“I never had any idea of the goings-on as far as Jews were concerned. Hitler said each man should take care of his business and mine was U-boats and the Navy.”
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Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval officer and politician who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as the head of state of Nazi Germany after the latter's suicide during the Second World War in April 1945. He held this position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government, about two weeks after Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies. As Supreme Commander of the Navy beginning in 1943, he playe…
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politics · German grand admiral (1891–1980) · politician · autobiographer · submariner · military officer · soldier · Großadmiral · also Karl Dönitz, Großadmiral Dönitz, Grand Admiral Donitz, Karl Doenitz, Dönitz
Born 16 September 1891 · Died 22 December 1980 · Q76437
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2026· 5 entries
“shone forth, though perhaps a little less brightly than usually”
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“the smallest prospect of hits”
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“of no great assistance to us in the Atlantic.”
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National Post: Karl Donitz | National Post
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2025· 2 entries
shz: Wie Karl Dönitz das Ende des Dritten Reiches hinauszögerte
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BBC: Menya Karl Dönitz, iyi ntwazangabo Hitler yagenye ngo imusubirire imbere y'uko yiyahura
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2021· 1 entry
The Times of Israel: How Jewish was Karl Dönitz’s great wartime adversary, Admiral Sir Max Horton?
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2015· 1 entry
welt.de: Karl Dönitz: Wie Hitlers Nachfolger den Holocaust verschleierte
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2010· 1 entry
literaturkritik.de: Dieter Hartwigs Studie über den letzten Oberbefehlshaber der deutschen Kriegsmarine, Karl Dönitz, ist keine Lebensbeschreibung, sondern eine problemorientierte Studie, die ...
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1980· 2 entries
Died 1980-12-22.
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“I would rather eat dirt than see my grandchildren grow up in the filthy, poisonous atmosphere of Jewry.”
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1976· 1 entry
Dönitz appeared in The Memory of Justice
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1973· 1 entry
Appeared in the Thames Television production The World at War, in one of his few television appearances
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1968· 1 entry
And a new edition was released in 1998 with the revised title Mein soldatisches Leben (My Martial Life)
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1958· 1 entry
And became available in an English translation the following year
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1945· 1 entry
Career landmark: president of Germany (1945–1945).
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1944· 2 entries
Awarded Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (1944).
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And Soviet Baltic Sea campaign in 1945 inflicted grievous losses during Hannibal
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1943· 3 entries
Awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves (1943).
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Played a major role in the naval history of the war
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The Combined Bomber Offensive undid German plans
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1942· 4 entries
Coastal Command began forming units combined with ASV and Leigh Light to attack U-boats at night in transit to the Atlantic via the Bay of Biscay, which continued into 1943
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And 1943 — two million tons under actual production figures
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Dönitz summed up his philosophy in one simple paragraph: "The enemy's shipping constitutes one single, great entity
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The global ratio of ships-to-U-boats sunk in Canadian waters was 112:1
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1941· 2 entries
But thereafter failed to have an impact as British counter-measures evolved
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The deliveries increased to 13 in June, and then to 20 in December
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1940· 5 entries
Awarded Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross presented by Adolf Hitler (1940).
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Awarded U-boat War Badge (1939) (1940).
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Which convinced many people that Britain would give up the struggle, Dönitz welcomed the deployment of 26 Italian submarines to his force
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“I doubt whether men have ever had to rely on such a useless weapon.”
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And early 1941 were spearheaded by a small number of highly trained and experienced pre-war commanders
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1939· 4 entries
Won Sudetenland Medal (1939).
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And another similar order after the Laconia incident in 1942, not to rescue survivors from ships attacked by submarines
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Expressed his belief that he could win the war with 300 vessels
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And were well placed to deal with large numbers of submarines, prior to events in 1940
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1938· 1 entry
Nine were commissioned and in 1939, 18 U-boats were built
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1935· 3 entries
Shipyards produced 14 submarines, 21 in 1936 and 1 in 1937
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The Reichsmarine was renamed Kriegsmarine
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Dönitz doubted U-boat suitability in a naval trade war on account of their slow speed
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1934· 1 entry
Was put in command of the cruiser Emden, the ship on which cadets and midshipmen took a year-long world cruise as training
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1918· 2 entries
Awarded U-boat War Badge (1918) (1918).
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Was commanding UB-68, and was captured as a prisoner of war by British forces
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1916· 1 entry
Awarded Iron Cross, 1st class (1916).
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1914· 1 entry
Awarded Iron Cross, 2nd class (1914).
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1910· 1 entry
Dönitz enlisted in the Kaiserliche Marine ("Imperial Navy")
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1891· 2 entries
Born 1891-09-16.
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“s Death === Discussions with Leon Goldensohn === The north German does not go in for extremes. He has broader horizons than the men from the mountains of Bavaria and Austria. To Leon Goldensohn, March 3, 1946, from”
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