GERMANY MUST SIGN THEIR SURRENDER: “I SEE NO ALTERNATIVE TO CHAOS BUT SIGNATURE”

GERMANY MUST SIGN THEIR SURRENDER: “I SEE NO ALTERNATIVE TO CHAOS BUT SIGNATURE”
A document of vast historical significance, Field Marshal ALFRED JODL’s desperate telegram to Grossadmiral Karl Donitz urging the German president to accede to Eisenhower’s demand for an immediate unconditional surrender, exclaiming: “…[I] see no alternative to chaos but signature…” On May 6, 1945, having failed to convince Eisenhower to accept a surrender separate from the Soviets, Jodl had been able to obtain a 48-hour period between the signing of an unconditional surrender and the locking in place of all German military forces. This in effect would allow over 1,500,000 German soldiers to avoid capture by the Red Army and flee to what Donitz called “salvation in the west.” Foresightedly, Jodl had already sent Donitz a radiogram instructing those German forces to withdraw to the west. However, Eisenhower had ratcheted-up his demands, insisting that the surrender document be signed without further negotiation, barring which he would immediately close the borders to any and all Germans seeking sanctuary and break off all negotiations. In this dramatic In this dramatic two-page 8.5 x 12 inch handwritten message signed by Jodl and transmitted to Donitz and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel in Flensburg at 9:45 PM, the field marshal vehemently presses the urgency of immediate German capitulation. In full: “General Eisenhower insists we sign today. Otherwise English American [stricken-through] Allied lines will be closed even to persons attempting to surrender individually and negotiations broken off. See no alternative to chaos but signature. Request immediate radio confirmation whether authorization for signing the capitulation will be put into effect. Hostilities will then cease on 9 May 0000 hours our time. [signed] Jodl Generaloberst” Fine condition. Even before this message reached Donitz’s hands, Jodl followed it with another: “Reply to radiogram most urgently and immediately requested.” In Flensburg, Donitz thought the terms to be “sheer extortion” but with the lives of millions at stake, he had no other choice remaining. At 0040 hours on May 7, 1945 Jodl received Donitz’s permission to sign the surrender. On May 7, 1945 at 0241, the unconditional surrender of Germany’s armed forces was signed in the War Room of SHAEF Headquarters in Reims, thus ending an evil tyranny that threatened to dominate the world. This lot was obtained by our consignor directly from Major-General Sir Kenneth William Dobson Strong (1900-1982), a senior officer of the British Army who served as Eisenhower’s chief of intelligence at SHAEF and played a leading part in the negotiations of the unconditional surrender of Germany.