@ Bill Jurens,
you wrote above :
I never met personally the Baron, but I have a very good friend of mine that was his personal friend and visited him several times, … and from what he described me about the Baron von Mullenheim Rechberg personality, I think I can fully confirm your above impression.The Baron was a fascinating fellow, and resided for many years in Toronto, Canada, as a career diplomat. (During that time, I corresponded with him a bit regarding the accuracy of Bismarck's gunfire.) In that role, he was very careful about his language, and the possible consequences thereof. He would never tell a lie outright -- dead honest in that regard -- but was very good at telling only that part of the truth which was diplomatically advantageous and sufficient to answer the question. It was only a fair bit afterwards that I discovered how carefully nuanced some of his statements were. Diplomatic conversation -- telling 'just enough' -- is an art, and he was very good at it.
More, I have interviewed many German Bismarck and Prinz Eugen survivors as well as German survivors from many other warships.
There is a common attitude on responding your questions you perceive immediately, a very cautionary way to tell you only what asked and nothing more.
Only when they realize you only care about history and nothing else, … then you have something more and they start being a bit more relaxed and open.
Of course when they realize that you know a lot about their lived experiences, … then you can have what they have kept secret form many years, … and you can learn something new from them too.
Bye Antonio