Bio of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (1893-1946)

Hermann Wilhelm Göring

Date of Birth: 12.01.1893 - Rosenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Date of Death: 15.10.1946 - Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Battles and Operations: Western Front World War I, Polish Campaign 1939, Western Campaign 1940, Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa air support, Eastern Front operations 1941-1945, defense of the Reich

NSDAP membership: joined October 1922, Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP
SS-Number: none
Religion: No information
Parents: Heinrich Ernst Göring (former cavalry officer and governor-general of German South West Africa) and Franziska Tiefenbrunn
Siblings: Karl Göring, Olga Göring, Paula Göring, Albert Göring
Spouse: Carin von Kantzow (married 03.02.1922, died 17.10.1931), Emmy Sonnemann (married 10.04.1935)
Children: Edda Göring (born 02.06.1938)

Promotions:
00.00.1912 Fahnenjunker, Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Wilhelm Nr. 112
00.00.1914 Leutnant
00.00.1917 Oberleutnant
30.01.1933 General der Infanterie
01.04.1935 General der Flieger
01.02.1938 Generalfeldmarschall
19.07.1940 Reichsmarschall

Career:
00.00.1900-00.00.1911 various schools and cadet training, Haupt-Kadettenanstalt Berlin-Lichterfelde
00.00.1912 joined Prussian Army, Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Wilhelm Nr. 112, Mülhausen
01.08.1914-00.00.1915 infantry service on Western Front, wounded and hospitalized with rheumatism
00.00.1915 transferred to aviation as observer with Feldflieger Abteilung 25, reconnaissance and bombing missions
00.00.1915 pilot training at Flying School Freiburg
00.00.1916 Jagdstaffel 5, wounded in aerial combat
02.1917 Jagdstaffel 26 under Bruno Loerzer
05.1917 commander Jagdstaffel 27
07.07.1918 commander Jagdgeschwader 1 Richthofen
11.1918 demobilized, refused to surrender aircraft to Allies
00.00.1919-00.00.1920 barnstorming pilot and test pilot for Fokker
00.00.1920-00.00.1921 aviation work in Denmark and Sweden with Svensk Lufttrafik
03.02.1922 married Carin von Kantzow
00.00.1922 joined NSDAP after hearing Adolf Hitler speak, appointed Oberster SA-Führer
08.-09.11.1923 participation in Beer Hall Putsch, severely wounded in groin, fled to Austria, morphine addiction began
00.00.1925-00.00.1927 periods in Swedish asylum for morphine withdrawal
05.1928 elected to Reichstag for NSDAP
30.08.1932 President of the Reichstag
30.01.1933 Reichsminister ohne Portfolio, Reichskommissar für die Luftfahrt
11.04.1933 Minister-President of Prussia and Prussian Interior Minister, created Gestapo
1933-1945 President of the Prussian State Council
1935 appointed Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe and Reichsminister der Luftfahrt
1936 Plenipotentiary for the Four Year Plan, established Reichswerke Hermann Göring
01.02.1938 promoted Generalfeldmarschall
19.07.1940 promoted Reichsmarschall, designated successor to Hitler
1939-1945 Commander-in-Chief Luftwaffe during all major campaigns
22.04.1945 dismissed from all posts after telegram requesting succession
09.05.1945 captured by U.S. forces near Radstadt, Austria
1945-1946 prisoner, Nuremberg Trials
15.10.1946 suicide by cyanide capsule hours before scheduled execution

