“I sincerely believe that I have served a criminal. I led my soldiers in good conscience… but for a criminal government.”

— Walter Model

To Colonel Theodor Pilling, Lieutenant Colonel Roger Michael, Major Winrich Behr in the evening of April 20, 1945. They tuned in the Wehrmacht receiver, and listened Joseph Goebbels's speech marking the Hitler's Birthday. Quoted in "Battle for the Ruhr" - Page 378 - by Derek S. Zumbro - 2006

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I sincerely believe that I have served a criminal. I led my soldiers in good conscience… but for a criminal government." by Walter Model?

Walter Model 13

German field marshal 1891–1945

Related quotes

“I die for my fatherland. I have a clear conscience. I only did my duty to my country when I tried to oppose the criminal folly of Hitler.”

Wilhelm Canaris (1887–1945) German admiral, head of military intelligence service

Quoted in "Admiral Canaris - Chief of Intelligence" - Page 210 - by Ian Colvin - 2007

“I work for a Government I despise for ends I think criminal.”

John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) British economist

Letter to Duncan Grant (15 December 1917)

“Capital punishment [could] serve as a deterrent. I do not think we have enough deterrents in this country for criminals – let’s not forget that murders, rapists and criminals of that nature choose to commit the crimes that they commit.”

Priti Patel (1972) British politician

Said during a Question Time debate. Quoted by the Independent. Priti Patel MP: Who is the new Treasury minister who supports death penalty and rejects plain packaging for cigarettes? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/priti-patel-mp-who-is-the-new-treasury-minister-who-supports-death-penalty-and-rejects-plain-9608096.html (15 July 2014)
2014

“So I was still guilty. And if I was not guilty because one cannot be guilty of betraying a criminal, then I was guilty of having loved a criminal.”

Bernhard Schlink book The Reader

Source: The Reader

“I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last.”

Charlotte Brontë book Jane Eyre

Helen Burns to Jane (Ch. 6)
Jane Eyre (1847)

“If you follow a certain road for some time, it takes an enormous willpower to leave, although you might recognize that the road was not good. But in my case I believed and was convinced that I was serving and helping the people until the last. However, it is a terrible fate that has befallen me. If I had remained with my writing and my music I would be working now and not a criminal in the Nuremburg prison.”

Walther Funk (1890–1960) German economist and politician

To Leon Goldensohn, May 12, 1946, from "The Nuremberg Interviews" by Leon Goldensohn, Robert Gellately - History - 2004

“Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time… I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal…. Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.”

Curtis LeMay (1906–1990) American general and politician

On the morality of the firebombing campaign http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/bomb/peopleevents/pandeAMEX61.html)

“In my whole legal career I have not met worse types of criminals than in politics.”

Chittaranjan Das (1870–1925) Indian politician and leader of the Swaraj Party

Chittaranjan Das, quoted from Sri Aurobindo, ., Nahar, S., Aurobindo, ., & Institut de recherches évolutives (Paris). India's rebirth: A selection from Sri Aurobindo's writing, talks and speeches. Paris: Institut de Recherches Evolutives. 3rd Edition (2000). https://web.archive.org/web/20170826004028/http://bharatvani.org/books/ir/IR_frontpage.htm

“Bach-Zelewski is a liar and a criminal — a terrible man. I repeat, he is a liar, a criminal, and a killer. I have proof of what I am saying about myself, but I know that Bach-Zelewski is a frightful liar.”

Erich von dem Bach (1899–1972) German politician and SS functionary

Hjalmar Schacht to Leon Goldensohn (10 March 1946)

“I carry no brief in favor of the criminal. That is why I carry no brief in defense of those in government. Setting a thief [the government] to catch a thief doubles the amount of loot stolen.”

Robert LeFevre (1911–1986) American libertarian businessman

A Way to be Free, the Autobiography of Robert LeFevre (1999) in the “Epilogue”

“I sincerely believe that I have served a criminal. I led my soldiers in good conscience… but for a criminal government.”

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Walter Model 13

Related quotes

Related topics