7188 - Erich Raeder Document Signed at Nuremberg - Witness Request for Architect of Germany’s Secret Naval Rearmament

Erich Raeder Document Signed at Nuremberg - Witness Request for Architect of Germany’s Secret Naval Rearmament Partly-printed DS, in German, one page, 8 x 11.75, January 19, 1946. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Raeder and his defense lawyer request testimony from "Walter Lohmann, Viceadmiral," stating that his testimony is necessary for "refutation of point 1 of the indictment." Signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Raeder, and countersigned by his defense counsel. Backed by lightweight cardstock and in fine condition. Accompanied by a contemporary English translation and a lengthy fact sheet certified by Rader's attorney, laying out six points Lohmann's testimony was meant to establish: that violations of the Versailles Treaty were limited in scope and designed only for defensive purposes, not aggression; that Germany built fewer ships than the treaty allowed; that the 1935 Naval Agreement proved no war of aggression was planned and was itself observed; that increased displacement on armored ships resulted only from defensive design considerations; that fewer ships were built than the Naval Agreement permitted; and that neither Raeder nor the Navy had any knowledge of the planned Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor until after it occurred. Walter Lohmann managed covert 'black fund' financing during the Weimar Republic, including front operations like the Phoebus film studio, used to secretly subsidize German naval aviation and submarine development in violation of Versailles. Raeder called him to argue this clandestine rearmament was a defensive, state sanctioned response to Germany's post-World War I weakness rather than a step in a criminal conspiracy for aggressive war, and further used the fact sheet to address the Pearl Harbor question directly. As with Raeder's other witness applications in this archive, the defense strategy ultimately failed: the Tribunal found the rearmament tied to the wider Nazi conspiracy to wage war, and Raeder was convicted on all three counts and sentenced to life imprisonment.