Thanks to Hone for sponsoring this video! Go to www.honehealth.com/ThePeopleProfiles to get your at-home assessment and doctor consultation for only $45
Keitels last words were "now I get to be with my sons" Son Hans Georg killed in Russia in July 1941. Yet son Ernst Willhem a POW with the Soviets that Wilhelm thought was dead. Ernst returned to Germany in 1956 with the last 400 POWs in the Soviet Union. So it is known that Wilhelm did not shield his sons from serving in front line service.
In 1961 during the trial of Adolf Eichmann, philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt coined the term “banality of evil” in reference to the bureaucratic structures that supported the Nazi regime’s most horrendous atrocities, and it seems to apply to this case as well.
"Keitel was predisposed to manipulation because of his limited intellect and nervous disposition; Hitler valued his diligence and obedience." Given his agricultural background, an apt metaphor is that Keitel was a capable workhorse: he meekly permitted himself to be harnessed to a giant machine plowing, smoothing, seeding, watering, cultivating, then torching the crop to the ground. What a useful idiot he made himself into. And killed 2 of his 3 sons in the process. But his wife got to live in Berlin again as she wanted. So there's that. Which is nice.
As a military man myself I just have to say one thing about this video. Nobody in the military can simply say “NO” when given an order. You will be punished and at worst thrown into the brig. With that said there are other ways to be human and not take part in these atrocities such as leaving his post and the country. Knowing what we do about the nazi party I’m sure that this too would have resulted in his death in some way, shape, or form. Please don’t think that in any way I am defending this man because I am not, he got the exact punishment he deserved for what he did. I just felt compelled to say that it’s not as easy to refuse an order or to tell your superior to “fuck off” in the military as most people thinks it is.
I totally agree with what you say. Plus it is in the German psyche to never question your superiors. If I was the Judge in this case I would never have given him the Death sentence., but as they say the victors have the advantage. And the Allies had the biggest mass murderer on their side. Stalin, and he was never brought to book. Got away with everything.
Just like Hitler's number two that flew to Scotland to try to make peace between the Germans and the English and he was in prison for the rest of his life. That was before the war even actually started I think.
@@benediktpress2383 i alway welcome the word of German folks as its more believable to me...the victor will always be the judge.the vanquished the accused....i believe those words
57:22 Wilhelm Keitel got it worse than anyone else in the Gallows at Nuremberg, 28/24 (some sources say it was 24 minutes and others say 28 minutes I’m not sure which is right) minutes is a VERY long time to strangle to death. Jodl’s face looked quite bruised up but Keitel’s face literally looked like someone tried to cut it off and gave up half way through. I find it ironic that Keitel suffered the most of all the defendants when he was perhaps the most remorseful of all the Nazis condemned (according to his interpreter Lion Le Tanson he cried when shown pictures from Dachau Concentration Camp of Holocaust victims needing to be scrapped up into piles with bulldozers as though they were just garbage) to death, admitting his (as well as making his peace with God through the help of Protestant Chaplain Henry Gerecke) guilt, accepting execution as his consequence and acknowledging his failure to see that there is a limit even for a soldier’s performance of duty which involves obeying orders.
Yes I've seen that picture. Very gruesome. Apparently the hangman of Nuremberg was a NCO from an American division who was quite new to the job. He was known also to be somewhat of a sadist. I suppose the powers that be wanted the hangings not to be as professionally done as they could have been! In essence, as far as I'm concerned, Keitel was hanged essentiall for being a lickspittle. His nickname amongst fellow staff officers was the Lackey
The man responsible was a army Master Sargent named John C Woods. Woods lied about being a experienced hangman and nobody bothered to see if he was telling the truth.
Another amazing documentary. One of my favourites you have done is James Connolly. I'd love it if you done another one on Ireland's greatest, Michael Collins. He almost single handedly changed the course of history for Ireland and Great Britain.
This was fantastic! Thanks, @ThePeopleProfiles. I've read and watched a lot about Keitel, but didn't have the backstory. It makes it so much more interesting when you do. You added a whole lot to my understanding of who this man really was. One small request? I'd greatly appreciate a bio of Keitel's handmaid, Alfred Jodl. Thanks again!
Keitel epitomized the corrupt spirit that polluted Germans during WWII. They were happy to follow Hitler when he brought victory, so didn't mind the pitiless cruelties Germany brought to Europe and post-war world.
Aside from failing to mention that the Blitzkrieg invasion of France was largely successful because of the masses of tanks invading through the Ardennes, this documentary was a well-researched depiction of Keitel's role in the war. In terms of his intelligence, my feeling is that Keitel was not so much weak-minded as weak-willed. He surely possessed considerable logistic and bureaucratic skills through which he supported and sustained the Nazi war effort. His ultimate guilt lies in not using those skills to try to counter Hitler's brutal insanity.
Keitel’s IQ score at Nuremberg was 129 not exactly a genius but he was far from stupid however yeah weak willed may be a fair assessment, not an excuse but an explanation.
Calling his inaction to rebel a sin... lol. I wonder just how much action you would have made if you were in his position. And if you really are crazy enough to act out a lot, i doubt you would've had the capability to climb to his position. His prime sin was simply the sin of losing the war.
3rd video this month?!? Great job as always and happy you’re cranking them out so quickly without sacrificing any of the quality that I’ve come to expect from your channel!! Thanks for all your hard work!
He was obviously a very good manager at getting the difficult things that Hitler wanted done. His great weakness was just accepting all the tasks given to him.I actually feel sorry for him
I winder often what all rthe people judging today. From the counch. With internet would have.done. many times i wonder so selfrightshess....and arrogant and the oscars celebrates again best foreign film. Guess what? Nazis. Rhe queen if auschwitz. The hate never stops....and we also gave gaza.....anf Ukraine...
Haven't watched it yet, but the fact that my parent named me Keitel is strange when I'm watching this, knowing what this man did. And the fact that I was born exactly 1 century after this guy, August 27 1982, is even stranger.
