Hans Frank | Biography

Hans Frank was a German politician and lawyer who served as the governor-general of Poland during World War II. Frank, whose political career began when he served as the National Socialist Party's (Nazi) legal counsel and Adolph Hitler's personal attorney, was a ruthless governor. His anti-Semitic beliefs led him to enthusiastically support Hitler's policy of exterminating Jews. After the end of the war, Frank was charged with war crimes and was convicted of these acts at the Nuremberg war trials.

Frank was born on May 3, 1900, in Karlsruhe, Germany. He fought in the German army during World War I. After the war, he completed his studies in economics and law and then entered private law practice. In 1921, he made a momentous decision when he joined the German Workers' Party, the precursor to the Nazi Party. Attracted by the party's repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles and its harsh terms against Germany, Frank soon offered his legal services to the party. Adolph Hitler soon asked Frank to handle his legal affairs, and, from that relationship, Frank was to build his political future.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, Frank was brought into the government. Hitler named him to a string of important positions, which included president of the Reichstag, the German legislature. Later in the 1930s, Hitler appointed him minister of justice. Although Frank was trained in the law, he had no problem imposing harsh discrimination on Germany's Jewish population and supporting the establishment of the regime's first concentration camps.

World War II began in September of 1939 when Germany invaded Poland. The lightning attack quickly overwhelmed the Polish armed forces, and the Polish government went into exile. Frank, who Hitler appointed governor-general, filled the political vacuum. As governor of the conquered nation, Frank was responsible for overseeing the civil administration of the country. However, Frank's duties soon went beyond maintaining the orderly provision of government services. He eagerly carried out the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi government. Frank ordered the arrest and execution of hundreds of thousands of Jews. In addition, he sent hundreds of thousands of Jews to Germany to work as slave laborers. The Jews that remained were confined to ghettos where they could be closely watched and readied for deportation to a concentration camp at any time. These policies provided a financial windfall to Frank's administration as his agents confiscated Jewish property.

Frank remained governor-general until the end of the war in May of 1945. Frank tried to elude Allied authorities but was arrested by U.S. troops. In the fall of 1945, he was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Allies and was brought to trial with other Nazi leaders at Nuremberg. Frank's actions against the Polish Jewish population clearly violated the charge of crimes against humanity, which was defined as deportation, extermination, and genocide. In October of 1946, the International Military Tribunal found Frank guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, which were defined as violations of the laws of war. Sentenced to death for his crimes, Frank was hanged on October 16, 1946, in Nuremberg.