After the war Erich Raeder resignation and later

1 after war

1.1 nuremberg trial
1.2 spandau years
1.3 last years

after war

raeder @ nuremberg trial (back row)



raeder wife erika @ 1955 release spandau. erika raeder led successful campaign in 1950s free husband.


nuremberg trial

after war, raeder sentenced life imprisonment @ nuremberg trials, waging war of aggression, charge arising planning of german invasion of norway , denmark, conspiracy against peace role in preparing germany war before 1939, , war crimes enforcing commando order.

raeder s lawyer called 3 witnesses. first carl severing, former sdp prussian interior minister testified every government in weimar republic had violated disarmament clauses of treaty of versailles, , politicians of weimar aware officers raeder violating versailles. second diplomat baron ernst von weizsäcker, testified raeder had not been involved in propaganda effort blame sinking of athenia on british. third raeder s aide vice admiral erich schulte-mönting supported raeder s claim have been apolitical officer doing job, , raeder had not been nazi. german defence in nuremberg trials in 1946 argued germany compelled attack norway need forestall allied invasion , action therefore preemptive , anglo-soviet invasion of iran. german defence referring plan r 4 , predecessors. international military tribunal @ nuremberg determined no allied invasion had been imminent, , therefore rejected german argument germany entitled attack norway. in response raeder s defence of pre-emptive war against norway, british prosecutor david maxwell fyfe read out minutes of meeting between raeder , hitler on 26 march 1940, read:

british landing in norway not considered imminent-raeder suggests action @ next new moon-to hitler agrees.

when confronted minutes of 26 march 1940 meeting maxwell fyfe, raeder had no response. weinberg wrote eloquent lies invasion of norway told raeder , supporters. when maxwell fyfe charged raeder guilty of violating both treaty of versailles , anglo-german naval agreement , commented: 20 years, 1918 1938, , german navy had been involved in course of complete, cold , deliberate deception of treaty obligations ... do deny so? . raeder s response true, not cold blooded affair . raeder claimed not involved in conspiracy commit aggression because hitler s statements in hossbach memorandum of 1937 , again senior officers including raeder plans war poland in may , august 1939 raeder s own statements hitler seizing norway in october–november 1939 mere talk not taken seriously. american historian norman goda wrote maxwell fyfe , american prosecutor telford taylor tore raeder pieces on stand statements. raeder testified apolitical professional doing duty, , extent thought politics, disliked nazi regime. raeder testified horrified nature of nazi regime when saw how badly gessler had been tortured in march 1945, stated had stopped wearing golden party badge protest nazi regime after had seen had been done gessler, , had made serious protests against nazi regime during private meetings hitler, unfair blame him crimes of third reich. in turn led him questioned maxwell fyfe speech on heroes day on 12 march 1939 praising hitler ... for clear , unmerciful declaration of war against bolshevism , international jewry, drive destruction of peoples have felt quite enough in our racial body . raeder testified in response maxwell fyfe s question heroes day speech belief starting in 1917 international jewry had destroyed resistance of german people ... and had gained excessively large , oppressive influence in german affairs , of anti-semitic measures of nazi regime presumably included genocide merely acts of german self-defence. goda wrote raeder own testimony disproved own claims have been apolitical professional against nazi regime, , instead established anti-semite willingly served nazi regime because of hatred jews. taylor commented raeder s claim have been apolitical professional doing job meaningless because:

innocent , respectable business locksmith, nonetheless crime if locksmith turns talents picking locks of neighbours , looting homes.

raeder s claims have been apolitical officer objected nazis involved him in many testy exchanges maxwell fyfe. maxwell fyfe charged raeder had been part of effort cover u-boat sank athenia , falsely accuse british of sinking athenia. raeder claimed had been indignant government s claim britain had sunk athenia, led maxwell fyfe remark had done nothing express indignation , claimed have been angry false charges of homosexuality against werner von fritsch, had done nothing after fritsch had been cleared. 1 of more serious charges facing raeder ordered unrestricted submarine warfare in 1939. maxwell fyfe brought raeder s order of 15 october 1939, read:

measures considered necessary military point of view have carried out, if not covered existing international law ... every protest neutral powers have turned down ... the more ruthlessly economic warfare waged ... the sooner war come end .

when questioned order on 15 october 1939 unrestricted submarine warfare including orders fire on neutral ships, raeder had admitted issued order violated international law, raeder stated in defence: neutrals acting own egotistical reasons , must pay bills if die .

