When Adolf Hitler shot himself in a Berlin bunker, the Nazi regime didn't die with him, not immediately. In an eerie coda to World War II, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, commander of Germany's deadly U-boat fleet, was named Hitler's successor. For three surreal weeks, Dönitz led the so-called Flensburg Government, navigating the ruins of a dead empire, issuing decrees, and negotiating surrender.
This episode explores how a naval officer became the last Führer of Nazi Germany, why he was chosen, what his government tried to accomplish, and how he escaped the noose at Nuremberg despite his deep loyalty to Hitler and the Nazi cause.
Topics Covered:
Dönitz's rise through the Kriegsmarine and U-boat warfare
Why Hitler chose Dönitz over Himmler or Goebbels
The eerie formation and function of the Flensburg Government
Dönitz's strategy to surrender to the West while stalling the Soviets
His arrest, trial at Nuremberg, and controversial prison sentence
Postwar mythmaking and Dönitz's self-portrayal as a "loyal soldier"
The shadowy legacy of a man who ruled Nazi Germany after Hitler
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