Admiral Karl Dönitz
On September 16, 1891, Karl Dönitz was born near Berlin, Germany. He started his military career in 1911 starting on surface ships and later switching to U-Boats. He ended WWI as a prisoner of war of the British military. After the war, he quickly rose through the ranks until he became the commander of Submarine Operations in Germany. Following Hitler’s rise to power, he spearheaded the construction of Nazi Germany’s U-Boat fleet, which directly violated the Treaty of Versailles. Dönitz successfully implemented his trademark, “wolfpack” tactic, in the Battle of the Atlantic. This tactic consisted of Nazi U-Boats forming packs to attack vital Allied shipping to the U.K., France, or Soviet Union. In 1943, Dönitz replaced Admiral Erich Räder as the Commander in Chief of the German Navy. Dönitz was very loyal to the Nazi Party. In a speech in 1944, he condemned anti-Hitler conspirators saying, “The German people have the Fuhrer to thank for everything, absolutely everything. If we hadn't been given the Fuhrer, there would be no people left in Germany.'' After Hitler’s suicide in April 30, 1945, Hitler appointed Dönitz as his heir, instead of Göring or Goebbels. Dönitz was Germany’s Fuhrer for twenty-three days, until he signed Nazi Germany’s surrender. Dönitz was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Nuremberg court and then spent the rest of his life in a small village near Hamburg.