“My last wish … is an understanding between East and West. …”
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Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel 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.
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politics · German field marshal and war criminal (1882–1946) · politician · military officer · military personnel · general field marshal · major general · soldier · Holocaust perpetrator · also Wilhelm Keitel, Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel, Keitel
Born 22 September 1882 · Died 16 October 1946 · Q76361
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1946-10-08 21 Nazi Chiefs Guilty
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2026· 3 entries
“As these atrocities developed, one from the other, step by step, and without any foreknowledge of the consequences, destiny took its tragic course, with its fateful consequences.”
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“You have helped me more than you know. May Christ, my saviour, stand by me all the way. I shall need him so much.”
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1961· 1 entry
As Generalfeldmarschall Keitel – Verbrecher oder Offizier
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1946· 2 entries
Died 1946-10-16.
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“Death by hanging. That, at least, I thought I would be spared.”
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1944· 1 entry
Awarded Wound Badge of 20 July 1944 in Black (1944).
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1942· 1 entry
Awarded Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (1942).
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1939· 1 entry
Won Golden Party Badge (1939).
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1938· 1 entry
Adolf Hitler replaced the ministry with the OKW and Keitel became its chief
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1935· 1 entry
At the recommendation of General Werner von Fritsch, Keitel was promoted to the rank of major general and appointed chief of the Reich Ministry of War's Armed Forces Office (Wehrmachtsamt), which oversaw the army, navy,
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1934· 1 entry
Was given command of the 22nd Infantry Division at Bremen
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1929· 1 entry
And was soon promoted to Head of the Organizational Department ("T-2"), a post he held until Adolf Hitler took power in 1933
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1924· 1 entry
Keitel was transferred to the Ministry of the Reichswehr in Berlin, serving with the Truppenamt ('Troop Office'), the post-Versailles disguised German General Staff
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1901· 1 entry
Becoming an officer cadet of the Prussian Army
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1882· 1 entry
Born 1882-09-22.
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