Jodl file photo [4537]

Alfred Jodl

SurnameJodl
Given NameAlfred
Born10 May 1890
Died16 Oct 1946
CountryGermany
CategoryMilitary-Ground
GenderMale

Contributor:

ww2dbaseAlfred Josef Ferdinand Baumgärtler was born in Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany. His parents, army officer Alfred Jodl and Therese Baumgärtler, were not married until 1899, hence Jodl did not assume the name Alfred Jodl until that year. he was educated at the Cadet School in Munich, Germany, graduating in 1910, then joined the army as an artillery officer. In Sep 1913, he married Irma Gräfin von Bullion; they had no children. During WW1, he commanded an artillery battery on the Western Front between 1914 and 1916 where he wounded twice (once severely to his thigh), on the Eastern Front briefly in 1917, and then back on the Western Front as a staff officer at the end of the war. After WW1, he considered leaving the military and becoming a doctor, but he ultimately chose to remain in the German Army.

ww2dbaseIn 1923, Jodl met Adolf Hitler. Through the 1920s, they worked together to gain influence for the Nazi Party. By 1935, at the rank of major general, he was named the Chief of the National Defense Section in the High Command of the Army (Abteilung Landesverteidigung im Oberkommando des Heeres, OKH). On 11 Mar 1938, he signed the order given by Hitler to invade Austria, then later that year commanded troops in Czechoslovakia during the annexation of that country. Between Oct 1938 and Aug 1939, he was a senior artillery officer with the 44th Division in Vienna, Austria. In Sep 1939, he led troops during the invasion of Poland. Between Oct 1939 and the end of the war, he was the Chief of Operations with the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, OKW), making him a key deputy to Wilhelm Keitel. In this role, he was among Hitler's top military advisors, personally involved in the planning of the invasions of Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Greece. He was promoted to the rank of colonel general in Jan 1944. On 20 Jul 1944, during the July Plot on Hitler's life, Jodl was present in the meeting room with Hitler where a bomb planted by Claus von Stauffenberg.

ww2dbaseJodl's wife Irma died on 18 Apr 1944. He married his former secretary and mistress Luise Katharina von Benda on 7 Apr 1945.

ww2dbaseAt the end of the war, Colonel General Jodl signed the instruments of unconditional surrender on 7 May 1945 in Reims, France. Upon signing, he was arrested and transferred to the prisoner of war camp at Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. At the Nuremberg Trials, he was accused of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; some of this charges were brought upon him after his signing of the Commando Order and the Commissar Order which executed certain prisoners of war, and the order to deport Danish citizens to concentration camps. He pleaded not guilty, swearing "before God, before history and my people". He was found guilty on all four charges and was sentenced to death. He requested to be executed by firing squad, but he was ultimately hanged. His last words were reportedly "[m]y greetings to you, my Germany". His remains were cremated at Munich, and the ashes were scattered into the Conwentzbach River. A cenotaph served as a memorial to him at the family plot in the Fraueninsel Cemetery, Chiemsee, Germany.

ww2dbaseOn 28 Feb 1953, a Munich court found Jodl not guilty and posthumously cleared him of all four charges. His property, seized by the Allied powers upon his arrest, were given to his widow.

ww2dbaseSources: Spartacus Educational, Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Aug 2007

Alfred Jodl Interactive Map

Photographs

Captain Alfred Jodl with his brother Ferdinand (with cigarette) during maneuvers with German 5th and 7th Divisions in Bavaria, Germany, 1926Adolf Hitler with his staff including Keitel, Jodl, Bormann, and others at WolfPortrait of Alfred Jodl, date unknownAlfred Jodl, circa 1940s
See all 28 photographs of Alfred Jodl

Alfred Jodl Timeline

10 May 1890 Alfred Jodl was born.
8 Sep 1938 Alfred Jodl's diary entry on this date noted his worries about the weak defenses on Germany's western border with France.
20 Jun 1940 Adolf Hitler, jubilant over the victory in France, summoned his military chiefs to the Wolfsschlucht I headquarters in the village of Brûly-de-Pesche, Belgium to discuss the future regarding Britain and the situation that Germany faced.
30 Jun 1940 Alfred Jodl noted in his diary that the United Kingdom was certain to fall in time, regardless of the fact whether an actual invasion was necessary.
18 Mar 1941 Adolf Hitler met with Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, and Erich Raeder; Raeder urged Hitler to convince Japan to attack Singapore and recommended Hitler to reveal the plans of the Soviet invasion to Japan.
7 Jul 1943 Walter Dornberger, Werhner von Braun, and Ernst Steinhof met with Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer, Wilhelm Keitel, and Alfred Jodl at the Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze) in Rastenburg, Germany (now KÄ™trzyn, Poland). Hitler was thoroughly impressed with the progress of rocket research.
16 Oct 1946 Alfred Jodl passed away.




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Robert Claypool says:
5 Oct 2012 03:28:35 PM

I have seen the large headstone at the Fraueninsel Cemetery on the small island in Lake Chiemsee when my wife and I were travelling down the Bavarian Alpine highways in April, 1994. It was a day after I piloted a Cessna 172 from Landshut to fly over the route we later drove.
2. Anonymous says:
12 May 2017 01:59:36 AM

murder

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Search WW2DB
More on Alfred Jodl
Event(s) Participated:
» Annexation of Austria
» Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia
» Invasion of Poland
» July Plot
» Germany's Surrender
» Nuremberg Trials and Other Trials Against Germany

Document(s):
» Minutes of Meeting Between Adolf Hitler and Erich Raeder

Related Books:
» The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Alfred Jodl Photo Gallery
Captain Alfred Jodl with his brother Ferdinand (with cigarette) during maneuvers with German 5th and 7th Divisions in Bavaria, Germany, 1926
See all 28 photographs of Alfred Jodl


Famous WW2 Quote
"All that silly talk about the advance of science and such leaves me cold. Give me peace and a retarded science."

Thomas Dodd, late 1945


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