Bodewin Claus Eduard Keitel (; 25 December 1888 – July 29 1953) was a German general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

who served as head of the Army Personnel Office.

Pre-war career

Bodewin Keitel was born on 25 December 1888 in Helmscherode, the son of a landowner. He was the brother of

Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal and war criminal who held office as chief of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's Armed Forces, duri ...

, later a field marshal and head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht. Bodewin joined the army in 1909 and served during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the end of World War I, he was retained in the ''

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' () was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first years of the Third Reich. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

'', eventually reaching the rank of colonel. In 1937, he was appointed as the Chief of Training Department ("T4") and was added in the General Staff of the Army. On 28 February 1938, he was promoted to Generalmajor (major general) and appointed head of the Army Personnel Office. He held this position until 1 October 1942.

World War II

On 1 April 1940 Keitel received his promotion to Generalleutnant (lieutenant general) and one year later the General of Infantry (general of infantry). In the period from 1 October 1942 to 28 February 1943, he was granted leave to "restore health". His successor in the Army Personnel Office was

Rudolf Schmundt Rudolf Schmundt (13 August 1896 – 1 October 1944) was a German officer and adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Between 1942 and 1944, he was chief of the German Army Personnel Office. Schmundt was injured during the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt o ...

. On 1 March 1943 Keitel was appointed commanding general of the Deputy Commanding General XX Army Corps and commander in the military district XX in Danzig. The liaison officer in the military district XX at the time was Lieutenant Colonel

Hasso von Boehmer Hasso von Boehmer (9 August 1904 – 5 March 1945) was a German lieutenant colonel on the General Staff and one of the 20 July Plotters. Hasso von Boehmer belonged to Infantry Regiment 9 (I.R. 9) from Potsdam, from which also came many of the o ...

, who by his friend

Henning von Tresckow Henning Hermann Karl Robert von Tresckow (; 10 January 1901 – 21 July 1944) was a German military officer with the rank of major general in the Nazi Germany, German Army who helped organize German resistance to Nazism, German resistance again ...

for his resistance to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, recruited the brothers

Stauffenberg The Schenk von Stauffenberg family is a noble (''Uradel'') Roman Catholic family from Swabia in Germany. The family's best-known recent member was Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg – the key figure in the 1944 "20 July plot" to as ...

to carry out the assassination of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

. On the day of the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler (20 July 1944) Keitel was on an inspection tour in his command area. As first general staff officer, Keitel took Boehmer from the Berlin

Bendlerblock The Bendlerblock is a building complex in the Tiergarten district of Berlin, Germany, located on Stauffenbergstraße (formerly named ''Bendlerstraße''). Erected in 1914 as headquarters of several Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine'') off ...

and a telegram to Keitel from the conspirators and prompted the first steps. Keitel then heard over the radio that the attack had failed and he returned immediately to Danzig. He confirmed by a telephone call to his brother

that Hitler was alive. Boehmer was taken before the People's Court and executed in 1945. On 1 December 1944 Bodewin Keitel was moved into the

Führerreserve The (“Leaders Reserve” or "Reserve for Leaders") was set up in the German Armed Forces during World War II in 1939 as a pool of temporarily unoccupied high-ranking military officers awaiting new assignments. The various military branches and ...

of the Army High Command (OKH). On 3 May 1945 he became a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

prisoner of war, then dismissed on 17 April 1947.

Awards

German Cross The War Order of the German Cross (german: Der Kriegsorden Deutsches Kreuz), normally abbreviated to the German Cross or ''Deutsches Kreuz'', was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 28 September 1941. It was awarded in two divisions: in gold for repe ...

in Silver on 2 October 1942 as ''

Generalleutnant is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries. Austria Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of O ...

'' in the OKH/Chief of HPAPatzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 545.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *

Literature

* ''Deutsches Geschlechterbuch.'' Band 102. Görlitz 1938. * Hans-Joachim Keitel: ''Geschichte der Familie Keitel.'' Hannover 1989. * Dieter Lent: ''Keitel, Bodewin.'' In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (Hrsg.): ''Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon: 19. und 20. Jahrhundert.'' Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, , S. 315. {{DEFAULTSORT:Keitel, Bodewin 1888 births 1953 deaths German Army generals of World War II Generals of Infantry (Wehrmacht) Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Reichswehr personnel Heads of the Army Personnel Office (Wehrmacht) Military personnel from Lower Saxony Recipients of the German Cross People from Bad Gandersheim