Can we have a documentary about Alfred Jodl? Ernst Kaltenbrunner? Fritz Sauckel? Julius Streicher? Artur Axmann? I bet you could make great ones of those individuals too, as you have made so far about all these individuals.
A few of the clips used repeatedly when talking directly about Keitel seem to have been von Rundstedt instead. He had a droopier face and a Hitler moustache while Keitel looked slightly less like a leather handbag and had a Poirot moustache.
It's fairly obvious that Keitel was not "following orders" unwillingly. He did it enthusiastically. One suspects that like many in today's United States, he was seduced by and addicted to the feeling of personal power. This was largely illusory, but he overcame any feelings of inadequacy by focusing his hatred and contempt toward those he considered inferior and "unworthy." Whatever happened to them was nothing more than the inevitable result of their "inferiority"
I agree 100% with the link between the politicians of the 20th century and our current politicians. Here in Canada, our Prime Minister labels those who dare protest against him “racist, misogynistic homophobes”, then enacts the same powers Adolf did with his “Enabling Act”
@@kingdaviYT049 The Biden administration is taking things into a factious third world condition, like Brazil. He's such a terrible person to have in power.
@@charlesvan13 No argument. --Except it's really the Demos' Politburo that's in power. Biden's just a figurehead. But he wanted the title so he gets to take the (well-deserved) flak.
The only time Keitel said no to Hitler was when Hitler after giving Keitel some military instructions asked Keitel at the end "Any questions?" (Much like in the film Downfall).
"Why did the generals who have been so ready to term me a complaisant and incompetent yes-man fail to secure my removal? Was that all that difficult? No, that wasn't it; the truth was that nobody would have been ready to replace me, because each one knew that he would end up just as much a wreck as I." - "The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Keitel". Book by Walter Gorlitz, p. 52, 1966. "Hitler gave us orders - and we believed in him. Then he commits suicide and leaves us to bear the guilt. He should have remained alive to bear his share." - "The Nuremberg Interviews". Book by Leon Goldensohn, ed. by Robert Gellately, 2004.
what would be very interesting is the Russo German cooperation before the war , we would like to know more how Keitel and other officials interacted with Soviets representatives and what personal connections were established.
As with Hitler and Stalin the two nations militaries hated and feared each other. Both were weakened by political considerations, their leaders' paranoia and their great difficulty in speaking truth to power.
@@kindnessfirst9670 yeat since Treaty of Rappalo ( April 1922) German Republic and Soviet Russia worked together on military arena benefitting Whermacht and Red Army.
Keitel could always be relied upon to support Hitler's rigid point-of-view when responsible and capable Field Commanders argued for more realistic deployments of their forces...
Not all of Hitler's subordinates were realistic. Guderian didn't want to look beyond his panzer group when things went south during Barbarossa, and Manstein actually suggested to Hitler that Stalingrad be held- even though he denied this in his memoirs. Some of them protested at the treatment of the Jews and slavs- then accepted monetary gifts from Hitler. The truth is that a number of Hitler's subordinates were ruthlessly ambitious yes men who covered their tails after the war ended
Keitel had Nothing to do with taking down von Blomberg: Canaris sent a man with the photos to give them to von Blomberg, but his plane was very late So the Abwher agent instead gave them to Goring who used them to take down von Blomberg.
Victors justice. If Keitel was hanged over some draconian measures regarding commandos, then shouldn't the Allies be held responsible for the Dresden and Hamburg and Tokyo firebombings of civilians??
This is a very good documentary. It's tempting to imagine that if we had been in Keitel's position we would have done something different. Unfortunately most of us would have been collaborators rather than opponents.
Seeing these documentaries back to back gets exhausting as the first 3/4 of the episodes are explanations of the time and i think its important, but after beeing explained german history from 1871 to 1939 12 times we dont need that, id rather just hear about the individual in question. Idk how best to find the way between beeing able to watch only one episode and understanding the story, and watching it all and getting sick of the 20minute explanation of how ww1 and ww2 happened. Love this channel tho, amazing work!
0:45 wait I watched another documentary that mentions his mother later on in his life, maybe that was supposed to be his step mother. If so who was his step mother?
This was a wonderful documentary.. Keitel was guilty as charged, who seemed to forget his humanity in favor of serving Hitler. As a result it was a long drop and a short rope his reward.
If keitel had remembered humanity he would have been eliminated by Hitler. That is the nature of dictators. No one would have dared to criticise or stop Stalin from killing millions of soviets. Stalin would have hung him in a public place. Dictators are dangerous.
He was found guilty as charged in a trial. Had the war turned out differently, he'd have been regarded as a hero. It's not about how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose.
It's difficult to make an accurate assessment from this documentary but undoubtedly Keitel got his just desserts. I found the political analysis a little muddled and not enough debth into Keitel's character. In my view there was also too much padding with irrelevant content. However, I did learn a little from this documentary and am glad I watched it.
Obviously, a high political officer doesn't stay in office without expressing extreme enthusiasm for what is going down... And, of course, we know Hitler never committed suicide but escaped to Argentina...
The missing element not mentioned in evaluating Keitel's guilt or otherwise is the Prussian military tradition he was trained in. Were they like the Japanese Samurai required to give absolute obedience to their superiors? - I tend to think not as the idnependence of the earlier military heads showed but I'm no expert in Prussian military mores.
Okay, well, as a human being, I will tell you this. If you create or follow an order that involves committing mass murder for the mere sake of committing mass murder, you're a criminal. End of story, done.
@@JCinerea if your military culture emphasises absolute unquestioning obedience to orders where is the intent needed to make the act criminal. Pre-war Prussian and Japanese military structures had this requirement
@@nerfnerfification, do we really need to have this conversation? Look, the infamous "Commissar Order" demanded that any POWs who were suspected of being communist commissars or agents be shot without trial. Not only that, but the Soviet POWs who made it to Nazi POW camps were deliberately given starvation rations. The intent was to starve them to death. This was policy. I don't care what Prussian officers were taught. These orders were criminal.
