ALFRED JODL’S WIDOW DENIES HIS “BREAKDOWN” AT THE SURRENDER IN REIMSFascinating content letter from Luise ...

ALFRED JODL’S WIDOW DENIES HIS “BREAKDOWN” AT THE SURRENDER IN REIMS
Fascinating content letter from Luise Katherine Jodl (1905-1998) the widow of Field Marshal Alfred Jodl (1890-1946) who signed the German surrender documents at Reims and Berlin and was executed for war crimes at Nuremberg. Jodl writes this one page 8 x 10 inch letter in 1973 to Gen. Kenneth Strong who had negotiated the surrender with the field marshal at Reims on May 7 1945. Mrs. Jodl defends her husband’s behavior at the surrender writing in part: “…it was of great interest for me to know that obviously a translators error has given the impression that Jodl when signing the capitulation had the second breakdown in history…Now I should say that the situation as such…would have been a reason for a breakdown as this meant the end of the entity of our country. But I knew my husband…his ‘iron will hot heart and sober reasoning’ and therefore could not quite believe a breakdown in publicity [sic]. I was deeply touched how you describe the talk between yourself Gen. B. Smith and Jodl and am thankful…I understand these tears for our country…from the beginning at Nuremberg the historical truth was falsified…some day the historians will see in Col. General Jodl a man and a soldier who did not belong between criminals on the bench…I have in my possession – in answer to my petition – a telex from Sir Winston Churchill of which I am proud…” Very good condition. Luise Jodl remained loyal to her husband. During his trial she would wave a white scarf outside his window every day.