Alfred Jodl

German military officer and convicted war criminal

Alfred Jodl was a German military officer and convicted war criminal who served as Chief of the Operations Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht during World War II.^[1] He was born Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl on 10 May 1890 and was executed on 16 October 1946.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Office: Chief of the Operations Staff; of the Wehrmacht High Command
Took office: 1 September 1939
Left office: 13 May 1945
Birth name: Alfred Josef Baumgärtler
Born: 10 May 1890
Birthplace: Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany
Died: 16 October 1946
Place of death: Nuremberg Prison, Bavaria, Germany

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Jodl graduated from a military cadet school in Munich in 1910.^[2] Jodl met Adolf Hitler for the first time in September 1939.^[3] Jodl signed the German Instrument of Surrender on 7 May 1945 in Reims on behalf of the OKW.^[4] He was arrested by British troops on 23 May 1945 and put before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg.^[5]

Ferdinand Jodl, Alfred's younger sibling, also attained the rank of army general.^[2] Alfred Jodl was the nephew of philosopher Friedrich Jodl; his upbringing was Roman Catholic, but he later abandoned that faith.^[2] For gallantry in action during 1918, Jodl received the Iron Cross 1st Class.^[6] On 23 August 1939, just before the invasion of Poland, Hitler selected Jodl to lead the Operations Staff of the newly established Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW).^[7]

What the cited sources add

Jodl's wife Luise attached herself to his defence team and later alleged that the prosecution made charges based on documents refused to the defence.^[8] His remains were cremated and the ashes scattered to prevent a permanent burial site.^[9] In 2018 the local council ordered the cross removed, but a 2019 Munich court upheld relatives' right to maintain the grave.^[10] Jodl demonstrated the falsity of certain accusations, including the claim that he assisted Hitler's 1933 seizure of power in Germany.^[11]

References

Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tofahrn 2008, p. 129–130 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jodl 1946, p. 663; Railton, Nicholas M. "Henry Gerecke and the Saints of Nuremberg." Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte, vol. 13, no. 1, 2000, pp. 112–137. . Accessed 8 February 2021. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Alfred Jodl Encyclopedia.com", encyclopedia.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kershaw, Ian (2012). The End; Germany 1944–1945. Penguin Books, p. 370; Shepherd 2016, p. 519 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Crowe 2013, p. 87 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Görlitz 1989, p. 155; Görlitz 1989, p. 155 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Encyclopædia Britannica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: tercer-reich.com 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Darnstädt 2005, p. 128; Manvell Fraenkel 2011, p. 393; Overy 2001, p. 205 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Passauer Neue Pressee 2018; Der Spiegel 2019; Bayerische Staatkanzlei 2019, p. § 40 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Alfred Jodl" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sereny 1995, p. 578 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Alfred Jodl (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.