On this day 3rd May 1945.
Admiral Dönitz established the seat of his government in Flensburg.
Dönitz was surprised when he learned he had been named Hitler’s successor, and he was not alone. When General of the Waffen SS Obergruppenfürer Felix Steiner heard of Dönitz’s appointment, Steiner reportedly responded “Who is this Herr Dönitz?” Dönitz later claimed that Hitler made this choice “because he felt, doubtlessly, that only a reasonable man with an honest reputation as a sailor could make a decent peace.” Dönitz later told his American captors that he immediately set about surrendering German forces after assuming power, but in fact, the admiral prolonged the war as long as possible.
As Germany’s military situation deteriorated, Dönitz attempted to negotiate a favorable surrender with the western allies in order to avoid abandoning German soldiers and equipment to the Soviet Union. Dönitz knew that Soviet captivity would likely mean death for hundreds of thousands of German soldiers. But Hitler had sealed these soldiers’ fates years earlier by insisting on a policy of no retreat. Dönitz had endorsed this decision not only by supporting Hitler but by ordering German sailors to face Soviet tanks in Berlin.
Now, Germany’s rapid collapse prevented Dönitz’s attempts to control events. German commanders who felt no personal loyalty to Dönitz began surrendering in the west. The mass surrenders of the German 12th Army and parts of the 9th Army gave Dönitz hope, however, that he could negotiate a partial peace with the United States and Great Britain. Dönitz attempted to use occupied Denmark and Norway as bargaining chips in these efforts. American General Dwight Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery refused these overtures and demanded the unconditional surrender of all German forces. Still, Dönitz urged German forces to keep fighting, and even upheld Hitler’s directive to destroy German infrastructure until May 6th.
When Dönitz learned of Eisenhower’s insistence on a simultaneous German surrender on all fronts without the destruction of ships or airplanes, the German leader regarded it as unacceptable. From Dönitz’s headquarters in the town of Flensburg on the Danish border, he instructed his lieutenants to cable Eisenhower that a complete capitulation was impossible but a capitulation in the west would be immediately accepted.
Eisenhower held steadfast in his resolve and threatened to resume bombing raids and close borders to those fleeing from the east if Dönitz did not sign a surrender on May 7. Only when Dönitz was faced with this threat of consigning all German soldiers outside American lines to Soviet captivity did he finally agree to surrender.
The fact that the capitulation would not go into effect until midnight on May 8 was a small consolation that gave German soldiers 48 hours to flee to American lines. Dönitz authorized General Alfred Jodl to sign the document of surrender, which the latter did at 2:41 AM on May 7 at Reims in occupied France. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin then insisted on another signing ceremony in Berlin which took place in the early morning hours of May 9.
Admiral Karl Dönitz is arrested in Flensburg, Germany by British soldiers on May 23, 1945. Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
Curiously, Dönitz and his administration were allowed to remain in Flensburg for another two weeks. They spent their time holding cabinet meetings in which they debated meaningless matters of policy such as whether portraits of Hitler should be removed. Dönitz was finally arrested by the allies on May 23.