Skip to content
Partly AI · Narrator voice
Cover of episode 06

The defendants · 062:07 min

Keitel: he says, the file says

31 August 1946, Nuremberg. Wilhelm Keitel, Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces, gives his final statement. The words about worthless human life are not his words, he says.

Then the file: the directive of 16 September 1941, Document 389-PS. It says “The Führer has now ordered”, a human life there is often not worth anything, for a German soldier’s life the death penalty for 50 to 100 communists. Signed: Keitel. Then himself again: “I believed, but I erred.” And the judgment of the Tribunal.

8 documented3 open15 Sources

StatementsSources

Episode 06

Statements

Every on-screen statement of the episode, in order. Red only when the source carries it word for word; open when a check is missing.

  1. 01
    open

    16 September 1941: Keitel signs. In 1946 he says: not my words.

    IMT Vol. 25, p. 530IMT Vol. 25, p. 532IMT Vol. 22, p. 376IMT Vol. 22, p. 375IMT Vol. 22, p. 366

    AI review: this wording does not fully hold, being revised
  2. 02
    documented

    Keitel: Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  3. 03
    documented

    Keitel, final statement: the words about worthless human life are not his words; he did not make them the contents of any order.

    IMT Vol. 22, p. 376IMT Vol. 22, p. 375IMT Vol. 22, p. 366

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  4. 04
    open

    16 Sept 1941, Chief of the High Command: “The Führer has now ordered” the severest measures.

    IMT Vol. 25, p. 530IMT Vol. 25, p. 531IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Check in progress, approval pending
  5. 05
    documented

    In the same document: a human life there is often not worth anything. For a German soldier's life: death penalty for 50 to 100 communists. Signed: Keitel.

    IMT Vol. 25, p. 530IMT Vol. 25, p. 531IMT Vol. 25, p. 532

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  6. 06
    documented

    Keitel: he believed, but he erred, and was not in a position to prevent what ought to have been prevented. “That is my guilt.”

    IMT Vol. 22, p. 378IMT Vol. 22, p. 375IMT Vol. 22, p. 366

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  7. 07
    documented

    He did not see that there is a limit even to a soldier's duty. “That is my fate.”

    IMT Vol. 22, p. 378IMT Vol. 22, p. 375IMT Vol. 22, p. 366

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  8. 08
    documented

    Judgment: Keitel does not deny his connection with these acts. He relies on being a soldier and on the doctrine of superior orders, prohibited by Article 8 as a defence.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 290

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  9. 09
    documented

    Judgment: there is nothing in mitigation; superior orders cannot mitigate here. Sentence: death by hanging.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 291IMT Vol. 22, p. 588

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  10. 10
    question

    Next: Jodl.

  11. 11
    documented

    Judgment: Keitel's order of 16 Sept 1941 spoke of fifty or a hundred lives from the occupied areas of the Soviet Union for one German life taken.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 234

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  12. 12
    open

    1946, Keitel, Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces: “Not my words.”

    IMT Vol. 22, p. 376IMT Vol. 22, p. 375IMT Vol. 22, p. 366IMT Vol. 1, p. 288IMT Vol. 25, p. 530IMT Vol. 25, p. 532

    Check in progress, approval pending

Episode 06

Sources

Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT, “Blue Series”), English edition. Page = printed page.

  1. IMT Vol. 25, p. 530

    Document
    IMT Vol. 25 (Dokument 389-PS, deutscher Originaltext)
    Volume
    25
    Page
    530 (PDF page 544)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    DOCUMENT 389-PS KEITEL'S TOP-SECRET DIRECTIVE, 16 SEPTEMBER 1941

  2. IMT Vol. 25, p. 532

    Document
    IMT Vol. 25 (Dokument 389-PS, deutscher Originaltext)
    Volume
    25
    Page
    532 (PDF page 546)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    unverzüglich bekanntgegeben werden. Keitel.

  3. IMT Vol. 22, p. 376

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22 (Schlusswort Keitel, 31.08.1946)
    Volume
    22
    Page
    376 (PDF page 386)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    The French chief prosecutor said in his final speech: "Is it necessary to recall the terrible wordsi of the Defendant Keitel that " 'human life was worth less than nothing in the occupied territories.' These terrible words are not my words. I did not think them up, and did not make them the contents of any order either. The fact that my name is connected with the transmission of this Führer order weighs heavily enough upon me.

