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dated September 28, 1955: Nazi strategist freed

Erich Raeder, 79-year-old former Commander-in-Chief of Hitler's Navy, flew to Hanover on September 26, hours after his release from the Spandau prison where he had served nine years of a life sentence for war crimes. The ex-Grand Admiral was blamed by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal for conceiving the Nazi invasion of Norway and for U-boat atrocities. A four-power communiqué issued on September 26 from British, American, French and Soviet authorities said he was being released because of his advanced age and the state of his health. His wife, Erika Raeder, who was arrested by the Soviet troops in 1945 and then released in 1949 without ever coming to trial, accompanied the ex-Grand Admiral on the plane flight to Hanover. Raeder told reporters before boarding the plane, "I do not plan to enter politics - that is the last thing I want to do." Raeder was Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy until 1943 when he was relieved from his post after a quarrel with Hitler. He was the second major war criminal to be released. The first was Konstantin von Neurath, Hitler's first Foreign Minister, who left the jail last November aged 81.

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