16 Facts About Alfred Jodl

Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl was a German Generaloberst who served as the chief of the Operations Staff of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World War II.

Alfred Jodl was educated at a military cadet school in Munich, from which he graduated in 1910.

Alfred Jodl was raised Roman Catholic but rejected the faith later in life.

Alfred Jodl was chosen by Hitler to be Chief of Operation Staff of the newly formed Oberkommando der Wehrmacht on 23 August 1939, just prior to the German invasion of Poland.

Alfred Jodl acted as a chief of staff during the invasion of Denmark and Norway.

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Alfred Jodl signed the Commissar Order of 6 June 1941 and the Commando Order of 28 October 1942.

Alfred Jodl spent most of the war at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler's forward command post in East Prussia.

Alfred Jodl was among those slightly injured during the 20 July plot of 1944 against Hitler, during which he suffered a concussion.

On 6 May 1945, Alfred Jodl was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross by Großadmiral Karl Donitz, who had succeeded Hitler on 30 April 1945 as head of Germany and its armed forces.

Alfred Jodl was arrested, along with the rest of the Flensburg government of Donitz, by British troops on 23 May 1945 and transferred to Camp Ashcan POW camp and later put before the International Military Tribunal at the Nuremberg trials.

Alfred Jodl was accused of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

When confronted with the 1941 mass shootings of Soviet POWs, Alfred Jodl claimed the only prisoners shot were "not those that could not, but those that did not want to walk".

Subsequently, interviewed by Gitta Sereny, researching her biography of Albert Speer, Luise alleged that in many instances the Allied prosecution made charges against Alfred Jodl based on documents that they refused to share with the defence.

Alfred Jodl nevertheless proved that some of the charges made against him were untrue, such as the charge that he had helped Hitler gain control of Germany in 1933.

Alfred Jodl pleaded not guilty "before God, before history and my people".

Alfred Jodl's remains, like those of the other nine executed men and Hermann Goring, were cremated at Ostfriedhof and the ashes were scattered in the Wenzbach, a small tributary of the River Isar to prevent the establishment of a permanent burial site which might be enshrined by nationalist groups.