Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Keitel is presented as a senior German military commander whose presence links the Munich peace negotiations to the military plans discussed behind the scenes. He brings maps of Germany and Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler, where the prospect of an invasion is set out in terms of divisions, territory, and strategic position; later, he is among the officers whose conversation with a British diplomat is mediated by Paul von Hartmann.

Identity and Position

On the train, Sturmbannführer Sauer identifies Keitel to Paul von Hartmann as chief of the Wehrmacht Supreme Command. Keitel is breakfasting with Adolf Hitler’s military adjutants in the dining car, a quiet setting of white linen, coffee, and cutlery that contrasts with the crowded, noisy sleeper carriage. Hartmann’s question about what a general is doing at a peace conference frames Keitel’s presence as a sign that military affairs are close at hand even during diplomacy.

Maps and Military Planning

When summoned, Keitel enters Adolf Hitler’s compartment, salutes, and brings an army officer carrying rolled-up charts. At Hitler’s request, the maps are spread on the table for Benito Mussolini. One shows Czechoslovakia and the other Germany, with military-unit positions marked in red. Hitler describes a plan involving forty divisions to defeat the Czechs, ten to occupy the conquered territory, and thirty to move west to hold the frontier. Keitel is present as the senior officer to whom Hitler addresses this assessment, as the maps make the invasion plan tangible within the very train carrying the leaders toward a peace conference.

At the Munich Gathering

At the reception, Paul von Hartmann acts as interpreter for a brief exchange between Keitel and William Strang, a British diplomat. Their small talk concerns their recent flights. Hartmann reports Keitel’s account of flying back to Berlin after the meeting at Godesberg: the aircraft had to detour around dozens of lightning storms, which Keitel described as an incomparable spectacle at three thousand metres. The exchange gives Keitel a place in the gathering’s polite diplomatic surface, even as Hartmann watches the room and its entrances and sees Sturmbannführer Sauer fix his attention on him.