The ''Laconia'' Order () was issued by
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a result of the
''Laconia'' incident, forbidding the rescue of any survivors.
Prior to this incident, vessels of the customarily picked up survivors of sunk
Allied vessels. In September 1942, off the coast of
West Africa
West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, the German vessels—among them , and —attempting to rescue survivors of the ocean liner were indiscriminately attacked by patrolling American aircraft, despite flying a
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
flag and prior having informed via open radio the Allies of the rescued soldiers as well as civillian women and children.
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 #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials
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