October 1st, 2006, 09:23 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: HK Nationalist China / LA USA
Posts: 225
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German surrender announcment
As many posters have posted wartime declarations of both sides in this section, here are the 2 German surrender announcments, one by the Foreign mininster and the other, the last war comminique of the Wehrmacht.
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The Last War Comminque of the Wehrmacht
In East Prussia - German divisions even yesterday gallantly defended to the very last the Vistula mouth and the western part of the Frisches Nehrung. The Seventh Division distinguished itself particularly in this fighting. To their Commander in Chief, General of Tank Troops von Saucken, were awarded diamonds to the Oak Leaves with swords to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in recognition of the exemplary gallantry of his soldiers.
As an advanced bulwark, our armies in Courland [Latvia], under the well-proved command of Colonel General Guenther, tied down superior Soviet rifle and armored formations through many months and acquired eternal glory in six great battles. They refused any premature surrender. Only the wounded, and later numerous children, were transported in full order by aircraft that still left for the west. Staffs and officers remained with their troops.
At midnight all fighting and all movements were suspended on the German side, under the conditions that had been signed.
The defenders of Breslau, who resisted Soviet attacks for more than two months, succumbed to enemy superiority in the last hour after a heroic struggle.
On the Southeast and East Fronts, from Fiume to Brno [Bruenn] to the Elbe near Dresden, all the higher military authorities have received the order to cease fire.
A Czech rising is taking place in the whole of Bohemia and Moravia and may threaten the execution of the capitulation conditions as well as communications in that area.
The High Command of the Armed-Forces so far has not received any reports regarding the situation of the army groups Loehr, Rendulic and Schoerner.
Far from home, the defenders of the Atlantic bases, our forces in Norway and garrisons of the Aegean Islands have maintained the military honor of the German soldier in obedience and discipline.
Since midnight all weapons have been silent on all fronts on orders of the Grand Admiral, and the armed forces have ceased the fighting, which has now become hopeless, thus ending a heroic struggle that lasted almost six years. This struggle brought us great victories. But also heavy defeats. In the end the German Wehrmacht succumbed with honor to enormous superiority.
Loyal to his oath, the German soldier's performance in a supreme effort for his people can never be forgotten. Up to the last moment the homeland had supported him with all its strength in an effort entailing the heaviest sacrifices. The unique performance of the front and homeland will find a final appraisal in the later, just judgment of history.
The enemy, too, will not deny his tribute of respect to the performance and sacrifices of German soldiers on land, at sea and in the air. Every soldier, therefore, may lay aside his weapon proud and erect and set to work in these gravest hours of our history with courage and confidence to safeguard the undying life of our people.
In this grave hour the Wehrmacht remembers its comrades who have died in battle. The dead impose upon us an obligation of unconditional loyalty, obedience and discipline toward the Fatherland, which is bleeding from countless wounds.
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Quote:
German men and women! The High Command of the armed forces has today at the order of Grand Admiral Doenitz declared the unconditional surrender of all fighting German troops.
As the leading Minister of the Reich Government which the Admiral of the Fleet [Doenitz] has appointed for the winding up of all military 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. To continue the war would only mean senseless bloodshed and a futile disintegration.
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 Admiral of the Fleet 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.
We end this gravest hour of the German nation and its Reich.
In this gravest hour of the German nation and its Reich we bow in deep reverence before the dead of this war.
Their sacrifices place the highest obligations on us. Our sympathy goes first to our soldiers. It 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.
We must accept this burden and stand loyally by the obligations we have undertaken. But we must not despair and fall into mute resignation. Once again we must set ourselves to stride along the path through the dark future. These are the factors guaranteeing the best state: unity, justice and liberty.
From the collapse of the past, let us preserve and save one thing-unity, the ideas of the national community, which in the years of war have found' their highest expression in the spirit of comradeship at the front and readiness to help one another in all the distress which has inflicted the homeland.
Shall we retain this unity and not again split up under the stress can we get over the future hard times? We must make right the basis of our nation. 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 concluded 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 the world cannot recover.
Then we may hope that we will again receive the freedom without which no nation can lead a bearable and dignified existence. Let us devote the future of our nation to the meditation of the innermost and best forces of the German spirit, which has given the world lasting achievements and values.
To our pride in the heroic struggle of our nation let us link the determination-belonging as we do to the world of the Christian western civilization-to make to the honest work of peace a contribution which shall be worthy of the best traditions of our nation.
May God not leave us in our efforts. May He bless our difficult task.
Foreign Minster Lutz Scherin Von Krosigk, May 7th, 1945
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