Awards and Decorations:
Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse 1914 (15.09.1914)
Königlich Preussisches Flugzeugbeobachter-Abzeichen (15.11.1914)
Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse 1914 (22.03.1915)
Ritter II. Klasse zu dem Orden der Löwen von Zähringen mit Schwertern (19.08.1915)
Königlich Preußische Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen (12.10.1915)
Ehrenbecher für den Sieger im Luftkampfe (15.04.1916)
Ritter des Königlicher Preussischer Hausordens von Hohenzollern mit Schwertern (20.10.1917)
Ritterkreuz des Militär Karl-Friedrich-Verdienstorden (02.06.1918)
Pour le Mérite (02.06.1918) as Oberleutnant and Führer Jagdstaffel 27 for repeated outstanding success in aerial combat over the Western Front in 1917-1918, scoring 22 confirmed victories as a fighter pilot and squadron leader, including numerous dogfights supporting ground operations and reconnaissance missions, culminating in command of elite Jagdgeschwader 1 after the death of Manfred von Richthofen
Ehrenzeichen des 9. November 1923 (Blutorden) (09.11.1933)
Goldenes Ehrenzeichen der NSDAP (01.12.1933)
Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer (01.09.1934)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 2. Klasse (20.09.1939)
1939 Spange zum Eisernen Kreuz 1. Klasse (30.09.1939)
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (30.09.1939) for direction of Luftwaffe in Polish Campaign
Großkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes (19.07.1940) as Generalfeldmarschall and Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe for the decisive victories of the Luftwaffe during the Western Campaign (Fall Gelb) in May-June 1940, where air superiority, close support to armored advances, rapid seizure of airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France, and relentless bombing of enemy positions enabled the unprecedented Blitzkrieg breakthrough at Sedan, encirclement of Allied forces at Dunkirk, and swift collapse of France in six weeks, making him the sole recipient of this highest grade during the entire Second World War
Numerous foreign orders including Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword of Sweden, Grand Cross of the Order of St. Stephen of Hungary, and others
Gemeinsames Flugzeugführer-Beobachter Abzeichen mit Brillianten

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Hermann Wilhelm Göring rose from a World War I fighter ace and commander of the legendary Jagdgeschwader Richthofen to become the second most powerful man in the Third Reich and creator of the modern Luftwaffe. His bravery in the skies over Verdun and the Western Front earned him the Pour le Mérite for relentless combat missions and leadership that produced 22 victories. After the war he drifted through aviation jobs abroad before committing to the Nazi movement in 1922, surviving wounds in the Beer Hall Putsch and building key institutions including the Prussian police and air force. As Reichsmarschall his direction of air operations brought spectacular early successes in Poland and the West, rewarded by the unique Grosskreuz for the triumph in France. Later campaigns saw declining influence amid failures over Britain and the Reich, leading to his arrest in 1945. Convicted at Nuremberg he chose suicide rather than the gallows, ending one of the most dramatic careers of the era.



Source:
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/
https://en.wikipedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/
https://rk.balsi.de/index.php?action=list&cat=300
https://www.unithistories.com/units_index/index.php?file=/officers/personsx.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20091027052912fw_/http://geocities.com/orion47.geo/index2.html
https://forum.axishistory.com/
https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/
https://www.bundesarchiv.de/en/
https://www.geni.com/
https://books.google.com/
http://de.metapedia.org/
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/207/G%C3%B6ring-Hermann-Wilhelm.htm
Manvell, Roger and Fraenkel, Heinrich: Hermann Göring, Heinemann, London 1962
Evans, Richard J.: The Third Reich in Power, Penguin Press, New York 2005
Franks, Norman and Van Wyngarden, Greg: Fokker Dr I Aces of World War I, Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2003

Hans-Ulrich Rudel as a Member of Naumann Circle

This picture was taken on 8 August 1953 and it shows the former State Secretary in the Goebbels Ministry, Dr. Werner Naumann, and the retired Luftwaffe Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel (right). Rudel just came from Argentina to compete in the elections in Germany. He is attempting to become a candidate of the SRP party. He gave an election speech in Lüneburg. After Germany's defeat, Dr. Naumann lived under an assumed name for five years and worked as a farm worker, later completing an apprenticeship as a mason. He reemerged in early 1950 after an amnesty law had taken effect, and became the manager of an import-export company in Düsseldorf. Naumann soon began making contact with other former Nazi functionaries politically active on the far-right, including Hans-Ulrich Rudel, Ernst Achenbach, Artur Axmann, Otto Skorzeny and many others. This group came to be known as the "Naumann Circle" (Naumann-Kreis) or the Gauleiter Circle. They infiltrated the Free Democratic Party for a period of about two years. Naumann, together with six co-conspirators, was arrested by the British Army on 15 January 1953 for being the leader of a Neo-Nazi group that attempted to infiltrate West German political parties. Naumann was turned over to the German authorities on 1 April and, after over six months in custody, was released from pre-trial detention on 28 July 1953 by a decision of the Federal Constitutional Court at Karlsruhe. On 5 August 1953, barely a week after his release, Naumann declared his intention to run for a seat in the Bundestag as a candidate of the right-wing Deutsche Reichspartei (DRP), which had benefited heavily from the banning of the Socialist Reich Party the previous year. However, on 23 August, just two weeks before the election, the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, acting as a denazification tribunal, classified him as a Category II offender. As such, he was prohibited from belonging to any political party, engaging in any political activity, holding any political office, or working as an author, journalist or broadcaster for a period of five years. His Bundestag candidacy was thus abruptly ended.

