(1882-09-22)22 September 1882 Helmscherode, Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire
Died
16 October 1946(1946-10-16) (aged 64) Nuremberg Prison, Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany
Cause of death
Execution by hanging
Spouse
Lisa Fontaine
(m. 1909)
Relatives
Bodewin Keitel (brother)
Signature
Nickname
"Lakeitel"
Military service
Allegiance
German Empire Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
Branch/service
Imperial German Army Reichsheer German Army
Years of service
1901–1945
Rank
Generalfeldmarschall
Commands
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
Battles/wars
World War I
World War II
Awards
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross
Criminal conviction
Criminal status
Executed
Conviction(s)
Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace Crimes of aggression War crimes Crimes against humanity
Trial
Nuremberg trials
Criminal penalty
Death
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (German pronunciation:[ˈkaɪ̯tl̩]; 22 September 1882 – 16 October 1946) was a German field marshal who held office as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's armed forces, during World War II. He signed a number of criminal orders and directives that led to numerous war crimes.
Keitel's rise to the Wehrmacht high command began with his appointment as the head of the Armed Forces Office at the Reich Ministry of War in 1935. Having taken command of the Wehrmacht in 1938, Adolf Hitler replaced the ministry with the OKW and Keitel became its chief. He was reviled among his military colleagues as Hitler's habitual "yes-man".
After the war, Keitel was indicted by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg as one of the "major war criminals". He was found guilty on all counts of the indictment: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, criminal conspiracy, and war crimes. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in 1946.[1]
^"The Execution of Nazi War Criminals". famous-trials.com. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (German pronunciation: [ˈkaɪ̯tl̩]; 22 September 1882 – 16 October 1946) was a German field marshal who held office...
Personnel Office. Bodewin Keitel was born on 25 December 1888 in Helmscherode, the son of a landowner. He was the brother of WilhelmKeitel, later a field marshal...
Karl-Heinz Keitel (1914–1968), Waffen-SS Sturmbannführer and son of the above WilhelmKeitel Harvey Keitel (born 1939), American actor Stella Keitel (born...
General WilhelmKeitel in which Canaris warned Keitel that the German military would be held responsible for the atrocities in Poland. Keitel responded...
Germany were executed by hanging: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, WilhelmKeitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg,...
Rommel of the charges and, following the instructions of Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel, offered him three choices: report to Hitler and plead not guilty; admit...
on 8 May in Berlin. On 13 May, on the arrest of Generalfeldmarschall WilhelmKeitel, Jodl succeeded him as Chief of OKW. Jodl was arrested, along with the...
this purpose. At the Armed Forces High Command, Generalfeldmarschall WilhelmKeitel had also received a so-called "Führer's decree" from Hitler on 7 December...
Helldorf, who went to WilhelmKeitel with the file on the new Mrs. Blomberg. Helldorff said he was uncertain about what to do. Keitel told Helldorf to take...
definitive surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal WilhelmKeitel on 8 May 1945 (VE Day) in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German leader Adolf...
of the existing military structure. The OKW was led by Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel as Chief of the OKW with the rank of a Reich Minister, which essentially...
including Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and WilhelmKeitel. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav...
effective at midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included WilhelmKeitel, a senior military officer of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces)...
representatives signing as the witnesses. This time, Field-Marshal WilhelmKeitel was the highest representative of Germany at the signing ceremony. This...
Victoria, these claims were untrue. Her mother was, in fact, a cousin of WilhelmKeitel, who later became a field marshal in the German Army during World War...
with others at the table – Mannerheim, Ryti, and Generalfeldmarschall WilhelmKeitel – mostly silent. He discussed the failure of Operation Barbarossa, Italian...
OKH was subordinated to the OKW of the Wehrmacht, under Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel. Later served as the Inspector General of the Bundeswehr (1957–1961)...
stalled on transferring executive military authority to them. On 27 April WilhelmKeitel and Alfred Jodl, of the Army High Command, met at Rheinsberg with Dönitz...
Fromm, however, phoned Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel at the Wolf's Lair and was assured that Hitler was alive. Keitel demanded to know Stauffenberg's whereabouts...
officer who served during World War II as the adjutant to Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel. He is notable for unwittingly helping to place the 20 July plot bomb...
German military law. It was issued on October 18 by Chief of the OKW WilhelmKeitel, and only a dozen copies were distributed by Chief of Operations Staff...
directed by Ennio De Concini. Ferzetti played the role of Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel opposite Alec Guinness (Adolf Hitler), Simon Ward, Adolfo Celi, and...
bunker for less than 40 hours. By 01:00 on 30 April, Field Marshal WilhelmKeitel had reported that all of the forces on which Hitler had been depending...
had entered Berlin. Hitler ordered everyone but WilhelmKeitel, Alfred Jodl, Hans Krebs, and Wilhelm Burgdorf to leave the room, then launched into a...