under cross-examination, raeder admitted passing on commando order on 18 october 1942 kriegsmarine , enforcing commando order ordering summary execution of captured british royal marines @ bordeaux in december 1942. raeder testified in defence believed commando order justified order, , execution of royal marines no war crime in own opinion. raeder charged british commandos had committed atrocities against german forces during dieppe raid, , commando order reasonable german response called british deviation laws of war. when asked entry in war diary seemed criticise shootings @ bordeaux, raeder stated not protesting against executions per se, instead protesting shootings had been done kriegsmarine, arguing local naval commanders should have handed on british pows sd shot. when questioned maxwell fyfe libau massacres, raeder claimed no idea had happened, , maintained have stopped massacres had known.

the nuremberg trial further escalation of raeder s ongoing feud dönitz when affidavit of raeder s introduced evidence against dönitz. raeder described relations dönitz poor, saying dönitz s conceited , not tactful nature did not appeal me . raeder claimed dönitz had made sorts of blunders , mistakes resulting personal viewpoint, known officer corps, became apparent, detriment of navy . raeder accused dönitz , speer of failing navy mismanaging u-boat production, , said dönitz s national socialism had blinded him reality, writing: [dönitz s] speech hitler youth, ridiculed in circles, earned him title of hitler-boy dönitz . finally, raeder claimed dönitz unqualified become commander-in-chief of navy in 1943, , dönitz appointed position because hitler preferred unqualified hitler-boy dönitz qualified officers himself. on night after affidavit introduced, american psychologist gustave gilbert interviewed dönitz described him being in state of rage against raeder, accusing raeder of being bitter old man driven jealousy dönitz superior officer.

spandau years

on 1 october 1946, raeder found guilty of conspiracy against peace, conspiracy commit aggression, , war crimes. raeder expected death sentence, , shocked when received life imprisonment, regarded worse punishment execution, complaining old man spending rest of life in prison unbearable. raeder formally asked international military tribunal executed firing squad instead, informed tribunal did not have powers change sentence. @ spandau prison, raeder spent days working in prison library. when not working in library, raeder spent time debating prison chaplain, french pastor georges casalis believed raeder s soul might saved if confessed guilt, , tried hard save raeder. raeder part did not believe guilty of anything, , rejected casalis s attempts save soul. when not debating questions of guilt casalis, raeder spent free time continuing war-time feud karl dönitz. dönitz savage in relentless attacks against raeder policy of bloated surface vessels , not spending enough money on building u-boats in 1930s, policy dönitz claimed had cost him victory in battle of atlantic. dönitz told former foreign minister konstantin von neurath had been raeder s fault until middle of 1940 2 u-boats slid down ways per month, , if had been navy commander-in-chief in 1940 have won war. in 1951, dönitz learned british historian had written if germany had larger u-boat fleet in 1939, dönitz might have won atlantic campaign, leading dönitz announce once free, repeat judgement in full light of publicity ruin raeder s reputation once , all. when not blaming each other losing battle of atlantic, 2 admirals fought on status. authoritarian raeder still continued behave if commander-in-chief of navy, , expected dönitz behave subordinate existed take orders, position dönitz utterly rejected. dönitz grand admiral, making him raeder s equal, , fiercely resented raeder s patronising, condescending attitude. because hitler had appointed dönitz successor in last , testament, 1950s nationalist socialist fanatic dönitz continued insist still president of germany, , nsdap should still legal party in germany. since in own mind, still germany s leader, dönitz saw himself raeder s superior, , expected raeder subordinate.

from moment raeder convicted, campaign have him released started wife, erika routinely made exaggerated claims press how harsh life in spandau prison husband. in 1950 interview, erika raeder claimed septuagenarian husband forced brutal hard labour in spandau when raeder s job in spandau work in prison library. in interview in 1951, erika raeder claimed that:

treatment germans had endure worse happened jews .

erika raeder on whole portrayed favourably in west german press, depicted victim of allied injustice while reporter put raeder s guilt lie? erika raeder s campaign free husband joined german veterans, bombarded american, british , french governments demands raeder, claimed innocent man wrongly convicted @ nuremberg, freed. admiral gottfried hanson, head of verband deutscher soldaten veterans group in letter in support of raeder sent 3 western high commissioners germany declared:

friend of many years standing, , ex-members of navy agree me, venture no military leader have educated , influenced subordinates higher moral , christian level did raeder ... both man , christian ... how can genuine peace , real understanding among nations of occident brought about ... if true right , justice not applied germans still kept prisoners?

