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Wilhelm Keitel

German field marshal (1882-1946) · Germany · Died at 64

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Chief of Nazi Germany's armed forces high command through World War II, signing criminal orders that produced war crimes at scale. His peers knew him as Hitler's reflexive yes-man. The Nuremberg tribunal convicted him on every count and hanged him in 1946.

Historical FiguresPoliticianPoliticsGermanyEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1946Died16 October 19461944Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 in BlackAward1942Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of LibertyAward1939Golden Party BadgeAward1882Born22 September 1882

Also in Deutsch

Photos 6

Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H30220, Wilhelm KeitelBundesarchiv Bild 183-H30220, Wilhelm KeitelR32V50 Gliederung Wehrm. 1939-1945R32V50 Gliederung Wehrm. 1939-1945Courtroom portraits of Rudolph Hess and Wilhelm Keitel created during the Trial of German Major War Criminals at Nuremberg - Ed VebellCourtroom portraits of Rudolph Hess and Wilhelm Keitel created during the Trial of German Major War Criminals at Nuremberg - Ed VebellDrawing of a group of German defendants in their seats created during the Trial of German Major War Criminals at Nuremberg - Ed VebellDrawing of a group of German defendants in their seats created during the Trial of German Major War Criminals at Nuremberg - Ed VebellMemorial, 25th anniversary of the start of World War I, given by Wilhelm Keitel, Helmscherode bei Gandersheim, 1939 AD - Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum - DSC04758Memorial, 25th anniversary of the start of World War I, given by Wilhelm Keitel, Helmscherode bei Gandersheim, 1939 AD - Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum - DSC04758Wilhelm Keitel - German Instrument of SurrenderWilhelm Keitel - German Instrument of Surrender

Awards

Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 in Black1944
Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty1942
Golden Party Badge1939
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Silver Cross of Merit of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order
War Merit Cross (Brunswick)
Friedrich-August-Kreuz
Hanseatic Cross (Bremen)
Clasp to the Iron Cross
Honour Cross of the World War 1914/1918
Wound Badge (1918) in Black
Anschluss Medal
Hanseatic Cross (Hamburg)
Sudetenland Medal with Bar
Memel Medal

In their orbit

Sibling: Bodewin Keitel

About this person

Wilhelm Keitel came up through the German military bureaucracy, appointed head of the Armed Forces Office at the Reich Ministry of War in 1935. When Hitler took direct command of the Wehrmacht in 1938, he dissolved the ministry and created the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht with Keitel as its chief. In that role Keitel signed numerous criminal orders and directives that generated war crimes across occupied Europe. His own officer corps held him in contempt as a man incapable of refusing Hitler anything. The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg indicted him as a major war criminal after Germany's defeat. The court found him guilty on all four counts: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, criminal conspiracy, and war crimes. He was executed by hanging in Nuremberg on 16 October 1946.

Country
Germany
Type
Other
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1882 to 1946 · aged 64

In common with Wilhelm

Manfred von RichthofenBoth received Hanseatic Cross (Bremen)Johannes BlaskowitzBoth received Friedrich-August-KreuzLudwig BeckBoth received Hanseatic Cross (Bremen)Kurt von Hammerstein-EquordBoth received Friedrich-August-KreuzLeonhard KaupischBoth received Hanseatic Cross (Bremen)

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