Hans Frank

Hans Frank
Generalgouverneur Reichsleiter Dr. jur. Hans Frank
Governor-General of the General Government
In office 26 October 1939 – 19 January 1945
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Reich Minister without portfolio
In office 19 December 1934 – 30 April 1945
Chancellor	Adolf Hitler
President of the Academy for German Law
In office 2 October 1933 – 20 August 1942
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Otto Georg Thierack
Bavarian Minister of Justice
In office 18 April 1933 – 4 December 1934
Preceded by	Heinrich Spangenberger
Born	23 May 1900(1900-05-23) Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Died	16 October 1946 (aged 46) Nuremberg Prison, Nuremberg, Allied-occupied Germany
Political party	NSDAP
Other political affiliations	German Workers' Party (DAP)
Spouse(s)	⚭ 1925 Maria Brigitte Herbst (1895–1959)
Children	5, including Niklas
Alma mater	University of Munich University of Kiel
Profession	Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Service/branch	Imperial German Army
Battles/wars	World War I

Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German lawyer and an official in National Socialist Germany as their senior jurist. He was elected a deputy to the Reichstag in 1930. At the outbreak of World War II, Frank was appointed Governor-General of the General Government. After the war, he was a defendant at the Nuremberg Show Trials and was executed.

Life

Hans Frank at the International Military Tribunal

In late 1917, Frank joined the Imperial German Army and served shortly in World War I, but never at the front. In 1919 he joined the newly formed Freikorps under Franz Ritter von Epp and was apart of the group that crushed the German Revolution in Munich.

Career

During the early part of the 1920's Frank was studying law and in 1926 graduated Law School. With the rise of the NSDAP, Frank became the Party's and Adolf Hitler's legal advisor.

National Socialism

In 1933, Hitler become the Reichskanzler of Germany and Frank was appointed as the Minister of Justice in Bavaria. During the Night of the Long Knives, Frank raised objections to the execution of the accused without trial of 110 members of the Sturm Abteilung (SA). As as result of his intervention only 20 men were shot. After this Frank lost his influence in the NSDAP hierarchy.

WWII

After the conquest of Poland, Frank became Governor-General of the General Government, the remaining Polish territory not annexed by National Socialist Germany and the Soviet Union. Hans Frank was captured in May 1945 and was accused of Crimes Against Humanity, mainly involving the Holocaust.

Post-war

At the Nuremberg Trials, Hans Frank stated:

"I myself have never installed an extermination camp for Jews, or promoted the existence of such camps; but if Adolf Hitler personally has laid that dreadful responsibility on his people, then it is mine too, for we have fought against Jewry for years; and we have indulged in the most horrible utterances.".

Hans Frank and the Holocaust

Statements made by Hans Frank during the war are sometimes cited as evidence for the politically correct Holocaust version, which have been criticized by Holocaust revisionists. One example is that "On October 7, 1940, Frank stated in a speech to a Nazi assembly:

“I could not eliminate [ausrotten] all lice and Jews in only one year. But in the course of time, and if you help me, this end will be attained (p. 186).” [...] Rahavam Zeevi, Israel’s minister of Tourism, was recently quoted as saying: “They [the Palestinians living illegally in Israel] arrived here and are trying to become citizens because they want social security and welfare payments…We should get rid of the ones who are not Israeli citizens the same way you get rid of lice. We have to stop this cancer from spreading within us.” [...] What the Zeevi quote shows is that one can refer to human beings as “lice” that “have to be eliminated” without literally meaning that said people are to be exterminated. In other words, Zeevi’s words cannot be interpreted in a literal manner; he didn’t mean the Israelis should physically exterminate the Palestinians. He simply meant he wants them deported. By the same token, Frank’s words cannot be understood in a literal manner. He simply meant that he wanted to deport the Jews in a brutal manner."

See also Meanings and translations of German words and Holocaust revisionism‎ on "ausrotten" (a verb form of "Ausrottung"; literally "rooting out") not necessarily meaning "extermination". Furthermore, even politically correct history do not allege an extermination policy at this date.

Another example is that anti-revisionists frequently cite a speech made on 16 December 1941 (often misdated to 13 December 1941). In this speech, Frank used words that anti-revisionists argue mean "exterminate" and that revisionist argue refer to deportations (see Meanings and translations of German words and Holocaust revisionism‎). However, Frank also explicitly stated that "We cannot shoot 3.5 million Jews, we cannot poison them" and "I have initiated negotiations for the purpose of deporting them to the east."

The revisionist Germar Rudolf has written that "Interestingly, his diaries encompassing 43 volumes, which are full of grandiloquent verbosity, contain no hint that he knew anything about extermination measures. Even from his interrogation during the IMT (Vol. 12, pp. 7-45) it can be concluded that the governor of Poland had either not been informed at all in this regard, or that such measures simply hadn’t existed. He even claimed to have conducted his own inquiries about the camps at Majdanek, Belzec and Auschwitz, because he had found out about rumors spread by enemy media. Yet his investigations did not confirm the rumors (ibid., pp. 17ff.)."

Regarding the Wannsee Conference which was mentioned in Frank's diary and to which Frank sent a representative, see Wannsee Conference: Hans Frank's diary and Josef Bühler's postwar testimony. Germar Rudolf has written that "the former general governor of Poland, Hans Frank, was also tortured by the British at Minden, Germany (Butler 1986, pp. 238f.).".

Death

Dr. Hans Frank, married father of five children, was convicted and sentenced to death, which was carried out on 16 October 1946.

Awards and decorations

• Blood Order
• Golden Party Badge
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 (Sudetenland Medal)
• War Merit Cross (1939), 2nd and 1st Class

See also

• Posen speeches: Hans Frank

External links

• Lectures on the Holocaust—Controversial Issues Cross Examined - pages 287-8, 331
• Auschwitz Lies—Legends, Lies, and Prejudices on the Holocaust - the chapter "Denying Evidence, The Phony “Holocaust” “Convergence of Evidence”", section 3.7.1 Hans Frank
• Auschwitz: A Judge Looks at the Evidence - chapter Two: Contemporaneous Documents: Speeches and Other Public Statements by Political Leaders of the Third Reich: Hans Frank
• NOT GUILTY AT NUREMBERG: The German Defense Case - detailed descriptions and criticisms of the alleged evidence against each of the accused at the IMT