@@nerfnerfification, and don't start with the false equivalencies of the RAF's and the USAAF's carpet bombing of Axis cities. The RAF's and the USAAF's campaigns were horrifyingly cruel and repulsive. But they were carried out against certain targets, with the aim of ending a war. Britain and the USA were trying to win a war with few other feasible tactical alternatives. Those campaigns stopped when the war ended. The "Commissar Order" the POW starvation campaign, and the Holocaust were carried out with the express intention of exterminating entire classes of people. These were against civilians and POWs, not active military personnel or military targets. These campaigns were only going to end when entire classes and religions of people were exterminated.
I found self feeling some sympathy for Keitel whilst watching this. It is very easy to say he should have opposed Hitler but how many of us would have taken the easy path of ignoring what was going on if we were in the same position. This was the pure evil of the Nazi system, otherwise decent people were ever so slowly drawn into it's spell and went on to commit or at the very least go long with committing terrible crimes.
He got caught up in a system that he could not escape like many others . If you tried some was waiting in the wings to kill you...Field Marshall Rommel is a good example !!
It feels as though he was a regular human being who found himself out of his depth and although initially appalled by the Nazis got swept up by it all and didn’t have the strength of character to give voice to or act on his true feelings aka ‘just following orders’.
Another documentary well put together. Would really love to see one on Georgy Zhukov and some of the Soviet Generals in WW2. They don't seem to get as much recognition as they deserve as the soviet victory is often simplified to just being a product of superior logistics and manpower.
Agree completely . Only Soviet Russia represented bulwark of resistance against Nazism and Fascism when most western democracies were adopting a compromising attitude towards Hitler .There are many unsung heroes of this war ,Gen Zukow is certainly one among them .It is largely due to western and US bias against Russia .
I am fascinated by the the motivations and character of those notable in Hitler's NAZI Germany, and what drove them to become the individuals they became. A great documentary.
Being the son of German immigrants who were children during the war, these stories are fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Keitel was obviously a proud WW1 veteran and a trained officer. It's hard to say how much blame do you give him? He bought into the personality cult of AH like so many others. Very well done analysis of the war and the causes going back to Versailles.
In his defense, Keitel had a choice: refuse the orders of Hitler (which no sane German did) or follow orders, as he said he did. Either choice would have led to his ultimate execution.
Hello! An excellent study of Keitel and the times he lived in...how an apparently capable officer permitted himself to become a caricature of his former self and later commit war crimes is hard to fathom...apparently, AH's influence was such that Keitel's only option was to obey a person he felt was superior to him...unfortunately, he only realized the error of his ways at trial...
Whether Wilhelm Keitel was rightly sentenced to death or not is difficult to judge from today's perspective. In any case, many Nazi people who were tainted with a greater burden of guilt were punished much more leniently or not at all. My personal opinion is that he should have been punished, but not with the death penalty. There is a very interesting book by the American journalist Tim Townsend: „Mission in Nuremberg“. Here we learn that Wilhelm Keitel, while being imprisoned, under the influence and pastoral care of the American pastor Henry Guericke, found Jesus Christ, repented, and asked the Lord for forgiveness for his sins. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the very well-founded documentation. Best wishes from Munich, Germany.
Other Wehrmacht generals and officers nicknamed him “yes-man” because he never objected to Hitler and always agreed with him or followed his orders even if they were insane suicidal orders.
Keitel got more punishment as war crime whereas others with more sever crimes got less than they deserved as their punishment if judged MORE PRECISELY.
53:34 In this frame, the Allies should have immediately arrested Stalin and put him on trial for his part in invading Poland(recall Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). The Russian's were just as guilty as the Nazi's in terms of invading Polish territory.
@@dipakbose2677 Rescued by the Soviet Union? 🤣 How you figure? Was the Germany army landing in America and blowing up our cities and shipping our Jewish residents off to concentration camps??? NOT! Were German Stuka's diving on our cities??? How many air battles were waged over the skies of New York City or Washington D.C. between American planes and Germany's Luftwaffe? Please... No swarms of Heinkel He 111's laying waste to Texas either. Rather it was Hitler's army that was swallowing up your country and ravaging your country. And with America's entry into the war after 1941, we began to systemically destroy Germany's ability to make planes, tanks, and petroleum facilities that would have otherwise provided the means for the Germans to finish off Russia once and for all. Without success with getting the western allies back on shore of western Europe, Russia would not have had what was needed to do the rest. And here we are in the next century with more Russian treachery and lies with what is going on in Ukraine. Sort of reminds everyone of Russia and Poland rights after the Germans invaded Poland. Russian SCUM! 😡 The Ukrainian's are doing a good job of holding off Russia's illegal war against them. Too bad the Ukrainians gave up their 3,400 nukes some years ago. Wake up from your pro-Stalinist delusion.
Whenever it shows anything about Czechoslovakia and the agreement , you always see a really tall guy in the in the videos walking with Hitler , who is it , he is like the size of Herman Munster lol
The tall guy is Heidrich, in charge of governing Czechoslovakia. He was killed in Prague by two British agents while driving to his office in an open car.
I just read Cornelius Ryan's 'The Last Battle' and Keitel was totally a Hitler sycophant that old school generals really didn't like as they all said Keitel would strut in with his field marshal baton all pomp and ego. When General Heinrici ordered what remained of Army Group Vistula to withdraw, an enraged Keitel showed up and relieved him. After Keitel left, some German officers came out of the woods nearby all carrying MP40's. They explained to Heinrici that 'when we saw Keitel we expected there might be trouble' as in they were going to protect Heinrici if Keitel ordered him executed on the spot. Even when it was obvious the war was over and lost Keitel was so enamored with Hitler he expected Heinrici to attack Berlin because "We must save our Fuhrer!"
He was not to be hanged but rather kept in prison for the rest of his days. By killing him the judges showed to be not too different from him but simply winners taking vindictive actions.
I did not listen to the entire video yet but here is some interesting While Keitel was on the German side and Oppenheimer was leading the technical effort on the Manhattan project, I am not sure it was known that Kitty Oppenheimer, his wife was first cousins or first cousins once removed of Keitel. I do not know if the military knew this or even for sure she did or if she did, no idea if she ever met Keitel.
