WWII German surrender order on sale in New York

Marooned on a naval base in northwest Germany, pinned down by advancing Allied forces and Adolf Hitler dead, the last leader of the Third Reich hammered out a surrender order. Seventy years later the telex will go on auction in New York tomorrow. The flimsy sheet of pink paper is valued at $20,000 to $30,000, and is an incredibly rare relic from the world’s deadliest conflict. In it, Karl Doenitz tells the head of the Luftwaffe, Field Marshal Robert von Greim, that he has signed an unconditional surrender and that all hostilities will cease at 1:00 am on May 9, 1945.

This was unavoidable in order to prevent the complete destruction of certain parts of the front, which was expected to occur in a short time, and, in so doing, to save as many people as possible for Germany.

Text from the telegram, explaining the surrender

Tom Lamb, history expert and curator of Wednesday’s sale at Bonhams, said the survival of the telegram was extraordinary, given the German policy of burning everything whenever they pulled out. Von Greim received the telegram at 10:40pm on May 8. He fled Germany and was arrested by US forces outside Prague, the telegram found in his attache case. It was kept by the interrogating officer of the US Army and is being offered for sale by a private American collector. Lamb expects significant interest in the sale, not only from American buyers by German and British as well.

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