 | |  | | Wilhelm Keitel | | | context : | Nazi Germany  | | judgement place : | IMT - Nurenberg | | status : | Sentenced | | particulars : | Sentenced to death, Keitel was executed by hanging on 16 October 1946 | | position : | Supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht |
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| | | | Wilhelm Keitel signed the German surrender before the Red Army on 9 May 1945. He was put under arrest by the Allies a few days later.
Charged with counts 1 (concerted plan or conspiracy), 2 (crimes against peace), 3 (war crimes) and 4 (crimes against humanity), he pleaded not guilty.
The Nuremberg International Military Tribunal for example underlined the fact that Keitel, following the invasion of the USSR, initiated a command from Hitler ordering the killing of between 50 and 100 communists for the death of each German soldier. He also signed decrees implying that any proceedings taken up against German soldiers suspected of ill treatment of civilians was futile.
Keitel’s signature, moreover appeared on the notorious decree “Nacht und Nebel” passed on 7 December 1941, whereby civilians in the occupied territories, suspected of being in the resistance would only be tried if the death penalty was the probable outcome. Failing this they would be turned over to the Gestapo which had them disappear without trace in Germany.
The Tribunal also recognised, amongst other examples, that Keitel had ordered that prisoners of war be employed in the German war industry. In particular, Keitel had ordered that Belgian, French and Dutch soldiers be employed in the construction of the Atlantic wall.
Faced with the evidence, Keitel did not deny the essential facts. However in his defence, he indicated that, as a soldier, he had only been following orders from his superiors and that he was not in a position to make decisions in his own right. The Tribunal did not follow this line of reasoning. In consideration of Art. 8 of the Charter of the Tribunal, the concept of “superior orders” was not admitted as excusing him from his criminal responsibility.
As a result, the Tribunal found Keitel guilty on all of the charges, and sentenced him to death on 1 October 1946.
His appeal to the Control Council was rejected on 10 October 1946.
Wilhelm Keitel was executed by hanging on 16 October 1946. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Germany | | | date of birth : | | | 22.09.1882 | | | judgement period : | | | 20.11.1945 - 10.10.1946 | | | charges : | | | Aggression
Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 19.07.2006 |
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