  4. IMT Vol. 22, p. 375

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22
    Volume
    22
    Page
    375 (PDF page 385)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    THE PRESIDENT: I call on the Defendant Wilhelm Keitel. WILHELM KEITEL (Defendant): I acknowledged on the witness stand my responsibility in connection with my official position

  5. IMT Vol. 22, p. 366

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22 (transcript 31.08.1946, Schlussworte)
    Volume
    22
    Page
    366 (PDF page 376)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Saturday, 31 August 1946 Morning Session THE PRESIDENT: Article 24 D (j) provides that each defendant may make a statement to the Tribunal. I therefore now call upon the defendants who wish — whether they wish to make statements. Defendant Hermann Wilhelm Goring. HERMANN WILHELM GÖRING (Defendant): The Prosecution, in the final speeches, has treated the defendants and their testimony as completely worthless.

  6. IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    288 (PDF page 304)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    making Keitel Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

  7. IMT Vol. 25, p. 531

    Document
    IMT Vol. 25 (Dokument 389-PS, deutscher Originaltext)
    Volume
    25
    Page
    531 (PDF page 545)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Der Führer hat nunmehr angeordnet, dass überall mit den schärfsten Mitteln einzugreifen ist

  8. IMT Vol. 25, p. 531

    Document
    IMT Vol. 25 (Dokument 389-PS, deutscher Originaltext)
    Volume
    25
    Page
    531 (PDF page 545)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Dabei ist zu bedenken, dass ein Menschenleben in den betroffenen Ländern vielfach nichts gilt und eine abschreckende Wirkung nur durch ungewöhnliche Härte erreicht werden kann. Als Sühne für ein deutsches Soldatenleben muss in diesen Fällen im all- — gemeinen die Todesstrafe für 50 100 Kommunisten als angemessen gelten.

  9. IMT Vol. 22, p. 378

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22 (Schlusswort Keitel, 31.08.1946)
    Volume
    22
    Page
    378 (PDF page 388)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    I believed, but I erred, and I was not in a position to prevent what ought to have been prevented. That is my guilt.

  10. IMT Vol. 22, p. 378

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22
    Volume
    22
    Page
    378 (PDF page 388)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    and that I did not see that there is a limit set even for a soldier's performance of his duty. That is my fate.

  11. IMT Vol. 1, p. 290

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1
    Volume
    1
    Page
    290 (PDF page 306)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    In the face of these documents Keitel does not deny his connection with these acts. Rather, his defense relies on the fact that he is a soldier, and on the doctrine of "superior orders", prohibited by Article 8 of the Charter as a defense.

  12. IMT Vol. 1, p. 291

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    291 (PDF page 307)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    There is nothing in mitigation. Superior orders, even to a soldier, cannot be considered in mitigation where crimes as shocking and extensive have been committed consciously, ruthlessly, and without military excuse or justification.

  13. IMT Vol. 22, p. 588

    Document
    IMT Vol. 22
    Volume
    22
    Page
    588 (PDF page 598)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    "Defendant Wilhelm Keitel, on the Counts of the Indictment on which you have been convicted, the Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.

  14. IMT Vol. 1, p. 234

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    234 (PDF page 250)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    an order issued by the Defendant Keitel on 16 September 1941 spoke in terms of fifty or a hundred lives from the occupied areas of the Soviet Union for one German life taken.

  15. IMT Vol. 25, p. 530

    Document
    IMT Vol. 25 (Dokument 389-PS, deutscher Originaltext)
    Volume
    25
    Page
    530 (PDF page 544)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Der Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht … F.H.Qu., 16.9.41

Further sources of the episode

audio NARA 238.3884B (31 Aug 1946) · Document 389-PS, IMT Vol. 25, pp. 530 to 532 · final statement Vol. 22, pp. 376/378 · judgment Vol. 1, pp. 288 to 291 · sentence Vol. 22, p. 588 · Film NARA 111-ADC-5813, 6163, 5547, 5585

How to cite this episode

FUNDSTELLE: „Keitel: he says, the file says“, Nuremberg Files 06. https://fundstelle.online/en/f/06/

Found a mistake? Write to us; every correction is listed with its date on the corrections page. Corrections

Narrator voice partly AI-generated (labelled). Original sound, transcripts and films come from public archives, credited per episode.