If for nothing else that Keitel was ultimately responsible for during WW2, the horrendous treatment of Russian POW's by the Wehrmacht, which deliberately starved and murdered over 2 million in various POW and concentration camps, occured under his command and directive. This alone was reason enough for the Allies to sentence him to death during the Nuremberg War Trials. As was so well said in the video, Keitel was a definitely a war criminal who ultimately deserved what he got, like so many of the men put on trial and sentenced to death in 1945 for their part in Hitler's war and his crimes against humanity.
I'm not disputing anything you're saying, but just adding that the Soviets were barbaric animals who were no better than the worst German. Stalin was a mass murdering genocidal shit-bag, just like Hitler was.
First of all thank you for making this one on a high profile , and yet relatively unknown Nazi General in terms of his life. It should be worth mentioning a couple of things. 1. The commando order , when that was made , a lot,of generals were fully aware that it was illegal , but Keital and Jodl fully implemented it. 2. He made a order to execute any captured Normandie Niemen pilots in 1943 I think. 3. His main defence for his crimes was fuhrerprinzip , that’s Is that he swore a loyalty oath to the fuhrer, however there’s no excuse for war crimes. 4. He had a brother who was also a officer in the Wehrmacht.
@@BobBob-us5fm I am aware of for example the katyn massacre and the biscari massacre, the latter the guy who did it was held into account, I haven’t seen you list any war crimes , unfortunately that is war , but the crimes that the Nazis did were not just one offs but also policies of extermination.
@@super20dan agree on that , for all they would only know the poster German generals such as Rommel and guderian , not others such as Manstein , lutz , model , kluge, Kutcher etc, it’s not just that army though, for example a lot of Americans know Patton and Eisenhower , what about Chaffee?
@@BobBob-us5fm No they didn't, and I have yet to find a single person who claims they did who is not a nazi or a nazi sympathizer. Its literal neo nazi whataboutism
Thanks to Hone for sponsoring this video! Go to www.honehealth.com/ThePeopleProfiles to get your at-home assessment and doctor consultation for only $45
Can you please do an episode on the Conqueror of Berlin Field Marshall Zhukov?
This year yes we will 😊
@@PeopleProfiles Perhaps you can do Stepan Bandera? There are no substantive documentaries about him, just a 15 minute narrative by UATV.
👍🏼 then 👍🏼 necessarily not fals 🧸 🏖 ⏺⏺⏺⚧ QEI 🐐 Allen Ginzberg 🧩🐻
P
Keitels last words were "now I get to be with my sons"
Son Hans Georg killed in Russia in July 1941.
Yet son Ernst Willhem a POW with the Soviets that Wilhelm thought was dead.
Ernst returned to Germany in 1956 with the last 400 POWs in the Soviet Union.
So it is known that Wilhelm did not shield his sons from serving in front line service.
Hitler's nephew fought on the Eastern front.
Why didn't I have the Keitel family name?
You're one of the best documentary makers on. UA-cam. Please keep up your excellent work.
One of the best? He is the GOAT son.
In 1961 during the trial of Adolf Eichmann, philosopher and writer Hannah Arendt coined the term “banality of evil” in reference to the bureaucratic structures that supported the Nazi regime’s most horrendous atrocities, and it seems to apply to this case as well.
Thanks once again!
And today. Anything learned? Ahrent?
"Keitel was predisposed to manipulation because of his limited intellect and nervous disposition; Hitler valued his diligence and obedience." Given his agricultural background, an apt metaphor is that Keitel was a capable workhorse: he meekly permitted himself to be harnessed to a giant machine plowing, smoothing, seeding, watering, cultivating, then torching the crop to the ground. What a useful idiot he made himself into. And killed 2 of his 3 sons in the process. But his wife got to live in Berlin again as she wanted. So there's that. Which is nice.
As a military man myself I just have to say one thing about this video. Nobody in the military can simply say “NO” when given an order. You will be punished and at worst thrown into the brig. With that said there are other ways to be human and not take part in these atrocities such as leaving his post and the country. Knowing what we do about the nazi party I’m sure that this too would have resulted in his death in some way, shape, or form. Please don’t think that in any way I am defending this man because I am not, he got the exact punishment he deserved for what he did. I just felt compelled to say that it’s not as easy to refuse an order or to tell your superior to “fuck off” in the military as most people thinks it is.
I totally agree with what you say. Plus it is in the German psyche to never question your superiors. If I was the Judge in this case I would never have given him the Death sentence., but as they say the victors have the advantage. And the Allies had the biggest mass murderer on their side. Stalin, and he was never brought to book. Got away with everything.
Exactly, that plus the virulent sexism, anti-LGBT sentiment and my unwillingness to die for a government really sums up why I'd never join the army x
Very true mate
Just like Hitler's number two that flew to Scotland to try to make peace between the Germans and the English and he was in prison for the rest of his life. That was before the war even actually started I think.
@@QueerChica OK.
Outstanding job. Much better than TV costly productions, we are definetely entering a new age of content, and of watching mindset.
As Hollywood dies, new talent is emerging.
Brilliant program! Thank you for producing it!
While this is a reasonably good documentary, Gerd von Rundstedt is repeatedly shown in place of Keitel.
I noticed that too!
Don't worry, it's only Keitel.
They look alike. How does that affect this ..stuff... ?
@yamit465 this question is frightingly stupid, man
Being german, i'm happy about the quality and the perfect research.
Well done, thank you!
I agree
Do you find it accurate to the facts??
@@micanopykracker902 hi
Most of it, yes.
@@benediktpress2383 i alway welcome the word of German folks as its more believable to me...the victor will always be the judge.the vanquished the accused....i believe those words
@@benediktpress2383 hi thanx for replyong back ..do you know of Otto clarius book??
So glad that I found People Profiles. EXCELLENT.