Source :
Bundesarchiv Bild 183-21125-0004
https://www.alamy.com/aug-08-1953-pictured-is-former-nazi-party-members-hans-ulrich-rudel-image69284329.html
https://www.bridgemanimages.com/en/noartistknown/aug-29-1953-hans-ulrich-rudel-came-from-argentina-to-run-for-a-post-for-the-srp/photograph/asset/4874528
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Naumann
https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/hans-ulrich-rudel-a-former-oberst-in-the-german-nachrichtenfoto/91873723
https://www.imago-images.com/st/0061898088

Divisionskommandeur Otto Kohlermann Inspecting His Unit

Generalmajor Otto Kohlermann (Kommandeur 60. Panzergrenadier-Division "Feldherrnhalle") inspected a unit under his command (Panzer-Aufklärungs-Abteilung Feldherrnhalle?), with SA-Obergruppenführer Max Jüttner (Stellvertretender SA-Stabschef) in the background. This photo was most likely taken on 20 June 1943 when the Panzergrenadier Division "Feldherrnhalle" was reconstituted in southern France after being destroyed in the battle of Stalingrad. Initially the new division was to be named 60. Panzergrenadier-Division, but later it was changed to Panzergrenadier-Division "Feldherrnhalle" as a tribute to the many members of the SA (Sturmabteilung) who joined the unit.

Source :
http://alifrafikkhan.blogspot.com/2014/12/foto-panzergrenadier-division.html

Ritterkreuz Action of Georg Ritter von Hengl

Georg Ritter von Hengl (21 October 1897 - 19 March 1952) received the Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes on 25 August 1941 as Oberstleutnant and Kommandeur Gebirgsjäger-Regiment 137 / 2.Gebirgs-Division. Here follows an excerpt describing Hengl’s Ritterkreuz action: “On 29 June 1941 the Gebirgskorps Norwegen began its attack against the Russian border positions from the area east of Petsamo. During this operation the successful breakthrough against the heavily occupied (and defended to the last man) bunker line commanded by Oberstleutnant von Hengl was of extraordinary importance for the further successful attack of the whole of Gebirgskorps.”

 

Source :
Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-078-16A
https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/6333/Hengl-Ritter-von-Georg.htm

The Visit of Miklós Horthy to Kiel

The official visit of Hungarian leader Miklós Horthy de Nagybánya to the launching of the German heavy cruiser (schwere kreuzer) "Prinz Eugen",which were  held at the Germaniawerft (Kiel) shipyard on 22 August 1938. Walking at the front is the commander of Hitler's SS bodyguards, Sepp Dietrich, followed by Adolf Hitler (Führer und Reichskanzler), Miklós Horthy, Generaladmiral Erich Raeder (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine), General der Artillerie Wilhelm Keitel (Chef des Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), Generaloberst Walther von Brauchitsch (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres), Vizeadmiral Karlgeorg Schuster (Befehlshaber der Sicherung der Ostsee), and General der Flieger Erhard Milch (Generalinspekteur der Luftwaffe als Vertreter des Oberbefehlshabers Göring).

Source :
Denis Daum photo collection

Göring Keitel Dönitz

 

 

Three top notch of the Wehrmacht chats together while waiting for the arrival of Adolf Hitler at the demonstration of the first twenty Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz.138/2) "Hetzer" (Baiter or Troublemaker) in Arys (Orzysz) in East Prussia, as a part of a somber 55th birthday celebration for the Führer, 20 April 1944. From left to right: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring (Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe), Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel (Chef Oberkommando der Wehrmacht), and Großadmiral Karl Dönitz (Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine). The picture was taken by Walter Frentz.

