1 April 1943. The order was revised on 1 August 1944 on the basis of the revisions necessitated by the shipping agreements.
So far I have dealt with the general principles which have been attacked by the Prosecution’s Exhibit GB-191 and GB-224. Now I should like to submit several documents on individual points contained in the Prosecution’s Exhibit GB-191. Mention is made there of a speech by Adolf Hitler ending with the words:
“Every ship, with or without escort, which comes within range of our torpedo tubes will be torpedoed.”
I now wish to present as Dönitz-80, on Page 232, an excerpt from that speech. It shows that in that context the Führer’s statement only applied to ships carrying war materials to England.
I now come to two examples mentioned in GB-191 as characteristic examples of illegal German naval warfare. The first is the case of the Danish steamer Vendia. The Prosecution’s document says: