Alfred Jodl

German general and convicted war criminal (1890–1946)

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Lived 1890–1946, aged 56Germany

Germany PoliticiansPolitician

Wikipedia
61 languages
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Era
1890–1946
Aged 56
Known for
Hitler: A Career
1977

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

Chief of Operations for the German Armed Forces High Command through the Second World War, signing orders that led to his conviction and execution at Nuremberg in 1946.

Biography

About

Born Alfred Josef Baumgärtler on 10 May 1890, Jodl rose through German military ranks to become Chief of the Operations Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, a post he held throughout World War II. After Germany's defeat, the Allies indicted him at Nuremberg on charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, planning and waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The case against him centered on his signing of the Commando and Commissar Orders—directives that violated the laws of war. The tribunal found him guilty on all counts. He was hanged in Nuremberg on 1…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Alfred Jodl

Alfred Jodl

said16 Oct 1946

My greetings to you, my Germany.

— Last words (16 October 1946). Quoted in Jon E. Lewis The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness World War II (2002), p. 566.

Alfred Jodl

said17 Mar 1946

Ah, you come to see the others but rarely to see me.

— To Leon Goldensohn (17 March 1946), as cited in Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately The Nuremberg Interviews (2004).

Alfred Jodl

said17 Mar 1946

Yes, I'm very normal, everything is okay, I won't become a psychiatric case.

— To Leon Goldensohn (17 March 1946), as cited in Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately The Nuremberg Interviews (2004).

Alfred Jodl

said10 Mar 1946

But then I ask myself, I have never truly known the man whose flank I have led one difficult and ascetic life for.

— About Hitler, at the Nuremberg Trial (10 March 1946), as cited in Percy Ernst Schramm Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader.

Alfred Jodl

said1946

Death - by hanging! - that, at least, I did not deserve. The death part - all right, somebody has to stand for the responsibility. But that - that I did not deserve!

— To Dr. G. M. Gilbert, after receiving the death sentence and getting annoyed more at the method of execution, hanging. Quoted in G. M.

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