57:22 Wilhelm Keitel got it worse than anyone else in the Gallows at Nuremberg, 28/24 (some sources say it was 24 minutes and others say 28 minutes I’m not sure which is right) minutes is a VERY long time to strangle to death. Jodl’s face looked quite bruised up but Keitel’s face literally looked like someone tried to cut it off and gave up half way through.
I find it ironic that Keitel suffered the most of all the defendants when he was perhaps the most remorseful of all the Nazis condemned (according to his interpreter Lion Le Tanson he cried when shown pictures from Dachau Concentration Camp of Holocaust victims needing to be scrapped up into piles with bulldozers as though they were just garbage) to death, admitting his (as well as making his peace with God through the help of Protestant Chaplain Henry Gerecke) guilt, accepting execution as his consequence and acknowledging his failure to see that there is a limit even for a soldier’s performance of duty which involves obeying orders.
Yes I've seen that picture. Very gruesome. Apparently the hangman of Nuremberg was a NCO from an American division who was quite new to the job. He was known also to be somewhat of a sadist. I suppose the powers that be wanted the hangings not to be as professionally done as they could have been! In essence, as far as I'm concerned, Keitel was hanged essentiall for being a lickspittle. His nickname amongst fellow staff officers was the Lackey
The man responsible was a army Master Sargent named John C Woods. Woods lied about being a experienced hangman and nobody bothered to see if he was telling the truth.
Woods managed to electrocute himself in1950 while trying to repair some lights.
I am glad he suffered!!!!!!
hello, CbsOmegaOmni! ^^
I have been looking for a documentary on Keitel's life for quite a while. This is a dream come true.
Best pic is the one with a rope around his neck
Nicely done, guys!?👏👏👏👏. I always enjoy your channel!!
Another amazing documentary. One of my favourites you have done is James Connolly. I'd love it if you done another one on Ireland's greatest, Michael Collins. He almost single handedly changed the course of history for Ireland and Great Britain.
This was fantastic! Thanks, @ThePeopleProfiles. I've read and watched a lot about Keitel, but didn't have the backstory. It makes it so much more interesting when you do. You added a whole lot to my understanding of who this man really was.
One small request? I'd greatly appreciate a bio of Keitel's handmaid, Alfred Jodl. Thanks again!
Keitel epitomized the corrupt spirit that polluted Germans during WWII. They were happy to follow Hitler when he brought victory, so didn't mind the pitiless cruelties Germany brought to Europe and post-war world.
That would be AWESOME if they did Jodl!!!
Kietel couldn’t hold a candel to Von Runstant! He was Hitler’s buttboy throughout the war.
Aside from failing to mention that the Blitzkrieg invasion of France was largely successful because of the masses of tanks invading through the Ardennes, this documentary was a well-researched depiction of Keitel's role in the war. In terms of his intelligence, my feeling is that Keitel was not so much weak-minded as weak-willed. He surely possessed considerable logistic and bureaucratic skills through which he supported and sustained the Nazi war effort. His ultimate guilt lies in not using those skills to try to counter Hitler's brutal insanity.
Keitel’s IQ score at Nuremberg was 129 not exactly a genius but he was far from stupid however yeah weak willed may be a fair assessment, not an excuse but an explanation.
Calling his inaction to rebel a sin... lol. I wonder just how much action you would have made if you were in his position. And if you really are crazy enough to act out a lot, i doubt you would've had the capability to climb to his position. His prime sin was simply the sin of losing the war.
Seems like once you were in the final outcome was inevitable
The family always said that great grandpa was a bit of a fanatic but I can see now they were holding back quite a bit.
3rd video this month?!? Great job as always and happy you’re cranking them out so quickly without sacrificing any of the quality that I’ve come to expect from your channel!!
Thanks for all your hard work!
Well done, college level, educational, historical, excellent program!
He was obviously a very good manager at getting the difficult things that Hitler wanted done. His great weakness was just accepting all the tasks given to him.I actually feel sorry for him
I winder often what all rthe people judging today. From the counch. With internet would have.done. many times i wonder so selfrightshess....and arrogant and the oscars celebrates again best foreign film. Guess what? Nazis. Rhe queen if auschwitz. The hate never stops....and we also gave gaza.....anf Ukraine...
Hitler was fully aware of K3e⁹eitel's inability to act independently on his own initiative. Hitler described him as having the brain of a movie usher.
Haven't watched it yet, but the fact that my parent named me Keitel is strange when I'm watching this, knowing what this man did. And the fact that I was born exactly 1 century after this guy, August 27 1982, is even stranger.
😂😂😂
@Grassy Sands hopefully I was born in Haiti, and still in Haiti, so no chance to do whatsoever. Yes I'm circumcised, I guess most people are now.
@Grassy Sands yes I'm black, probably with a mixture of Europe, Autochthonous people in America and Africans over time.
@@KeitelDOG heil keitel
I do not think video mentions this but Keitel was a cousin of Oppenheimer's wife.
This documentary is very well done!
Can we have a documentary about Alfred Jodl? Ernst Kaltenbrunner? Fritz Sauckel? Julius Streicher? Artur Axmann? I bet you could make great ones of those individuals too, as you have made so far about all these individuals.
You can and will!
@@PeopleProfiles And to add the previous names: Alfred Rosenberg and Arthur Seyss-Inquart
@@PeopleProfiles And Rudolf Hess. I bet there would be many, many more worth making.
@Geiserich the Vandal 9
A few of the clips used repeatedly when talking directly about Keitel seem to have been von Rundstedt instead. He had a droopier face and a Hitler moustache while Keitel looked slightly less like a leather handbag and had a Poirot moustache.
It's fairly obvious that Keitel was not "following orders" unwillingly. He did it enthusiastically. One suspects that like many in today's United States, he was seduced by and addicted to the feeling of personal power. This was largely illusory, but he overcame any feelings of inadequacy by focusing his hatred and contempt toward those he considered inferior and "unworthy." Whatever happened to them was nothing more than the inevitable result of their "inferiority"
I agree 100% with the link between the politicians of the 20th century and our current politicians. Here in Canada, our Prime Minister labels those who dare protest against him “racist, misogynistic homophobes”, then enacts the same powers Adolf did with his “Enabling Act”
A holocaust is not happening in the United States.
