Historic Document CCXCV1 is the most important of all the documents relating to the war published in this history, it is the teams of the final act of unconditional surrender in Berlin of all Germany’s armed forces to representatives of the Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet High Command.
Documents CCXCV11 to CCC1 are the texts of announcements made by the German leaders who succeeded Hitler to their people immediately before and after this act.
Terms of the Final Act of Unconditional Surrender of Germany’s Armed Forces signed in Berlin at 00.16 hours on May 8th 1945.
1.We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and simultaneously to the Supreme High Command of the Red Army, all forces on land, at sea, and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2.The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval, and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 23.01 hours, Central European Time, on May 8th 1945, to remain in the positions occupied at that time and to disarm completely, handing over their weapons and equipment to the local allied commanders or officers designated by re presentatives of the Allied Supreme Commands. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hulls, machinery, or equipment, nor to machines of all kinds, armament, apparatus, and all the technical means of prosecution of war in general.
3.The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commanders, and ensure the carrying out of, any further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and by the Supreme High Command of the Red Army.
4.This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument, of surrender imposed by or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to Germany and the German armed forces as a whole.
5.In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in accordance with this act of surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and the Supreme High Command of the Red Army will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
6.This act is drawn up in the English, Russian, and German languages.
The English and Russian are the authentic texts.
Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, C in C. of the German Navy, announced his succession to Hitler on May 1st 1945, in the following broadcast.
German men and women soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, our Fuehrer, Adolf Hitler, has fallen. The German people bow in deepest mourning and veneration.
He recognized beforehand the terrible danger of Bolshevism and devoted his life to fighting it. At the end of this, his battle, and his unswerving straight path of life, stands his death as a hero in the capital of the Reich. All his life meant service to the German people. His battle against the Bolshevist flood benefited not only Europe but the whole world.
The Fuehrer has appointed me his successor. Fully conscious of the responsibility, I take over the leadership of the German people at this fateful hour. It is my first task to save the German people from destruction by the Bolshevists and it is only to achieve this that the fight continues.
As long as the British and Americans hamper us from reaching this end we shall fight and defend ourselves against them as well. The British and Americans do not fight for the interests of their own people, but for the spreading of Bolshevism.
What the German people have achieved and suffered is unique in history. In the coming times of distress of our people I shall do my utmost to make life bearable for our brave women, men, and children.
To achieve all this I need your help. Trust me, keep order and discipline in towns and the countryside. Everyone do his duty. Only thus shall we be able to alleviate the sufferings which the future will bring to each of us and avoid collapse. If we do all that is in our power to do, the Lord will not abandon us.
The following order of the day was issued on May 1st to the Wehrmacht by Admiral Doenitz as its new Supreme Commander.
The Fuehrer has fallen. He fell faithful to his great ideal to save the peoples of Europe from Bolshevism. He staked his life, and died the death of a hero. With his passing one of the greatest heroes of German history has passed away. In proud reverence and sorrow we lower our flag before him.
The Fuehrer has appointed me his successor as Head of the State and Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht. I assume supreme command of the Wehrmacht with the determination to continue the struggle against Bolshevism until the fighting troops and the hundreds of thousands of families of the German eastern territories are rescued from enslavement or extermination. Against the British and Americans I shall continue the struggle so far and so long as they hinder me in carrying out the fight against Bolshevism. The situation demands from you, who have already accomplished such great historical feats and who are now longing for the end of the war, further struggle without question. I demand discipline and obedience without reserve to my orders. He who at this moment shirks his duty is a coward and a traitor, for he brings death or slavery to German women and children. The oath of allegiance you swore to the Fuehrer now applies to each one of you without further formality to myself. German soldiers. Do your duty. The life of our people is at stake.
Professor Albert Speer, Minister of Armaments and War Production on May 3rd ordered the German people to work for reconstruction in a broadcast as follows.
Never before have a cultured people been smitten as grievously as the German people now. Never before has any land been so laid waste by the fury of the war as has Germany. You are all disheartened now and incensed. Instead of faith, desperation has entered your hearts, you have become tired and cynical. This must not be. The bearing of the German nation in this war has been such that, in times to come, future generations will upon it with admiration. Lets us not stop to cry out our eyes about the past. To work!
The havoc wrought by this war has only one parallel in history. The Thirty Years War. Yet the decimation of the people by starvation and plagues must not be allowed to reach the proportions of that period. That and that alone, is the reason why Admiral Doenitz has resolved not to lay down arms. This is the only meaning of the continuance of the struggle to prevent the death of fleeing German men. It is our last duty, and the German people have to shoulder it. It rests with our enemies to decide whether they wish to grant to the German people the possibilities that lie pen to a nation which is defeated but which has shown its heroic spirit in battle, and imprinted its reputation on the pages of history as a generous and decent opponent. Yet each one of us must contribute his share and in the months to come devote our strength to the work of reconstruction. You must overcome your lethargy, your paralysing despair. I therefore issue this order to you for the immediate future.
1.The most urgent work is the repair of the damage done to the German railway system. As far as the enemy allows it, or where he orders it, the reconstruction work has to be speeded up with every means, to make possible the transportation of food stuffs to areas where starvation stares the people in the face. Remember that the only possibility of rejoining your families lies in the rehabilitation of the German railways.
