7166 - Alfred Jodl Document Signed at Nuremberg, Concerning Hitler’s Infamous “Commando Order”

Alfred Jodl Document Signed at Nuremberg, Concerning Hitler’s Infamous “Commando Order” Partly-printed DS, in German, signed “Jodl,” one page, 8 x 12.25, December 11, 1945. Document headed (translated), "The International Military Tribunal, Defendant's Application for Summons for Witness," made while preparing his defense for the Nuremberg trials. Jodl and his defense lawyer, Franz Exner, request testimony from "Kipp, Major in the Staff of Armed Forces" citing his knowledge of "the events in Dieppe, which led to issue of Order of 18.10.42 (chaining of prisoners)." Jodl asserts that the testimony will result in "exoneration from the eventual reproach of taking part in this order." Signed at the conclusion in fountain pen by Alfred Jodl, and countersigned by his defense counsel, Franz Exner. Backed by a lightweight cardstock sheet and in fine condition, with light toning. Jodl refers to the infamous “Commando Order” (Kommandobefehl), one of the most notorious directives issued by the German High Command during World War II. Signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel on October 18, 1942, and distributed through Alfred Jodl’s Operations Staff the following day, the secret order directed that Allied commandos captured in Europe or Africa be executed without trial, even if they were in uniform or attempting to surrender. Drafted in the aftermath of the Dieppe Raid and a smaller British operation on Sark, it was circulated in only a dozen or so copies with strict instructions that it not fall into enemy hands. At Nuremberg, Jodl sought to distance himself from the order by calling Major Kipp, a specialist in international law whom he claimed to have consulted after Hitler first demanded the executions. Jodl hoped to show that he regarded the directive as legally indefensible and had attempted to delay or soften its implementation. The tribunal was not persuaded: Jodl had nevertheless helped transmit the order to German forces in the field. He was convicted on all four counts against him and executed by hanging in October 1946.