7202 - Karl Dönitz Autograph Note Signed to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg

Karl Dönitz Autograph Note Signed to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg ANS in pencil, in German, signed "Karl Dönitz," one page, 8 x 10.5, October 26, 1945. Handwritten note to the Nuremberg IMT requesting to speak with Major Airey Neave, in full (translated): "Prison Office. To the General Secretary of the International Military Tribunal, Court House, Nuremberg. Please may I speak to Major Neave." Backed by archival paper and in fine condition. Written just days after Dönitz was formally served with the Nuremberg indictment on October 19, 1945, this note dates to the tense preparatory period before the International Military Tribunal opened on November 20. Dönitz, Hitler’s designated successor and former commander-in-chief of the German Navy, was among the senior Nazi leaders charged by the tribunal. Major Airey Neave, a British barrister and celebrated wartime escapee from Colditz, was serving with the Nuremberg administration and personally participated in serving the defendants with their indictments and advising them of their right to counsel. Dönitz was ultimately found guilty on two of three counts, war crimes and crimes against peace. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, the lightest sentence handed down to any of the major defendants.