Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (September 22, 1882 - October 16, 1946) was a Field Marshal in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was the chief of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the high command of the Wehrmacht during World War II. In such capacity, Keitel signed a number of criminal orders and directives that lead to war crimes and brutality during World War II. After the war, he was sentenced to death at Nuremberg in 1946 and executed on October 16, 1946.

Wilhelm Keitel was born on September 22, 1882 in the German Empire. He was a soldier in the German Army in World War I and served in Belgium where he was wounded. In 1939, when he was chief of Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, he oversaw mass arrests and population transfers and mass murders in Poland by the Wehrmacht and the SS. In April 1941, Keitel signed the criminal order that allowed the executions of civilians and non-combatants under all circumstances. After the war, during the Nuremberg trials of 1945-1946, Wilhelm Keitel was found guilty on all four counts, conspiracy to commit aggression, the comission of aggression, crimes in the conduct of warfare, and crimes against humanity. Keitel was sentenced to death by hanging. On October 16, 1946, Keitel was executed by hanging, his final statement was "I now follow my sons, all for Germany." As Keitel was being hanged, he accidentally struck the trapdoor leaving visible bloody wounds. He died of death by hanging.