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If they were not in a position to give orders how comes so many of the documents ordering major war crimes were in their handwriting?
OK you can maybe get a "pass" on orders they just signed as chiefs of staff for all their subordinates to follow, though that "pass" would under the terms still merit the full penalty.
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re: Jodl and Keitel. Agree they were culpable, the issue is more proportionality of the sentence.
They were initially chosen as a representative of, respectively, the
Heer and the
Wehrmacht and not because they were outstanding war criminals. Certain orders they signed did go beyond their duties and were war crimes. However, Doenitz who signed similar orders was given 10 years. Speer who was a top Nazi and oversaw the entire slave labour program was given 20 years. Many German generals who signed similar orders on the
OstFront received similar prison sentences (Von Manstein: 18 years, reduced to 12)or were never charged.
so yes, I would think a 20 year sentence would have been more in line with other similar sentences.