Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (German pronunciation: [ˈkaɪ̯tl̩]; 22 September 1882 – 16 October 1946) was a German field marshal and convicted war criminal who held office as chief of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany´s armed forces, for most of World War II. In that capacity, Keitel was Germany´s de facto war minister. He signed a number of criminal orders and directives that led to numerous war crimes.
Keitel´s rise to the Wehrmacht high command began with his appointment as the head of the Armed Forces Office at the Reich Ministry of War in 1935. Having taken command of the Wehrmacht in 1938, Adolf Hitler replaced the ministry with the OKW and Keitel became its chief. He was reviled among his military colleagues as Hitler´s habitual "yes-man".
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