Source :
https://waralbum.ru/337613/
https://ww2colorfarbe.blogspot.com/2016/05/hitler-watching-parade-of-hetzer.html

Bio of Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Keitel

 

Wilhelm Keitel was born on the family estate of Helmscherode in western Brunswick on September 22, 1882. Although he longed to be a farmer, as his ancestors were, the modest 650-acre estate was too small to support two families. Consequently, Keitel joined the 46th Field Artillery Regiment in Wolfenbuettler as a Fahnenjunker (officer-cadet) in 1901. The desire to return to Helmscherode, however, remained with him throughout his life.

Keitel was commissioned second lieutenant on August 18, 1902, entered an instructor’s course in the Field Artillery School at Juterbog in 1905, and in 1908 became regimental adjutant. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1910 and to captain in 1914.

In 1909, Wilhelm Keitel married Lisa Fontaine, an attractive, intelligent young woman from Wuelfel. Her father, a wealthy estate owner and brewer, initially disliked Wilhelm due to his “Prussian” background but eventually became reconciled to the marriage. Lisa bore Wilhelm three sons and three daughters. Like their father, all three sons became officers in the German Army. Definitely the stronger partner in the marriage, Lisa wanted her husband to advance as high as possible in the ranks of the military. Incidentally, Herr Fontaine was wrong about Keitel’s background: he was not Prussian at all, but Hanoverian. This same mistake was made by Adolf Hitler and the Allied prosecutors at Nuremberg later on.

In early summer 1914, Keitel took a well-earned holiday in Switzerland, where he heard the news of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the archduke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Keitel was hurriedly recalled to his regiment at Wolfenbuettler and was with the 46th Artillery when it was sent to Belgium in August 1914. He saw considerable action and in September was seriously wounded in the right forearm by a shell splinter. After recovering he returned to the 46th, where he became a battery commander. In March 1915, he was appointed to the General Staff and transferred to the XV Reserve Corps. In late 1915 Keitel came to know a Major Werner von Blomberg, and the two men began a friendship that continued throughout both their careers. Keitel finished his service in the Great War as a General Staff officer with the XIX Reserve Corps (1916–1917), the 199th Infantry Division (1917) (both on the Western Front), and the General Staff of the army in Berlin (1917–1918), and as a staff officer with the Marine Corps, fighting in Flanders (1918).

The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, was a very harsh one. Among other things, it abolished the General Staff and limited the German Army (now dubbed the Reichsheer) to 100,000 men, of whom only 4,000 could be officers. Keitel was accepted into this officer corps of the Weimar Republic and spent three years as an instructor at the Cavalry School at Hanover before joining the staff of the 6th Artillery Regiment at Minden in Westphalia. He was promoted to major in 1923 and from 1925 to 1927 was assigned to the organizational branch of the Truppenamt (Troop Office), as the clandestine General Staff was called. In 1927 he moved to Muenster as commander of the II Battalion, 6th Artillery Regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1929—a significant accomplishment in the Reichsheer, which, like most small armies, was characterized by slow promotions. That same year he returned to the General Staff as chief of the Organizations Department.

An interesting event took place in Keitel’s career in late summer 1931, when he took part in a military exchange trip to the Soviet Union. He admired the Russia he saw, noting the vast spaces, abundance of raw materials, the Five Year (economic) Plan, and the disciplined Red Army. Following this trip he continued to work at his arduous task of increasing the size of the German Army in contravention of the Treaty of Versailles.

Although Keitel did his job very well, as even his personal enemy Field Marshal Erich von Manstein later admitted, his abilities were taxed to the limits. The demanding (and illegal) work took its toll both physically and mentally. The nervous Keitel smoked too much and, by 1932, was suffering from arterial embolism and thrombosis and had severe phlebitis in his right leg. He was recovering under the care of Dr. Guhr in the Tara Mountains of Czechoslovakia when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933. Keitel’s close friend Werner von Blomberg became minister of defense the same day.