2.Both industrial factories and workshops of artisans are under an obligation to carry out as quickly as possible any order concerning the repairs of the railways system.
3.The German farmers, who in six years of war have obeyed their instructions, fully realizing their responsibility towards the entire German nation, have now to raise their deliveries to the peak.
4.Foodstuffs must have priority in transportation over all other goods. Food, electric current, and gas, as well as coal and wood producing enterprises, must be supplied before any others. If we work with the same tenacity as we have done during the past years, the German nation can be kept alive without further serious losses. Whether our enemies will allow this we cannot yet foretell. It is however, my duty to use all my strength to keep the German nation alive.
The direction of our fate no longer lies in our hands. Only divine providence can alter our future. We ourselves can, however contribute to it by doing our work with determination and industry, by meeting our enemies with dignity and self confidence, by becoming more modest at heart, and by keeping an unwavering belief in the future of our people which, for ever, will remain our most important concern.
May God protect Germany!
Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk, Foreign Minister in Doenitz’s short lived government, broadcast to the German people on May 7th, news of Germany’s unconditional surrender as follows.
German men and women, the High Command of the Wehrmacht has today, at the order of the Grand Admiral Doenitz, declared the unconditional surrender of all fighting German troops. As the leading minister of the Reich Government which the Grand Admiral has appointed for dealing with the war tasks. I turn at this tragic moment of our history to the German nation. After a heroic fight of almost six years of incomparable hardness, Germany has succumbed to the overwhelming power of her enemies…
A government which has a feeling of responsibility for the future of its nation was compelled to act on the collapse of all physical and material forces and to demand of the enemy the cessation of hostilities. It was the noblest task of the Grand Admiral and of the government supporting him, after the terrible sacrifices which the war demanded, to save in the last phase of the war the lives of a maximum number of fellow countrymen. That the war was not ended immediately, simultaneously in the west and in the east, is to be explained by this reason alone. In this gravest hour of the German nation and its empire, we bow in deep reverence before the dead of this war. Their sacrifices place the highest obligations on us. Our sympathy goes out above all to the wounded, the bereaved, and to all on whom this struggle has inflicted blows.
No one must be under any illusions about the severity of the terms to be imposed on the German people by our enemies. We must now face our fate squarely and unquestioningly. Nobody can be in any doubt that the future will be difficult for each one of us, and will exact sacrifices from us in every sphere of life. We must accept this burden, and stand loyally by the obligations we have undertaken. Once again we must set ourselves to stride along a path through the dark future. From the collapse of the past, let us preserve and save one thing, the unity of ideas of a national community which in the years of war has found its highest expression in the spirit of comradeship at the front and readiness to help one another in all the distress which has afflicted the homeland.
In our nation justice shall be the supreme law and the guiding principle.
We must also recognize law as the basis of all relations between the nations. We must recognize it and respect it from inner conviction. Respect for the treaties will be as sacred as the aim of our nation to belong to the European family of nations, as a member of which we want to mobilize all human, moral and material forces in order to heal the dreadful wounds which the war has caused.
Then we may hope that the atmosphere of hatred which today surrounds Germany all over the world will give place to a spirit of reconciliation among the nations without which world cannot recover. Then we may hope that our freedom will be restored to us, without which no nation can lead a bearable and dignified existence.
We wish to devote the future to our nation to the return of the innermost and best forces of German nature, which have given to the world imperishable works and values. We view with pride the heroic struggle of our people and we shall combine with our pride in that struggle the will to contribute as a member of western culture, honest, peaceful labour a contribution which expresses the best traditions of our nation.
May God not forsake us in our distress, and bless us in our heavy task.
Grand Admiral Doenitz told the German people on May 8th of the cessation of hostilities in the following broadcast.
German men and women, when I addressed you on May 1st to announce the death of the Fuehrer and my appointment as his successor, I told you that my first task would be to spare the lives of German men and women. In conformity therewith I ordered the High Command of the Wehrmacht surrender of all German fighting troops in all theatres of war. From 23 hours Central European Time on May 8th the guns will be silent. German soldiers, veterans of countless battles, are now treading the bitter path to captivity and are thereby making the last sacrifice for the life of our women and children and the future of our nation. We bow in respect to their gallantry, which they have proved a thousand times. We remember the fallen and the prisoners.
I have promised our brave men, women, and children to provide them with endurable living conditions so far as it is in my power to do so in the coming difficult time. I do not know yet what I shall be able to do to help you in these hard times. We have to face facts. The foundation on which the German Reich was built is a thing of the past. The unity of state and party no longer exists. The party has disappeared from the scene of its former activity. With the occupation of Germany power has passed into the hands of the occupation forces. It depends on them whether I and the Reich government formed by me will be able to continue in office or not. If I can be of assistance to the Fatherland by continuing in office, I shall do so until the German people have a chance to express their will by appointing a head of State or until the occupation powers make it impossible for me to continue in office….
There is a difficult role ahead for every one of us. We must tread it with the dignity, gallantry, and discipline which the memory of our dead. Demands of us. We must be inspired by the will to do our best in work and achievement, without which there can be no basis for a future life . We may tread the road in the hope that the time will come when our children will live a free and secure life in a Europe at peace. I do not want to lag behind you on this thorny path. If my duty calls me to remain in office, I shall try to help you all I can. If however, duty requires me to depart, this step will be taken in service to the people and the Reich.