in interview in november 1950, admiral hanson claimed american , other united nations commanders fighting in korean war have been convicted of aggression if same standards applied raeder applied them. french high commissioner in germany andré françois-poncet replied admiral seemed ill-informed history , law, stating north korea had attacked south korea, , un forces in korea fighting in response south korean appeals , under authority of un security council, did not correspond @ situation norway in 1940. in britain, campaign free raeder headed historian captain basil liddell hart , lord hankey, both of whom repeatedly charged attack on norway preventive war forced on germany, , such, not raeder innocent, winston churchill should have been convicted of conspiracy commit aggression against norway in place of raeder. hankey used seat in house of lords express support raeder while liddell hart in series of publicised interviews claimed raeder innocent man. part of hankey s 1950 book politics, trials, , errors, in hankey argued innocence of german , japanese war criminals convicted allied courts , strenuously attacked legitimacy of war crimes trials taken defence of raeder. hankley claimed in 1940 clear invasion of norway had been defensive move forced on raeder britain. more recently, american journalist patrick buchanan in 2008 book churchill, hitler , unnecessary war defended raeder, arguing real aggressor against norway churchill, , raeder should never been convicted @ nuremberg. american historian norman goda wrote raeder s champions spoke if aggression against norway thing raeder had been convicted of, , campaign free raeder rested upon ... a quasi-legal argument mixed moral equivalency , wilful ignorance . goda charged erika raeder , friends had grossly quoted out of context passages churchill s 1948 book gathering storm support claim invasion of norway preventive war forced on third reich while ignoring evidence had convicted raeder @ nuremberg. starting in 1950, government of konrad adenauer started quiet diplomatic offensive aimed @ freeing raeder , rest of men in spandau. american diplomat richard lynch reported washington in 1954 public opinion in west germany freeing raeder , rest of men convicted in nuremberg, , until admirals in spandau freed, feelings exist and ... until way can found overcome it, future german navy not have support of former officers . retired admiral gerhard wagner had told lynch many kriegsmarine officers liked join new bundesmarine in order fight soviets should world war 3 break out, refused long raeder , dönitz still prisoners. position of united states government in 1950s raeder should freed, ostensibly reasons of health, in fact because of demands of cold war , need integrate west germany nato.

last years

the sentence later reduced and, due ill health, released @ 11:35 on 26 september 1955. after release settled down @ uhlandstrasse in lippstadt, westphalia. later wrote autobiography, mein leben (my life), in 1957. mein leben ghost-written committee of former kriegsmarine officers headed admiral erich förste raeder s role limited reviewing chapters , either giving approval or sending committee. mein leben intended sort of official history rebut nuremberg version of history, , hence book devoted disproportionate amount of space attacking point point verdict of nuremberg. 1 of major changes committee imposed on raeder suppress feud dönitz, , instead presented relations between 2 admirals 1 of friendship, respect , mutual harmony. done largely avoid repeating situation of 1920s dueling memoirs various great war admirals blaming each other defeat had done considerable damage image of navy; instead there united front on history of navy. in addition, there tendency in 1950s present wehrmacht leaders noble , high-minded , morally superior allied commanders had defeated them implication wrong side had won. allowing raeder pursue feud dönitz in print wanted have made him petty, jealous , vindictive, , damaged image of wehrmacht leaders noble , tragic figures. leaders of veterans groups made clear both raeder , dönitz wanted united front on history, , neither of them welcome @ veterans gatherings if made feud public.

in mein leben, argued deadly effect of terms of treaty of versailles justified rearmament in 1930s, , used sacrifice of anglo-german naval agreement of 1935 prove germany not pursuing aggressive policies. in mein leben, stated treaty of versailles unrealistic had had shackled german people enforced ... subjugation, including confiscation of national territory, occupation , military control, disregard people s sovereignty , corresponding humiliation ... , , such versailles treaty , versailles treaty alone responsible third reich. claimed raeder apolitical officer had been doing duty fatherland borne no legal or moral guilt had happened under third reich, , real responsibility nazi crimes rested governments of united kingdom, france , united states had imposed treaty of versailles on germany. claimed allies had reason forbid using resistance against versailles defense @ nuremberg because nazi germany direct consequence of situation created victorious enemy powers in 1918 . along same lines, charged nuremberg trial of 1945–46 meant allies cover decisive part played versailles treaty in causing nazi germany , war crimes committed allies ... by damning whole german nation international outlaw , ... the german people whole indicted sole criminals, guilty of waging malevolent war of aggression . such, nuremberg trials presented having nothing justice, instead political show trial. commando order, cash payments konto 5 slush fund , raeder s calls war united states not mentioned in mein leben. instead claimed raeder opposed war united states , had worked protect neutral shipping during war committee having raeder say: had consider neutrals avoid possible unfortunate incidents @ sea. invasion of norway presented measure protect norway s neutrality britain, , raeder claimed have been political prisoner @ spandau. finally, raeder presented victim of hitler committee having raeder tragedy of life our future took different path . dönitz headed call united front . besides z plan, dönitz called huge mistake, dönitz s memoirs presented raeder in favorable light, leading british historian peter padfield remark open question of 2 grand admirals produced more deliberately dishonest volume .