In October 1933, Keitel began a year of troop duty. He served first Infantry Commander III (and one of the two deputy commanders of the 3rd Infantry Division) at Potsdam, Frederick the Great’s old garrison town near Berlin. In May 1934, he heard Adolf Hitler speak at the Sportplatz in Berlin and was moved by the Fuehrer’s words. That same month Keitel’s father died, and Wilhelm inherited Helmscherode. He seriously considered leaving the army to manage the family estate, even though he had just been promoted to major general the month before; however, as he wrote later, “My wife was unable to keep house with my stepmother and sister, and I could not solve the problem.” No doubt Lisa wanted him to remain in the army, and he did so.

In July 1934, Keitel was transferred to the 12th Infantry Division in Leibnitz, more than 300 miles from Helmscherode. Because of this distance, he once again seriously considered leaving the service. General Baron Werner von Fritsch, the commander of the army, dissuaded Keitel by offering him a new assignment, which he accepted. On October 1, 1934, Keitel, now stationed at Bremen, assumed command of what was soon to become the 22nd Infantry Division.

Keitel thoroughly enjoyed his new command, organizing units and developing measures necessary to build the division up to full combat strength and effectiveness. (Many of the battalions he helped organize would later be destroyed at Stalingrad.) While he built the 22nd Division he also made frequent visits to Helmscherode and increased the value of his family estate. Then, in August 1935, War Minister von Blomberg offered Keitel the post of chief of the Wehmachtamt (Armed Forces Office). Although Keitel hesitated, his wife urged him to accept the appointment, which he eventually did.

Upon arriving in Berlin, General Keitel put aside his former reluctance and enthusiastically embraced his new role. Working closely with him was Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Jodl, the chief of Division “L” (national defense). The two men developed an intimate professional relationship that lasted until the end of the Third Reich. Keitel labored tirelessly to promote his idea of a unified command structure for all three services and received encouragement from von Blomberg. However, all three branches of the armed forces—the army, the navy, and most especially Goering’s Luftwaffe—rejected the idea, and Blomberg quickly abandoned the concept. That result caused Keitel to gravitate to the idea of absolute and unquestioning support of the Fuehrer (the Fuehrer Principle) and subsequent personal loyalty to Hitler. After the war he presented a document at the Nuremberg Trials, wherein he stated that the Fuehrer Principle “applied throughout all areas and it is completely natural that it had a special application in military areas.”

Keitel was proud when, in January 1938, his eldest son, Karl-Heinz, a second lieutenant of cavalry, became engaged to Dorothea von Blomberg, one of the war minister’s daughters. There was also another wedding: Field Marshal von Blomberg, whose first wife had died several years earlier, married Eva Gruhn, a 24-year-old stenographer with the Reich Egg Marketing Board, in the middle of January. The Blomberg wedding was a small, quiet, civilian affair, with Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering appearing as witnesses. Little did anyone suspect that this simple ceremony would cause the crisis that would culminate in the final act of the Nazi revolution.

Shortly after the Blombergs exchanged vows, a minor police official happened upon the dossier of a Margarethe Gruhn, which he immediately delivered to the office of Count Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorf, the police president of Berlin. When he read it, Helldorf was appalled. Margarethe’s past included prostitution and an arrest for posing for pornographic pictures. Helldorf, a former military officer, took the file to Keitel, hoping the chief of the Wehrmachtamt would suggest a proper and quiet procedure
for having the matter settled. Were Margarethe Gruhn and Eva Gruhn the same person? Was the sex offender the same woman the war minister had recently married? Keitel did not know and suggested the file be taken to Hermann Goering, who had met the minister’s wife. Keitel was apparently unaware that Goering was waiting for just such an opportunity to have Blomberg sacked, so that he could take control of the war ministry himself. Goering went directly to Hitler and exposed the entire incident, which led to Blomberg’s dismissal. Events did not work out exactly as Goering planned, however.

