Jodl, Alfred, << YOHD uhl, AHL frayt >> (1890-1946), signed the unconditional surrender of Germany in Reims, France, in 1945. At that time, he was chief of the Operations Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command. He was an admirer of Napoleon I, and helped Adolf Hitler imitate him. Jodl, though a talented man, worshiped Hitler and became one of his tools. As Hitler’s personal military adviser, he failed to try to curb the dictator’s evil ambitions. Jodl was executed on Oct. 16, 1946, for war crimes committed during World War II. He was born on May 10, 1890, in Wurzburg, in Bavaria.
