Editing Kriegsmarine (section)

===War crimes===
[[File:Nazi orders against Jews Liepaja 1941 01.jpg|thumb|right|Anti-Jewish measures ordered by the German naval commander in Liepāja, 5 July 1941<ref name = KzV_070541/>]]
{{See also|German occupation of Latvia during World War II|Liepāja massacres}}
Following the capture of [[Liepāja]] in [[Latvia]] by the Germans on 29 June 1941, the town came under the command of the ''Kriegsmarine''. On 1 July 1941, the town commandant ''[[Korvettenkapitän]]'' Stein ordered that ten hostages be shot for every act of sabotage, and further put civilians in the zone of targeting by declaring that Red Army soldiers were hiding among them in civilian attire.

On 5 July 1941 ''Korvettenkapitän'' Brückner, who had taken over from Stein, issued a set of anti-Jewish regulations<ref name = Ezer_209>Ezergailis, ''The Holocaust in Latvia'', at page 209</ref> in the local newspaper, ''[[Kurzemes Vārds]]''.<ref name = KzV_070541>{{in lang|lv}} [http://data.lnb.lv/nba01/KurzemesVards/1941/KurzemesVards1941-004.pdf ''Kurzemes Vārds'', 5 July 1941, page 1, at website of National Library of Latvia.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030164347/http://data.lnb.lv/nba01/KurzemesVards/1941/KurzemesVards1941-004.pdf |date=30 October 2018 }}</ref> Summarized, the regulations were as follows:<ref name = Ezer_233n26>Ezergailis, ''The Holocaust in Latvia'', at page 233, n.26 and page 287</ref>
* All Jews were to wear the [[Yellow badge|yellow star]] on the front and back of their clothing;
* Shopping hours for Jews were restricted to 10:00&nbsp;a.m. to 12:00 noon. Jews were only allowed out of their residences for these hours and from 3:00&nbsp;p.m. to 5:00&nbsp;p.m.;
* Jews were barred from public events and transportation and were not to walk on the beach;
* Jews were required to leave the pavement if they encountered a German in uniform;
* Jewish shops were required to display the sign "A Jewish-owned business" in the window;
* Jews were to surrender all radios, typewriters, uniforms, arms, and means of transportation

On 16 July 1941, ''[[Fregattenkapitän]]'' Dr. Hans Kawelmacher was appointed the German naval commandant in Liepāja.<ref name = Vestermanis_224>Dribins, Leo, Gūtmanis, Armands, and Vestermanis, Marģers, Latvia's Jewish Community: History, Tragedy, Revival (2001) at page 224</ref> On 22 July, Kawelmacher sent a telegram to the German Navy's Baltic Command in [[Kiel]], which stated that he wanted 100 [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] and fifty ''[[Schutzpolizei (Nazi Germany)|Schutzpolizei]]'' (protective police) men sent to Liepāja for "quick implementation Jewish problem".<ref name = Anders_126>Anders and Dubrovskis, ''Who Died in the Holocaust'', at pages 126 and 127</ref> Kawelmacher hoped to accelerate the killings, complaining: "Here about 8,000 Jews... with present SS-personnel, this would take one year, which is untenable for [the] pacification of Liepāja."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liepāja |url=https://www.liepajajews.org/LGhetto.pdf |website=Liepāja Jews in WWII}}</ref> Kawelmacher telegram on 27 July 1941 read: "Jewish problem Libau largely solved by execution of about 1,100 male Jews by Riga SS commando on 24 and 25.7."<ref name = Anders_126/>

In September 1939, U-boat commander [[Fritz-Julius Lemp]] of [[German submarine U-30 (1936)|''U-30'']] sank [[SS Athenia (1922)]] after mistaking it for a legitimate military target, resulting in the deaths of 117 civilians. Germany did not admit responsibility for the incident until after the war. Lemp was killed in action in 1941. U-247 was alleged to have shot at sunken ship survivors, but as the vessel was lost at sea with its crew, there was no investigation.

In 1945, U-boat Commander [[Heinz-Wilhelm Eck]] of {{GS|U-852||2}} was tried along with four of his crewmen for shooting at survivors. All were found guilty, with three of them, including Eck, being executed. In 1946, [[Hellmuth von Ruckteschell]] was sentenced to 10 years in prison, reduced to 7 years on appeal, for the illegal sinking of ships and criminal negligence for failing to protect the downed crew of the [[SS Anglo Saxon (1929)|SS Anglo Saxon]]. Ruckteschell died in prison in 1948.