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Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (September 22,
1882 - October 16, 1946) was a German Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall)
and a senior military leader during World War II.
Early life and career
He was born in Helmscherode near Hanover, Germany, the son of Carl Keitel a middle-class landowner. He was a career soldier, after education in Göttingen he
became a Fahnenjunker (Cadet Officer) in 1901 and joined the 6th Lower-Saxon Field
Artillery Regiment. He married Lisa Fontaine, in 1909.
During World War I he served on the Western front with the 46th Artillery
Regiment. In September 1914, during the
fighting in Flanders, he was seriously wounded in his right forearm by a shell
fragment. He recovered becoming a member of the German General
Staff in early 1915. Post-war he stayed in the newly created Reichswehr, he played a part in organizing Freikorps
frontier guard units on the Polish border, served as a divisional general staff
officer, and later was an instructor at Hanover Cavalry School for two years.
In late 1924 he was transferred to the Reich Defence Ministry serving as an officer with
the Troop Office (Truppenamt), the post-Versailles
disguised General Staff. He was soon promoted to the head
of the organizational department, a post he retained after the Nazi seizure of power in
1933, in 1935, based on a recommendation by Werner von Fritsch he bacame
the head of the newly created Armed Forces Office (Wehrmachtamt).
OKW and World War II
Keitel, signing the ratified surrender terms for the German Army in Berlin, 5 May 1945
In 1937 he was made a general and in 1938 after the Blomberg-Fritsch Affair and the replacement of the Reichswehrministerium with the
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, High Command of the Armed Forces) he became Chief of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces. He
was made a Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) in
1940.
During World War II Keitel proved a weak and cautious commander: he advised Hitler
against invading France and opposed Operation Barbarossa. Both times he backed down in the face of Hitler and tendered his resignation: it
was not accepted. In 1942 he again stood up to Hitler over Field Marshal Siegmund List. His defence of List was
his last act of defiance to Hitler, after that he did not challenge another of Hitler's orders and was referred to by his
colleagues as Lakaitel ("nodding ass"). He signed numerous dubious orders,
most infamous being the notorious Commissar order, and unquestionably
allowed Himmler a free hand with his racial controls and ensuing
terror in captured Russian territory. Keitel was instrumental in foiling the attempted
coup of the July 20 Plot in 1944, and
sat on the following Army Court
of Honour that handed many officers over to Roland Freisler's
court.
He signed the surrender to the Red Army on May 9, 1945 and was arrested on the 13th. He faced the International Military Tribunal charged with: Conspiracy to commit crimes
against peace, planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression, war-crimes and crimes against humanity. His defence that he
was "just following orders" was rejected, he was found guilty on all charges and hanged.
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