Following the ouster of Blomberg, Keitel was ordered to report to Hitler. The Fuehrer shocked Keitel by saying that he, Hitler, had to charge General von Fritsch, the commander-in-chief of the German Army, with the criminal offense of homosexuality under paragraph 175. Although the charges were the result of carefully produced lies by Heinrich Himmler and Goering (with the help of Reinhard Heydrich, Himmler’s top man in the Security Service), and even though Fritsch was later acquitted by a military tribunal, the dismissals of Blomberg and Fritsch led to the creation of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (the High Command of the Armed Forces, or OKW) and the total subordination of the German armed forces to the will of Adolf Hitler.

On February 4, 1938, to Hermann Goering’s private chagrin, the dictator personally assumed the post of war minister and simultaneously appointed Wilhelm Keitel commander-in-chief of OKW—thus providing himself with his own personal military staff.

Why was Keitel chosen as chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces? Because the Fuehrer needed someone on whom he would rely to carry out his will and to keep his “house” in order—someone who would not question his orders and who would identify with the Fuehrer Principle. Keitel fit that role. He was, as General Walter Warlimont later wrote, “honestly convinced that his appointment required him to identify himself unquestioningly with the wishes and instructions of the Supreme Commander, even though he might not personally agree with this, and to represent them faithfully to all those involved.”

Keitel organized the OKW into three subdivisions: the Operations Staff, under Alfred Jodl; the Abwehr (the intelligence/counterintelligence bureau), under Admiral Wilhelm Canaris; and the Economics Staff, directed by Major General Georg Thomas. All three sections were in direct competition with other agencies of the Third Reich. The OKW Operations Staff competed with the general staffs of the three services, but especially with the General Staff of the army; the economics office had rivals in the Todt Organization and the Four Year Plan; and the Abwehr had overlapping responsibilities with the army, air, and naval intelligence staffs; with Joachim von Ribbentrop’s Foreign Office; and with Himmler’s SD (Sicherheitsdienst, or Security Service), which finally absorbed the Abwehr in 1944.

While the preceding seems incongruous, the problems multiplied during the Nazi era. New organizational groups appeared throughout the history of the Third Reich, intensifying the competition and contributing to an eventual chaos of leadership in which only one individual could make important decisions and resolve crises—and he was named Adolf Hitler.

Crucial to the whole concept of high command was the relationship between the Fuehrer and Keitel, who trusted Hitler and served him very obediently. The OKW transmitted Fuehrer Orders and aided in coordinating the German economy to meet military demands. General Warlimont described the OKW as the “working staff” or even the “military bureau” of Hitler, the politician. Nonetheless, Keitel did exercise some early influence on at least two occasions: he succeeded in getting his own nominee, Walter von Brauchitsch, to replace General Fritsch, and in having his younger brother Bodewin named chief of the Army Personnel Office.

The OKW never performed as Keitel envisioned—that is, as a real command for the armed forces. Hitler literally used Keitel during the Austrian crisis in February 1938, to bully Austrian Chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg into surrender. When the war began in 1939, the chief of OKW merely performed desk duties. Actual operational planning was carried out by Franz Halder, the General Staff of the army, and Halder’s colleagues. Keitel supported Hitler’s attack on Poland, as well as the successful German invasions of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France in 1940. Although the actual plan for the Norwegian campaign (Operation Weser) was drafted by Warlimont, Jodl, and Hitler, the OKW chief created the administrative structure to carry out the operation. This 43-day campaign ended successfully and was the only military operation coordinated solely by the OKW.

Along with the other generals, Keitel applauded Hitler’s victory over France in June 1940. Hitler paid tribute to Keitel by promoting him to field marshal on July 19, 1940, and by giving him an endowment of 100,000 Reichsmarks—a gift Keitel never spent because he felt he had not earned it. That same July Keitel took leave for a hunting trip to Pomerania and visited Helmscherode for a few days. Returning to duty in August, he worked on preparations for Operation Sea Lion—the invasion of England (which, however, never took place).