raeder enjoyed attending , speaking @ gatherings of kriegsmarine veterans, 1 of chief joys of last 5 years of life. through raeder preferred keep low-profile, frequent appearances @ veterans rallies ensured time time name made news. in 1956, city of kiel decided publicly give raeder ehrenbürger ( honorary citizen ) status nazis had awarded him , been taken away british in 1945; after attracting negative media attention on world, raeder secretly asked city government decline award. governments of norway , denmark both submitted notes of protest, complaining outrageous kiel government honour man been convicted of aggression against nations. editors of danish newspapers sent joint public letter theodor heuss called planned award unfriendly act showed contempt feelings of people of denmark, , asked him give ehrenbürger of kiel status if raeder given his. raeder formally declined honour save embarrassing kiel government, entire episode embittered him, , complained felt outcast.

another debate brought raeder s name news had started in january 1956 when captain karl-adolf zenker of bundesmarine gave speech before group of cadets, had mentioned had shown raeder in advance approval, during zenker argued not innocence of raeder , dönitz whom zenker called officers doing duty in ... a war thrust upon them , called raeder , dönitz great heroes should role models when cadets became officers. zenker s speech controversial special session of bundestag called in march 1956 debate issue of whether raeder , dönitz sort of examples bundesmarine officers should following. leading defender of zenker s speech cdu politician commander hellmuth heye, once been officer in kriegsmarine. heye argued of anti-semitic statements made raeder , dönitz historically unimportant because neither had been convicted of crimes against humanity, suggesting these statements forced on them nazi regime , claimed raeder opposed anti-semitism because of efforts protect officers mischlinge. heye argued officers both raeder , dönitz had no choice, follow orders fight country; claimed officers bear no political responsibility following orders, , convictions due post-war psychosis . heye ended speech both raeder , dönitz heroic men , excellent officers had kept morale in kriegsmarine end despite heavy casualties, , hoped every german see them role models. social democratic politician carlo schmid read out in bundestag anti-semitic lines raeder s heroes day speech of 1939; noted raeder had not refused apologise speech, testified @ nuremberg in 1946 believed germany threatened international jewry ; , argued germans have better future meant raeder not role model or seen hero zenker , heye wanted. free democrat erich mende in speech before bundestag noted raeder had accepted bribes hitler, , alone should have disqualified raeder being presented hero next generation of germans. raeder spent last years complaining endlessly of how had been wrongly convicted of war crimes @ nuremberg, maintaining kriegsmarine had fought clean war , service had been apolitical force had nothing national socialism.

in 2002 book die wehrmacht, german historian wolfram wette wrote claims made raeder , other admirals kriegsmarine had nothing holocaust false, , several kriegsmarine units had massacred jews during war. wette stated kriegsmarine had been part of genocidal machinery of national socialist state ss , army were. in 1994, american historian gerhard weinberg wrote successful kriegsmarine operation far of entire war operation hannibal, , that: in these tasks, remnant german navy surprisingly successful. ironically, proved best in missions founders , leaders of imperial , nazi navy had pushed aside pursue world-wide ambitions , offensives; few once argued navy attuned coastal , defensive needs proved right after . american historian charles thomas in 1990 book german navy in nazi era wrote in october–november 1918 when confronted pointless battle in war lost send them watery grave, sailors of high seas fleet mutinied in order live. thomas wrote great achievement of raeder , dönitz avoid repeat of high seas fleet mutiny, , instead ensured thousands of germans time after time willingly went deaths @ sea without protest greater glory of adolf hitler , although increasingly becoming clear time went war lost, making deaths utterly senseless.

erich raeder died in kiel on 6 november 1960. buried in nordfriedhof (north cemetery), kiel.