Wilhelm Keitel
Wilhelm Keitel was a field marshal and chief of the Oberkommando der Wermacht(OKW) which was the newly established joint operation command between all armed forces. The OKW replaced the ministry of war and intended to command joint commands between the main 3 military branches (army, navy and air force).
However, the OKW failed to perform such authority but was more of an administrative office. Wilhelm Keitel was obedient to Adolf Hitler and became the chief of Adolf Hitler’s personal military staff as well.[1] He was Hitler’s ‘yes-man’ saying ‘yes’ to Adolf Hitler’s order without much refusal.[2]
Wilhelm Keitel was trialed at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg as he was the chief of the OKW. Although Wilhelm Keitel’s position was much of a symbolic position, his final approval and signature on various orders and his lack of resistance to Adolf Hitler was responsible for his death sentence.
Many of the orders that Wilhelm Keitel signed were the following
The Jurisdiction Order:
This order exempted many prosecutions against German crimes during the Eastern front campaigns.
The Guidelines for the Troops:
This demanded ruthless action against the Jewish race for German troops. Also gave space for German military collaboration with SS.
The Commissar Order:
This infamous order demanded immediate execution without taking prisoners of war of all Soviet Union commissar who were the political officers attached to Soviet Union forces.
Night and Fog Decree:
This ordered the execution of resistance members and special command operators even those who were captured in uniform. This may sound odd; however, the Geneva Convention doesn’t state nor approve the protection of special operation agents in enemy uniforms or disguise.[3]
The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg tried Wilhelm Keitel guilty and he was sentenced to death by hanging on 16, October 1946.
Alfred Jodl
Probably, Alfred Jodl was the least similar figure casted for the movie Downfall. Alfred Jodl was the chief of staff under Wilhelm Keitel at the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht.
Alfred Jodl was a very competent military officer and contributed to the establishment of many German military operations and strategies.
He mediated the different opinions of military staffs at the field across military branches. He also had the guts to oppose Adolf Hitler. Still, Alfred Jodl was loyal to Hitler. As the chief of staff of OKW and one of the key members of establishing the invasion of Poland and Operation Barbarossa (The invasion to the Soviet Union),
Alfred Jodl was also held responsible for the final approval of various orders against humanity and war crimes along with Wilhelm Keitel. He was hanged as he was tried guilty by the International Military Tribunal at Nurnberg.[4]
Wilhelm Burgdorf
Wilhelm Burgdorf was a staff officer, chief of the Army Personnel Office and the chief military adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Wilhelm Burgdorf was a dedicated loyalist to the Nazi regime.
He once interviewed with the Spiegel "An officer who expresses himself disparaging about the state leadership is intolerable in the National Socialist state."
He also visited the famous ‘Desert Fox’ Erwin Rommel to choose between an honorable suicide or a miserable survival when Erwin Rommel was suspected for treason against Erwin Rommel. Wilhelm Burgdorf was also the chief for the human resource management of the German Army.[5]
As one of the closest people to Adolf Hitler, Wilhelm Burgdorf commits suicide not so long after Adolf Hitler’s suicide along with Hans Krebs.
Hans Krebs
Hans Krebs was part of the military detachment in Moscow before the Soviet Union and Germany engaged into war. Hans Krebs’s experience in Moscow and his fluency in Russian helps him as a successful chief of staff in many army groups.[6]
Hans Krebs served as Chief of Staff of the 9th Army which was led by Walter Model where they’ve partnered up and halted the Soviet Union’s counter attack at Rhzev.
Hans Krebs was quickly promoted up the ranks and eventually became the Chief of the Army General Staff at Germany’s very end. On 1st of May 1945, Hans Krebs who was fluent with Russian met with Vasily Chuikov who led the 8th Guard Army which was the spearhead of the Georgy Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front for peace talks.
Vasily Chuikov demanded an unconditional surrender which Hitler’s successor Goebbels could never accept by his own hands. Goebbels eventually kills himself soon after and Hans Krebs along with Wilhelm Burgdorf commits suicide as well on the 2nd of May 1945.
Theodor Ernst Hermann Busse
Theodor Ernst Hermann Busse was an experienced officer that even held the Knights Cross with Swords of the Hohenzollern Order during the first World War. Theodor Busse served with the legendary Erich Von Manstein during the Crimea campaign and the Amy Group Don’s rescue attempt of the 6th Army in Stalingrad.
During the end of the war, Theodor Busse takes command of the 9th Army which was once the very first forces to break through Moscow. However, Busse’s 9th Army was now an already depleted force trying to hold off the Soviet Union as part of Army Group Vistula.
Elements of Army Group Vistula including Busse’s 9th Army held a fight against anxious Georgy Zhukov’s 1st Belorussian Front during the Battle of the Seelow Heights.
Seelow was the front gate to Berlin and Busse contributed to halting the Soviet Union’s breakthrough for just a while.
Eventually the Soviet Union decides to detour through Berlin rather than breaking through the Seelow high grounds. Busse’s 9th Army had to hold the line or else, they would be allowing a direct route to Berlin but Soviet Union forces already encircled Berlin.
Adolf Hitler orders Busse’s 9th Army to relief Berlin, however Ivan Konev’s 1st Belorussian Front traps Busse’s 9th Army in the Hable pocket as well.
After Hitler’s death Theodor Busse links up with Walter Wenck’s 12th Army and together they breakthrough the Soviet Union’s lines and reach the Elbe River and surrender to the Western Allied Forces. Busse lives up to 98 years old.[7]
Walther Wenck
Walther Wenck was one of the youngest generals among the German military. He joined the Amry of the Weimar Republic in 1920. He was the Chief of Operations of the 1st panzer division from 1939 until 1942.