Rather than attack his one remaining enemy, Hitler decided to invade the Soviet Union. Keitel was alarmed and voiced his objections directly to Hitler. The Fuehrer retorted that the conflict was inevitable, and therefore Germany must strike now, while she had the advantage. Keitel then wrote a memorandum outlining his objections. Hitler rebuked the field marshal savagely. Shocked and upset, Keitel suggested that Hitler replace him and appoint an OKW chief whose strategic judgment was more amenable to the Fuehrer. Hitler rejected Keitel’s request for a frontline command and sharply criticized him. He shouted that he, the Fuehrer, would decide when to replace his chief of OKW. Keitel turned and left the room without a word. From then on, Keitel submitted to the will of Adolf Hitler, almost without reservation, although he occasionally offered very weak objections to certain of the dictator’s notions.

In March 1941, Hitler secretly decided to wage a new kind of warfare, in which all restraints were cast aside. This war would be vicious and aimed at the total eradication of the enemy. Accordingly, Keitel issued Hitler’s draconian Commissar Order, which called for the liquidation of Soviet political officers, who always accompanied Red Army troops. Keitel also affixed his signature to a decree of July 1941, and it specified that the Reichsfuehrer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) would politically administer all rearward
areas in the East. This order was tantamount to endorsing mass murder.

Although Keitel tried unsuccessfully to soften some of the decrees coming from Hitler, the field marshal continued to obey his orders. Keitel had unbounded faith in Hitler, and the Fuehrer craftily exploited this relationship. A series of decrees aimed at subduing Soviet resistance emanated from Fuehrer Headquarters, including instructions to kill 50 to 100 Communists for every German soldier who died in occupied territory. These orders originated with Adolf Hitler but bore Wilhelm Keitel’s signature.

The failure of the German armies to win a quick, decisive victory in Russia caused Hitler to berate his generals and call for even harsher measures. Keitel meekly succumbed to Hitler’s outrages and continued to sign infamous orders, such as the Nacht und Nebel (night and fog) decree of December 7, 1941, which directed that “persons endangering German security” were to vanish without a trace, into the night and fog. The responsibility for carrying out this decree was assigned to the SD, and many resistance members and other anti-Nazis were secretly executed under the provisions of this order. In many cases their bodies were never found.

Although on occasion the OKW chief offered quiet objections to Hitler’s proposals, he remained extremely loyal and was precisely the type of individual Hitler wanted in his entourage. Unfortunately, Keitel’s behavior adversely affected the behavior of his subordinates. Keitel would not defend them and submitted to the will of the Fuehrer on almost every issue. Such irresoluteness led many officers to refer to him as LaKaitel (lackey).

On July 20, 1944, Colonel Count Claus von Stauffenberg planted his briefcase, containing a bomb, under the briefing table at the Wolf’s Lair during a Fuehrer conference. At 12:42 p.m. the bomb exploded. The chief of OKW was momentarily stunned, but as soon as he recovered, Keitel rushed to Hitler, shouting, “Mein Fuehrer! Mein Fuehrer! You’re still alive!” He then helped Hitler to his feet and embraced him wildly. Keitel supported the dazed Fuehrer as the two left the demolished wooden hut, which had been a briefing room only minutes before.

After the failure of this assassination attempt, Keitel became closer than ever to Hitler, and as Albert Speer observed, Hitler also leaned on Keitel. The OKW marshal showed no mercy in carrying out measures against the attempted coup. He arrested his own signals chief, General Erich Fellgiebel, and ordered the arrests of Colonel General Friedrich Fromm, the commander-in-chief of the Replacement Army, and Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben. Keitel displayed no sympathy for “disloyal” officers, such as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, upon whom he had never wasted any love.

During the final months of the war, as the Soviets continued their march to Berlin, Keitel issued decrees against enemy “terrorist activities.” His accepting without question the need for brutal retaliation against partisans and saboteurs clearly indicated that Keitel had reached the point where he accepted Hitler’s orders verbatim. During the Battle of Berlin, Keitel completely lost his grasp of reality. He blamed General Walter Wenck and Field Marshal Ferdinand Schoemer for the fall of the capital, as well
as Colonel General Gotthard Heinrici, who retreated to the west without authorization. Keitel failed to realize that Germany had lost the war—no matter what these three officers did or failed to do.

