Important D.S in English and signed by Leopold Burkner. An amazing account of the final German surrender, undertaken in Berlin on May 8, 1945 with German Admiral Leopold Burkner serving as Chief of Protocol.

Burkner describes the arrival in Berlin of von Friedeburg, Keitel, and Stumpff via a U.S. air transport. He asks to be driven through the center of the ruined city and asked his Russian escort: “Was this necessary?” The response: “You should not have defended it that way”.

The content of the surrender discussions is briefly described, with changes requested by Zhukov, and he notes that severely wounded Allied soldiers are allowed a table to view the proceedings. He also notes that after signing, Keitel left the German copy of the surrender on the table!

German Admiral Leopold Burkner (1894 – 1975), served on torpedo boats in World War I, later serving on a pocket battleship that patrolled the Spanish coast during the Spanish Civil War and then commanded a light cruiser. In 1938 he became head of the foreign liaison section of the Abwehr.