@@charlesvan13 Yet. Wasn't happening in Germany either in 1933. But they WERE locking up political prisoners and denying them due process.
@@kingdaviYT049
The Biden administration is taking things into a factious third world condition, like Brazil. He's such a terrible person to have in power.
@@charlesvan13 No argument. --Except it's really the Demos' Politburo that's in power. Biden's just a figurehead. But he wanted the title so he gets to take the (well-deserved) flak.
Some of the last footages, where the Feldmarschall looks too old, are showing Gerd von Rundstedt, not Wilhelm Keitel.
The epitome of 'its not who you are but who you know' .
The only time Keitel said no to Hitler was when Hitler after giving Keitel some military instructions asked Keitel at the end
"Any questions?"
(Much like in the film Downfall).
"Why did the generals who have been so ready to term me a complaisant and incompetent yes-man fail to secure my removal? Was that all that difficult? No, that wasn't it; the truth was that nobody would have been ready to replace me, because each one knew that he would end up just as much a wreck as I."
- "The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Keitel". Book by Walter Gorlitz, p. 52, 1966.
"Hitler gave us orders - and we believed in him. Then he commits suicide and leaves us to bear the guilt. He should have remained alive to bear his share."
- "The Nuremberg Interviews". Book by Leon Goldensohn, ed. by Robert Gellately, 2004.
what would be very interesting is the Russo German cooperation before the war , we would like to know more how Keitel and other officials interacted with Soviets representatives and what personal connections were established.
As with Hitler and Stalin the two nations militaries hated and feared each other. Both were weakened by political considerations, their leaders' paranoia and their great difficulty in speaking truth to power.
@@kindnessfirst9670 yeat since Treaty of Rappalo ( April 1922) German Republic and Soviet Russia worked together on military arena benefitting Whermacht and Red Army.
The only common ground the parties tried connecting with was their anti-capitalism. They obviously still hated each other
the german march is the best kind of march ever, nothing matches
Keitel could always be relied upon to support Hitler's rigid point-of-view when responsible and capable Field Commanders argued for more realistic deployments of their forces...
Heinrichi and spear called him a yes man
Not all of Hitler's subordinates were realistic. Guderian didn't want to look beyond his panzer group when things went south during Barbarossa, and Manstein actually suggested to Hitler that Stalingrad be held- even though he denied this in his memoirs. Some of them protested at the treatment of the Jews and slavs- then accepted monetary gifts from Hitler.
The truth is that a number of Hitler's subordinates were ruthlessly ambitious yes men who covered their tails after the war ended
Great Work as always! Thank you 🙏 🫡
Great documentary as always! Is there one about a mad doctor turned mad dictator in Haiti? Would love to see that one! Thanks for this one as well!
@Frank Skoda-Simmons Thanks! Will do.
You will never see. Ask why, the USA .....🤔
Keitel had Nothing to do with taking down von Blomberg: Canaris sent a man with the photos to give them to von Blomberg, but his plane was very late So the Abwher agent instead gave them to Goring who used them to take down von Blomberg.
"Binky" Keitel , always ready for a laugh , a beer and a sing song round the piano , a grand lad.
Victors justice. If Keitel was hanged over some draconian measures regarding commandos, then shouldn't the Allies be held responsible for the Dresden and Hamburg and Tokyo firebombings of civilians??
This is a very good documentary. It's tempting to imagine that if we had been in Keitel's position we would have done something different. Unfortunately most of us would have been collaborators rather than opponents.
can make a documentary of the chief of operations, Alfred jodl?
superb material, excellent video library.
At 10:21 I think what is shown is a famous crossing in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Seeing these documentaries back to back gets exhausting as the first 3/4 of the episodes are explanations of the time and i think its important, but after beeing explained german history from 1871 to 1939 12 times we dont need that, id rather just hear about the individual in question. Idk how best to find the way between beeing able to watch only one episode and understanding the story, and watching it all and getting sick of the 20minute explanation of how ww1 and ww2 happened. Love this channel tho, amazing work!
Thank you for this amazing videos on people who shaped WWII
Can you please do an episode on the Conqueror of Berlin Field Marshall Zhukov?
50 seconds in.
Subbed! Superb channel
Thanks I enjoyed this..❤
0:45 wait I watched another documentary that mentions his mother later on in his life, maybe that was supposed to be his step mother. If so who was his step mother?
A great documentary! But why do they show so many photos Gerd of von Rundstedt? Was that a mistake?
This was a wonderful documentary..
Keitel was guilty as charged, who seemed to forget his humanity in favor of serving Hitler. As a result it was a long drop and a short rope his reward.
If keitel had remembered humanity he would have been eliminated by Hitler. That is the nature of dictators. No one would have dared to criticise or stop Stalin from killing millions of soviets. Stalin would have hung him in a public place. Dictators are dangerous.
He was found guilty as charged in a trial. Had the war turned out differently, he'd have been regarded as a hero.
It's not about how you play the game, it's whether you win or lose.
In my readings of the German Officer corp of the WW2 the common theme i came across was the contempt and scorn his contemporaries had for him...
You can´t fool me, that´s clearly John Cleese!
That's what I said also. It's uncanny.
It's difficult to make an accurate assessment from this documentary but undoubtedly Keitel got his just desserts. I found the political analysis a little muddled and not enough debth into Keitel's character. In my view there was also too much padding with irrelevant content. However, I did learn a little from this documentary and am glad I watched it.
Obviously, a high political officer doesn't stay in office without expressing extreme enthusiasm for what is going down...
And, of course, we know Hitler never committed suicide but escaped to Argentina...
🇦🇷🎯🇦🇷
Outstanding historical documentary. Very well done.
Best regards.
LTC (GS) Ulrich Schnier, M.A., German Luftwaffe
The missing element not mentioned in evaluating Keitel's guilt or otherwise is the Prussian military tradition he was trained in. Were they like the Japanese Samurai required to give absolute obedience to their superiors? - I tend to think not as the idnependence of the earlier military heads showed but I'm no expert in Prussian military mores.
