Wilhelm Keitel - Trial and Execution

Trial and Execution

Four days after the surrender, Keitel was arrested along with the rest of the Flensburg government. He soon faced the International Military Tribunal (IMT), which charged him with a number of offences:

• Conspiracy to commit crimes against peace;
• Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression;
• War crimes; and,
• Crimes against humanity.

Keitel testified that he knew many of Hitler's orders were illegal (for instance, he described the Night and Fog Decree as "the worst of all" the orders he'd been given) but claimed he was merely following orders in conformity to "the leader principle" (Führerprinzip). Before the court he openly admitted his guilt in an "awful war":

“I made mistakes and was not able to stop what should have been stopped. That, is my guilt!” He then went on to wish the Germans hope and a new future in the community of nations.

The IMT rejected this defence and convicted him on all charges. Because of his signature on orders which called for soldiers and political prisoners to be killed or disappeared, he was sentenced to death. To underscore the criminal rather than military nature of Keitel's acts, the Allies denied his request to be shot by firing squad. Instead, he was executed by hanging. Keitel's last words were:

The execution was performed by the experienced American Army hangman, Sgt. John C. Woods.

The reason for the facial blood stains seen in the photo of Keitel's corpse were due to the trapdoor being too small, causing several of the condemned to suffer head injuries from hitting the trapdoor during the drop.