Wilhelm Keitel
German field marshal and chief of the Wehrmacht high command.
He joined the Prussian Army as an officer cadet in 1901 after his plan to manage the family estates failed.[1] During World War I he served on the Western Front, was severely wounded in Flanders, and by 1915 was a captain on an infantry division staff.[1] Keitel signed criminal orders from April 1941 that authorized executions of Jews, civilians, and non-combatants, and he rebuffed military lawyers who argued for Geneva Convention treatment of Soviet prisoners.[2][3] At his trial he admitted knowing many of Hitler's orders were illegal but argued he was following orders; the tribunal rejected this and found no mitigation.[4][5]
Wilhelm Keitel, the first-born child of landowner Carl Keitel and Apollonia Vissering, came into the world in the village of Helmscherode, located in Brunswick.[6]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel
- Born
- 22 September 1882
- Died
- 16 October 1946
- Birthplace
- Helmscherode, Germany
- Place of death
- Nuremberg, Germany
- Spouse
- Lisa Fontaine, 18 April 1909
- Relatives
- Bodewin Keitel (brother)
- Nickname
- "Lakeitel"
Facts from the source article.
What the cited sources add
A contemporary news account reports that Keitel was the first military leader executed under the new international-law principle that soldiers cannot escape punishment for aggressive war by claiming superior orders.[7] The same source notes that witnesses agreed Keitel showed more courage on the scaffold than in the courtroom, where he had tried to shift guilt onto Hitler.[7] Keitel's last words, according to the news report, included "I follow now my sons – all for Germany"[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mitcham Mueller 2012, p. 1; Goerlitz 2003, p. 140 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Heer Manoschek Pollak Wodak 2008, p. 17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mazower 2008, p. 160; Förster 1998, p. 276 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: de Vabres 2008; Darnstädt 2005; Walker 2006, p. 85 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: de Vabres 2008 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Wilhelm Keitel" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Keitel 2000, p. 13; Keitel 2000, p. 13; Keitel 2000, p. 13 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "The Execution of Nazi War Criminals", famous-trials.com. facts only, no text reused. famous-trials.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Wilhelm Keitel (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.
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