[NUREMBERG TRIALS]: KEITEL WILHELM (1882-1946) German Field Marshal of World War II who served as Chief of the Armed Forces High Command 1938-45. D.S., W Keitel, in pencil, one page, folio, n.p. (Nuremberg), 17^th January 1946, in German. The partially printed (mimeographed) document, completed in typescript, is addressed to the General Secretary of the International Military Tribunal and is a Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness in which Keitel requests that Oberregierungsrat Dr. Erbe of Berlin, a former employee of the Ministry of Interior, be summoned to give evidence on his behalf, further adding that the witness also served under Wilhelm Frick up until the middle of 1944 and that Erbe has knowledge 'That the Consulting Committee (Referentenausschuss) of the Defense of the Country (Landesverteidigung), subsequently the Reich Defense Committee (Reichsverteidigungsausschuss), advised only on questions regarding the defense of the country but never on strategic or operational questions; that it also did not concern itself with the planning of aggressive wars' and that such facts are relevant because 'the prosecution asserts that the above mentioned committee has planned aggressive wars. I was a member of this committee'. Countersigned in pencil at the foot by Dr. Otto Nelte, the Defence Counsel representing Keitel. Accompanied by the official IMT English translation of Keitel's document. Some light overall age wear and minor traces of professional restoration, otherwise VG, 2

 

Following the end of World War II Keitel was indicted by the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg Trials as one of the 'major war criminals' and was found guilty on all counts: crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, criminal conspiracy and war crimes. He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in 1946.

 

Provenance: The present document originated from the archives of Dr. Hans Werner who was responsible for directing the printing of the Record of the Trial of Major War Criminals in 42 volumes and in three different languages (English, French & German) immediately following the Nuremberg Trials.