No keitel was a real Hitler's licker he was nicknamed as lakeitel from others
Okay, well, as a human being, I will tell you this. If you create or follow an order that involves committing mass murder for the mere sake of committing mass murder, you're a criminal. End of story, done.
@@JCinerea if your military culture emphasises absolute unquestioning obedience to orders where is the intent needed to make the act criminal. Pre-war Prussian and Japanese military structures had this requirement
@@nerfnerfification, do we really need to have this conversation? Look, the infamous "Commissar Order" demanded that any POWs who were suspected of being communist commissars or agents be shot without trial. Not only that, but the Soviet POWs who made it to Nazi POW camps were deliberately given starvation rations. The intent was to starve them to death. This was policy. I don't care what Prussian officers were taught. These orders were criminal.
@@nerfnerfification, and don't start with the false equivalencies of the RAF's and the USAAF's carpet bombing of Axis cities. The RAF's and the USAAF's campaigns were horrifyingly cruel and repulsive. But they were carried out against certain targets, with the aim of ending a war. Britain and the USA were trying to win a war with few other feasible tactical alternatives. Those campaigns stopped when the war ended.
The "Commissar Order" the POW starvation campaign, and the Holocaust were carried out with the express intention of exterminating entire classes of people. These were against civilians and POWs, not active military personnel or military targets. These campaigns were only going to end when entire classes and religions of people were exterminated.
I found self feeling some sympathy for Keitel whilst watching this. It is very easy to say he should have opposed Hitler but how many of us would have taken the easy path of ignoring what was going on if we were in the same position.
This was the pure evil of the Nazi system, otherwise decent people were ever so slowly drawn into it's spell and went on to commit or at the very least go long with committing terrible crimes.
love your series
He got caught up in a system that he could not escape like many others . If you tried some was waiting in the wings to kill you...Field Marshall Rommel is a good example !!
Ah, finally a nice voice to follow a story on yt
44:52 let's not forget he was also a vegetarian! Think about how hard that must have made things.
Does John Cleese know you used his image?
5 seconds in and already liked!!! Always a given for The People Profiles!
It feels as though he was a regular human being who found himself out of his depth and although initially appalled by the Nazis got swept up by it all and didn’t have the strength of character to give voice to or act on his true feelings aka ‘just following orders’.
Excellent presentation!
Very enjoyable program.
Can we have a documentary on Berija and Ezov, who were Stalin's right arms?
Another documentary well put together.
Would really love to see one on Georgy Zhukov and some of the Soviet Generals in WW2. They don't seem to get as much recognition as they deserve as the soviet victory is often simplified to just being a product of superior logistics and manpower.
Agree completely . Only Soviet Russia represented bulwark of resistance against Nazism and Fascism when most western democracies were adopting a compromising attitude towards Hitler .There are many unsung heroes of this war ,Gen Zukow is certainly one among them .It is largely due to western and US bias against Russia .
Soviet superior logistics ...hmmm ...perhaps "enormous number of guns, T-34s and manpower" would be a little more precise?
Logistics could be reached only when allies have delivered an huge amount of goods and supplies
I must say Keitel does have a remarkable resemblance to John Cleese!
You got that, from serving the Germans dinner in 'Faulty Towers'.....!
That's because Keitel was eager to adopt joke warfare.
You have rats in Spain.....or did Franco have them all shot ...hamsters are small and cuddly......cuddle this and your never play guitar again
@@richardcurtis2469 Que?
He's not a Feldmarschall - he's a very naughty boy!
The drawing of Keitel around 2:37 looks similar to John Cleese!
I am fascinated by the the motivations and character of those notable in Hitler's NAZI Germany, and what drove them to become the individuals they became. A great documentary.
When are you going to make a documentary on Napoleon Bonaparte.
Being the son of German immigrants who were children during the war, these stories are fascinating and horrifying at the same time. Keitel was obviously a proud WW1 veteran and a trained officer. It's hard to say how much blame do you give him? He bought into the personality cult of AH like so many others. Very well done analysis of the war and the causes going back to Versailles.
In his defense, Keitel had a choice: refuse the orders of Hitler (which no sane German did) or follow orders, as he said he did. Either choice would have led to his ultimate execution.
Claus von Stauffenberg was sane
45:08
That’s Gerd Von Rundstedt not Keitel.
"Nobody tried to compete with keitel for the position of head of OKW".. 😂Who would want to serve directly under a madman
Hello! An excellent study of Keitel and the times he lived in...how an apparently capable officer permitted himself to become a caricature of his former self and later commit war crimes is hard to fathom...apparently, AH's influence was such that Keitel's only option was to obey a person he felt was superior to him...unfortunately, he only realized the error of his ways at trial...
He was opposed to war against Poland and the Soviet Union, but agreed to fight the French and the British
Excellent work.
My UA-cam feed has been so good today. Glad to see you upload
A beautiful documentary.
Whether Wilhelm Keitel was rightly sentenced to death or not is difficult to judge from today's perspective. In any case, many Nazi people who were tainted with a greater burden of guilt were punished much more leniently or not at all. My personal opinion is that he should have been punished, but not with the death penalty.
There is a very interesting book by the American journalist Tim Townsend: „Mission in Nuremberg“. Here we learn that Wilhelm Keitel, while being imprisoned, under the influence and pastoral care of the American pastor Henry Guericke, found Jesus Christ, repented, and asked the Lord for forgiveness for his sins.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the very well-founded documentation. Best wishes from Munich, Germany.
The pic used for the video looks like a cross between Neville Chamberlain and John Cleese !
Great documentary any chance of doing one on richard walter darre the agriculture minister
Other Wehrmacht generals and officers nicknamed him “yes-man” because he never objected to Hitler and always agreed with him or followed his orders even if they were insane suicidal orders.
He was also known a Lakeitel cognate with the English lackey.
Who was George Marshall's parallel in Germany and Russia, please?
Keitel got more punishment as war crime whereas others with more sever crimes got less than they deserved as their punishment if judged MORE PRECISELY.
