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Wilhelm Keitel

File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H30220,_Wilhelm_Keitel.jpg_(cropped)_(2).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Wilhelm Keitel

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Also known as Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel

German field marshal (1882–1946)

AI overview

Wilhelm Keitel was a German military leader who served as a field marshal during World War II and held significant command positions in Nazi Germany's armed forces. He is historically important because of his prominent role in the German military leadership during the war and his subsequent trial and execution for war crimes after the conflict ended.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Wilhelm
Gender
male
Citizenship
Germany
Place of birth
Helmscherode
Sibling
Bodewin Keitel
Political party
Nazi Party
Languages spoken
German
Religion
Catholicism
Award
Memel Medal
Conflict
World War II
Military branch
artillery branch
Military rank
general field marshal
Image
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H30220, Wilhelm Keitel.jpg
Convicted of
crime against humanity
Show 17 more facts
Commons category
Wilhelm Keitel
date of birth
1882-09-22
date of death
1946-10-16
Commons gallery
Wilhelm Keitel
cause of death
hanging to death
manner of death
capital punishment
assessment
intelligence test
killed by
John C. Woods
allegiance
Nazi Germany
start of work period
1901-00-00
name in native language
Wilhelm Keitel
birth name
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel
place of burial
Wenzbach
P8168
Rädi
end of work period
1945-00-00
P12749
Totila
archives at
German Federal Archives
Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

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Encyclopedic overview

Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel ( German pronunciation: [ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈkaɪtl̩]; 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".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Wilhelm Keitel” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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