On May 8, 1945, Wilhelm Keitel performed his last official act for Germany. Appearing in full-dress uniform, with his marshal’s baton in hand, he signed the surrender document in the presence of the Soviets in Berlin. He then returned to Flensburg-Muervik, the seat of the rump German government, now headed by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz. He was arrested there a few days later by the British military police and remained in custody for the remainder of his life. He was tried at Nuremberg, where he admitted his responsibility for carrying out Hitler’s orders. Although his honesty did not lessen his crimes, he nonetheless faced his accusers truthfully. He was found guilty of committing crimes against peace, of war crimes, and of crimes against humanity. On October 16, 1946, Wilhelm Keitel was hanged. As he dropped through the gaping hole, he shouted his last words: “Deutschland uber Alles!” (Germany above all!)

Field Marshal Keitel had naively believed that in serving Hitler he served the German people. He realized only after the war that his actions were wrong—something he did not grasp during the seven-year period from 1938 to 1945, when he helped Hitler carry out his demonic policies and wage his war. In the end, Keitel unconsciously aided in dooming the Prussian officer corps, which, in his own inept way, he had tried to defend.

Source:
"Hitler's Commanders: Officers of the Wehrmacht, the Luftwaffe, the Kriegsmarine, and the Waffen-SS" by Samuel W. Mitcham and Gene Mueller
https://www.alexautographs.com/auction-lot/wilhelm-keitel_79E4CA2994

Siegfried Haenicke and Hans Frank in Poland

 

In the front row, from left to right: Hans Frank (Generalgouverneur im Generalgouvernement) and General der Infanterie z.V. Siegfried Haenicke (Wehrkreisbefehlshaber im Generalgouvernement). Between them in the center is Dr. Ernst Boepple (2. Staatssekretär im Generalgouvernement), while Dr. Ludwig Losacker (Hauptabteilung Innere Verwaltung im Generalgouvernement) is in the right background. The SS-Oberführer at left is Dr. Herbert Böttcher (SS- und Polizeiführer Radom). They, and other German officials, is posed in front of the hunting lodge at Spała, central Poland, in 1943.

Source :

https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/4584/h:436/

https://www.wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/forum/wehrmacht-era-militaria/photos-and-paper-items-forum/11879237-rk-dk-in-gold-plm-general-official-w-kvk1-please-id

Goebbels with Großdeutschland Officers

This picture was taken in October 1944, and showing Dr. Joseph Goebbels (Reichsminister für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda) with the officers from Panzergrenadier-Division Großdeutschland, from left to right: Obergefreiter Hans Sachs (Gruppenführer in 5.Kompanie / I.Bataillon / Panzer-Füsilier-Regiment Großdeutschland. Ritterkreuz on 10 September 1944), Oberst Willy Langkeit (Kommandeur Panzer-Regiment Großdeutschland. Ritterkreuz on 9 December 1942 and Eichenlaub on 7 December 1943), and unknown Hauptmann / DKiGträger. The delegation from GD Division presents Goebbels with a million marks collected for winter aid.

Source :
https://audiovis.nac.gov.pl/obraz/36754/b2c6e04fc7f0a58e7728dd39dffd06fa/

Albert Speer and Karl Dönitz After their Surrender

Two members of Flensburg Government, Dr. Albert Speer and Karl Dönitz, after their arrest by the British Army at Flensburg, 23 May 1945. The Flensburg Government (German: Flensburger Regierung), also known as the Flensburg Cabinet (Flensburger Kabinett), the Dönitz Government (Regierung Dönitz), or the Schwerin von Krosigk Cabinet (Kabinett Schwerin von Krosigk), was the short-lived government of Nazi Germany during a period of three weeks around the end of World War II in Europe. The government was formed following the suicide of Adolf Hitler on 30 April 1945 during the Battle of Berlin. It was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as the Reichspräsident and Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk as the Leading Minister.

Source :
https://historicalsocietyofgermanmilitaryhistory.com/german-history-of-world-war-ii/wehrmacht-armed-forces-of-world-war-two/officers-and-personnel-of-the-wehrmacht/kriegsmarine-officers-and-men/kriegsmarine-officers/grand-admiral-karl-donitz/
https://thereaderwiki.com/en/Flensburg_Government