Wilhelm Keitel quotes

Wilhelm Keitel was a German field marshal who served as Chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces) during World War II. As one of Adolf Hitler’s closest military advisers, he played a major role in planning and executing Nazi military operations. He was later convicted of war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials and executed. Here are 16 of his quotes:

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. (Wilhelm Keitel)
It isn't right to be obedient only when things go well; it is much harder to be a good, obedient soldier when things go badly and times are hard. Obedience and faith at such time is a virtue. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
I am a soldier and I worked for the kaiser, under Ebert, Hindenburg, and Hitler, all the same way, for the past 44 years. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
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. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
Death by hanging. That, at least, I thought I would be spared. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
I believe German soldiers are good and decent, and if they did anything wrong it was because of military necessity. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
I call on God Almighty to have mercy on the German people. More than two million German soldiers went to their death for the fatherland before me. I follow now my sons - all for Germany. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
It is tragic to have to realize that the best I had to give as a soldier, obedience, and loyalty, was exploited for purposes which could not be recognized at the time, and that I did not see that there is a limit set even for a soldier's performance to his duty. That is my fate. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
If I had known it I would have told my son, I'd rather shoot you than let you join the SS. But I didn't know. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
Consideration of any kind are a crime against the German people and the soldier at the front. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
This war no longer has anything to do with knightly conduct or with the agreements of the Geneva Convention. (Wilhelm Keitel)
If this war is not fought with the greatest brutality against the bands both in the East and in the Balkans then in the foreseeable future the strength at our disposal will not be sufficient to be able to master this plague. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
The troops are therefore empowered and are in duty bound in this war to use without mitigation even against women and children any means that will lead to success. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
The Führer has ordered that the enemy employs in partisan warfare Communist-trained fanatics who do not hesitate to commit any atrocity. It is more than ever a question of life and death. This fight has nothing to do with soldierly gallantry or principles of the Geneva Convention. If the fight against the partisans in the East, as well as in the Balkans, is not waged with the most brutal means, we will shortly reach the point where the available forces are insufficient to control the area. It is therefore not only justified, but it is the duty of the troops to use all means without restriction, even against women and children, so long as it ensures success. Any consideration for the partisans is a crime against the German people. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
Keitel, the weak and willing tool, delivered the armed forces, the instrument of aggression, over to the party and directed them in executing its felonious designs. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel
A field marshal who issued orders to the armed forces but had no idea of the results they would have in practice. View quote
Wilhelm Keitel