Thanks for the awesome vid!
Can you please do an episode on Sultan Suleiman the Ottoman Sultan?
I love to hear history from the German perspective instead of British or American for a change.
Lakeitel is not coming from "luck" but from the german word Lakai=footman
Excellent doc fellas
I am struck by the uncanny resemblance of the thumbnail and "John Cleese " with a crappy false mustachio. Could they be related? Should we be told?
An episode on the Russian General Zhukov will be great.
53:34
In this frame, the Allies should have immediately arrested Stalin and put him on trial for his part in invading Poland(recall Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). The Russian's were just as guilty as the Nazi's in terms of invading Polish territory.
you got rescued by the Soviet Union. you have no gratefulness.
@@dipakbose2677 Rescued by the Soviet Union? 🤣 How you figure? Was the Germany army landing in America and blowing up our cities and shipping our Jewish residents off to concentration camps??? NOT! Were German Stuka's diving on our cities??? How many air battles were waged over the skies of New York City or Washington D.C. between American planes and Germany's Luftwaffe? Please...
No swarms of Heinkel He 111's laying waste to Texas either.
Rather it was Hitler's army that was swallowing up your country and ravaging your country. And with America's entry into the war after 1941, we began to systemically destroy Germany's ability to make planes, tanks, and petroleum facilities that would have otherwise provided the means for the Germans to finish off Russia once and for all. Without success with getting the western allies back on shore of western Europe, Russia would not have had what was needed to do the rest.
And here we are in the next century with more Russian treachery and lies with what is going on in Ukraine. Sort of reminds everyone of Russia and Poland rights after the Germans invaded Poland. Russian SCUM! 😡
The Ukrainian's are doing a good job of holding off Russia's illegal war against them. Too bad the Ukrainians gave up their 3,400 nukes some years ago.
Wake up from your pro-Stalinist delusion.
@@williamcattr267 The Soviet Union record the Europe by sacrificing 27 million of its citizens.
@Jens Nobel Feasible or not, just my suggestion about Stalin. You disagree that Stalin was not complicit with Hitler in Poland?
@@dipakbose2677 The weapons industry was saved by the soviets.
Whenever it shows anything about Czechoslovakia and the agreement , you always see a really tall guy in the in the videos walking with Hitler , who is it , he is like the size of Herman Munster lol
Timestamp?
@@kategilmour2300 you see him for a second in this video , but his head is cut off, he has to be close to 6 foot 8 or more
Time stamp just off the top Ernest kaltenbrunner
@@jeffhorbachuk2642 I thought of him , his height is stated anywhere from 6.4 to 6.7 , the guy in the pictures has to be at least 6.7
The tall guy is Heidrich, in charge of governing Czechoslovakia. He was killed in Prague by two British agents while driving to his office in an open car.
I just read Cornelius Ryan's 'The Last Battle' and Keitel was totally a Hitler sycophant that old school generals really didn't like as they all said Keitel would strut in with his field marshal baton all pomp and ego. When General Heinrici ordered what remained of Army Group Vistula to withdraw, an enraged Keitel showed up and relieved him. After Keitel left, some German officers came out of the woods nearby all carrying MP40's. They explained to Heinrici that 'when we saw Keitel we expected there might be trouble' as in they were going to protect Heinrici if Keitel ordered him executed on the spot. Even when it was obvious the war was over and lost Keitel was so enamored with Hitler he expected Heinrici to attack Berlin because "We must save our Fuhrer!"
Thanks for sharing, really interesting.
He was not to be hanged but rather kept in prison for the rest of his days. By killing him the judges showed to be not too different from him but simply winners taking vindictive actions.
Excellent documentary.
I did not listen to the entire video yet but here is some interesting While Keitel was on the German side and Oppenheimer was leading the technical effort on the Manhattan project, I am not sure it was known that Kitty Oppenheimer, his wife was first cousins or first cousins once removed of Keitel. I do not know if the military knew this or even for sure she did or if she did, no idea if she ever met Keitel.
If for nothing else that Keitel was ultimately responsible for during WW2, the horrendous treatment of Russian POW's by the Wehrmacht, which deliberately starved and murdered over 2 million in various POW and concentration camps, occured under his command and directive. This alone was reason enough for the Allies to sentence him to death during the Nuremberg War Trials. As was so well said in the video, Keitel was a definitely a war criminal who ultimately deserved what he got, like so many of the men put on trial and sentenced to death in 1945 for their part in Hitler's war and his crimes against humanity.
I'm not disputing anything you're saying, but just adding that the Soviets were barbaric animals who were no better than the worst German. Stalin was a mass murdering genocidal shit-bag, just like Hitler was.
First of all thank you for making this one on a high profile , and yet relatively unknown Nazi General in terms of his life. It should be worth mentioning a couple of things.
1. The commando order , when that was made , a lot,of generals were fully aware that it was illegal , but Keital and Jodl fully implemented it.
2. He made a order to execute any captured Normandie Niemen pilots in 1943 I think.
3. His main defence for his crimes was fuhrerprinzip , that’s Is that he swore a loyalty oath to the fuhrer, however there’s no excuse for war crimes.
4. He had a brother who was also a officer in the Wehrmacht.
The Allies commit vast numbers of war crimes far worse than those you listed.
@@BobBob-us5fm I am aware of for example the katyn massacre and the biscari massacre, the latter the guy who did it was held into account, I haven’t seen you list any war crimes , unfortunately that is war , but the crimes that the Nazis did were not just one offs but also policies of extermination.
you know your stuff. kietel may be unkown to the general public but he is infamous amoung us that study german ww2
@@super20dan agree on that , for all they would only know the poster German generals such as Rommel and guderian , not others such as Manstein , lutz , model , kluge, Kutcher etc, it’s not just that army though, for example a lot of Americans know Patton and Eisenhower , what about Chaffee?
@@BobBob-us5fm No they didn't, and I have yet to find a single person who claims they did who is not a nazi or a nazi sympathizer. Its literal neo nazi whataboutism