Badges/War's End

[R. J. Kimmel]

The date of 8 th May 1945 is the most commonly recognized date for the end of the Third Reich, or is it?

When writing my book I had received a letter from Flottillenadmiral a.D. Otto Kretschmer. In it he stated that "My opinion about the end of the Third Reich corresponds very well with yours. It is not the 8 th May 1945, but later on the day of the arrest of Donitz and his government by the British forces of occupation. This terminates the de-facto end of political power. The de-jure end might still be at a later date when in addition to the military occupation the political power was taken over by the Control Council of the victorious nations."

Richard