He then instructs for the War Academy, and works as Chief of Staff for various Armies including the 3rd Romanian Army.
Under the last moments of Germany, Walter Wenck also was appointed Chief of Operations of the German Army High Command(OKH, Oberkommando des Heers, This translates as German Army High Command), Chief of Command Staff, Chief of Staff of Army Group Vistula and then he became the commander of the 12th Army.
His initial orders were to hold the Western Allied Forces along the Elbe River.
However, as the Soviet Unions surrounded Berlin, Adolf Hitler orders Theodor Busse’s 9th Army, Wenck’s 12th Army and Felix Steiner’s ‘Army Group Steiner’ to relief Berlin. Walther Wenck heads towards Berlin while leaving the Elbe River, however due to heavy resistance, Wenck fails to reach Berlin and halts at Potsdam.
After Hitler’s suicide, Wenck breaks through the lines to relief Busse’s 9th Army from encirclement and head west to surrender to the Western Allied Forces under desperate measures to not be kept POW (Prisoner of War) by the Soviet Union.
Helmuth Weidling
Helmuth Weidling was a commander of Zepelin units during the firs World War. He led artillery units, 86th infantry division and the 41st Panzer Crops at the Eastern Front.
In 1945, Helmuth Weidling becomes the commander of the 56th Panzer Corps which was part of Theodor Busse’s 9th Army which was under Army Group Vistula which was led by Gotthard Heinrici. Weidling’s unit participated during the Battle of the Seelow Heights as well.
While the 9th Army and Army Group Vistula were pushed west little by little, Soviet Union forces took a detour and encircled Berlin. There was no choice but to retreat to the west.
Adolf Hitler orders the execution of Helmuth Weidling on 22 of April. After Helmuth Weidling clears himself and Hitler withdraws his orders acknowledging his mistake, Helmuth Weidling became the commander of the Berlin Defense District.
SS-General (SS-Brigadeführer) Wilhelm Mohnke commanded the defense of the central government district and the ‘Fuhrer’s bunker’ as ‘commander of the very final defense’ with about 2,000 men including those from the Guard Battalion of the 1st SS panzer division LSSAH.
Helmuth Weidling had scrap men from all kinds of military branches and units including the 20th panzer grenadier division, 9thFallschirmjäger Division, Panzer Division Müncheberg. 11th SS panzer grenadier division Nordland and 18th Panzergrenadier Division.
Already the 1st Belorussian Front was pounding Berlin with their might while the 1st Ukrainian Front broke through German’s defense and was approaching from the south of Berlin.
After Hitler’s suicide, and Hans Kerbs’s initial negotiations with the Soviet Union and Goebbels’s suicide, Helmuth Weidling meets with Vasily Chuikov for terms of surrender on 2nd Mary 1945. Helmuth Weidling starts to announce the death of Hitler and his orders to surrender to all personnel in Berlin.
"On 30 April 1945, the Führer committed suicide, and thus abandoned those who had sworn loyalty to him. According to the Führer's order, you German soldiers would have had to go on fighting for Berlin despite the fact that our ammunition has run out and despite the general situation which makes our further resistance meaningless. I order the immediate cessation of resistance. WEIDLING, General of Artillery, former District Commandant in the defense of Berlin”
Weidling was eventually kept POW by the Soviet Union and died during imprisonment
Robert Ritter Von Greim
Robert Ritter Von Greim served the first World War initially as an artillery cadet. He transferred to the German Air Service later on. As a fighter pilot ace, he was awarded the Pour le Mérite and the Military Order of Max Joseph which allowed him the name ‘knight’ which is ‘ritter’ and the title ‘von’ as a recognition for his nobility.
However, he failed to remain in the military by the Versailles Treaty. He seeks a career in law but the Chinese government by Chiang Kai-Shek asks Ritter Von Greim to help found and develop the Chinese Air Force.
In 1933, Hermann Göring invites Ritter Von Greim to command the first pilot school. Already, Germany was secretly establishing their air force which was restricted by the Versailles Treaty.
Ritter von Greim was only a major in 1934 but his experience and contribution in building the German Air force (Luftwaffe) allowed him to highly escalate up the ranks. He became brigadier general of the Luftwaffe by 1938.
Ritter Von Greim leads air campaigns during the invasion of Poland, Battle of Britain and major battles in the eastern front such as the Battle of Kursk. Ritter von Greim was ordered to head for Berlin.
His Fi-156 Storch was shot and he was injured as well but he was able to manage an immediate emergency landing. In the Führerbunker, Adolf Hitler promotes Riter Von Greim to field marshal and the chief of command of the Luftwaffe after Hermann Göring.
This was a final but empty appointment. Riter Von Greim is later caught in Austria by the Western Allied Forces but he commits suicide while in captivity.[8]
[1] “Wilhelm Keitel.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wilhelm-Keitel.
[2] “Wilhelm Keitel.” Liberation Route Europe, https://www.liberationroute.com/stories/30/wilhelm-keitel.
[3] United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/wilhelm-keitel-biography.
[4] “Alfred Jodl.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alfred-Jodl.
[5] “Burgdorf, Wilhelm 1895-1945.” [WorldCat Identities], 1 Jan. 1984, https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n85033612/.
[7] “Busse, Theodor Ernst Hermann August.” WW2 Gravestone, 31 Dec. 2022, https://ww2gravestone.com/people/busse-theodor-ernst-hermann-august/.
[8] “Robert Ritter Von Greim.” Hitler Parody Wiki, https://hitlerparody.fandom.com/wiki/Robert_Ritter_von_Greim.
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