Laconia Order

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The Laconia Order (German: Laconia-Befehl) was issued by Großadmiral Karl Dönitz during World War II as a result of the Laconia incident, forbidding the rescue of any survivors. Prior to this incident, vessels of the Kriegsmarine sometimes picked up survivors of sunk Allied vessels out of mercy. In September 1942, off the coast of West Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, the German submarine vessels—among them U-156, U-506 and U-507—attempting to rescue British and Italian survivors of the ocean liner RMS Laconia were indiscriminately attacked by patrolling American aircraft, despite flying Red Cross flags and having informed the Allies of the rescued soldiers, as well as civilian women and children, via open radio. The order was as follows: All efforts to save survivors of sunken ships, such as the fishing out of swimming men and putting them on board lifeboats, the righting of overturned lifeboats, or the handing over of food and water, must stop. Rescue contradicts the most basic demands of the war: the destruction of hostile ships and their crews. The orders concerning the bringing-in of captains and chief engineers stay in effect. Survivors are to be saved only if their statements are important for the boat. Be harsh. Remember that the enemy has no regard for women and children when bombing German cities! This order, along with War Order No. 154 of 1939, were introduced by the prosecution at the postwar Nuremberg trial of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz at which Dönitz was indicted for war crimes, including the issuance of the Laconia Order: The prosecution has introduced much evidence surrounding two orders of Dönitz, War Order No. 154, issued in 1939, and the so-called Laconia Order of 1942. The defense argues that these orders and the evidence supporting them do not show such a policy and introduced much...