Nazi judge Freisler
30 October 1893 - 3 February 1945
Born on 30 October 1893, Roland Freisler was said to have been a born debater. He was, by all accounts, an intelligent youth and he completed his Arbitur at the head of his class. Freisler's father, Julius, and his mother, Charlotte, moved Roland and younger brother Oswarld frequently.
After his Arbitur, Freisler entered the University of Kiel to study law. When World War One erupted, Freisler was sent to the Russian front where he was captured by the Russians and learned the language. He was a model prisoner and was soon promoted to commissar of the camp. He subsequently earned an Iron Cross for his service. After his discharge from the military, Freisler completed legal training and earned a doctorate degree.AS well he joined the German Communist Party. He relocated to Berlin in 1923 and became a practicing lawyer.His political views gradually moved to the right and in 1925 he joined the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP).
On 24 March 1928, Freisler married Marion Russegger who bore the couple two sons, Harald and Roland.
When Adolf Hitler rose to power, he deemed the current judicial system too lenient - or perhaps not loyal enough - and he instituted the "National Socialist People's Court" - the Volksgerichtshof (VGH). The VGH dealt solely with cases of treason against Hitler and the Nazis. Roland Freisler, the spirited lawyer and admirer of Hitler, was VGH president from 1942 until his death in 1945. Under Freisler, the VGH convicted thousands for political actions, speech and expressed thoughts that it considered treasonous. The definition of treason was flexible and, in most cases, defense in the courtroom was futile. Guilty verdicts were generally a foregone conclusion and death sentences (which were prevalent in these cases) were carried out within hours of the verdict.
Belittling, impatient, loud, verbose and anything but just, Freisler's outbursts in the courtroom are legendary: they have been recounted and corroborated by eye-witnesses and, more importantly, his prolonged outbursts have been captured on film. Because of his volatile temperament on the bench, Freisler was commonly referred to as "Raving Roland" and he proved, on occasion, to be an embarrassment to the Nazis.
In July 1942, Freisler joined Reinhard Heydrich, Heinrich Muller and at Adolf Eichmann the Wannsee Conference where they discussed the issue of the large number of inmates in Germany's concentration camps. At the meeting it was decided to make the extermination of the Jews a systematically organized operation. Eichmann was then placed in charge of what became known as the Final Solution.
Freisler was summoned to Munich to preside over the trial of Hans and Sophie Scholl and their friend Christoph Probst on 22 February 1943. He shouted and ranted from the bench, allowing little time for any defense. At the conclusion of his tirade, Freisler allowed the accused a customary statement on their own behalf. Sophie remained silent, having already said: "You know the was is lost. Why don't you have the courage to face it?" Christoph uttered a few words in his own defense, then pleaded for his life on account of his three young children and his ailing wife. Hans, in an effort to protect his friend, told the court that Christoph had very little to do with the leaflets. Freisler silenced him, shouting: "If you have nothing to say for yourself then kindly keep your mouth shut!" When the verdicts were announced and the sentence of death by guillotine were handed down, Hans shouted to Freisler: "You will soon be where we stand now!"
Freisler would also oversee the second trial of White Rose members weeks later. The defendants included Willi Graf, Alexander Schmorell, Professor Kurt Huber and various others who had aided in the efforts of The White Rose. Again, there was shouting and screaming from the bench with little time for defense. Freisler triumphantly watched as Huber's defense attorney stood during proceedings, cried "Heil Hitler!" and asked, as a loyal German, to be released from the case. Freisler obliged. Before the trial was over, the judge attempted to strip the dignity of each of the three principal defendants. Alex was called a traitor for his allegiance to his motherland, Russia. Willi said little. Professor Huber had carefully prepared a statement which he read aloud, although he was frequently interrupted. Freisler told Huber, a proud German, "I don't know any Professor Huber or any Doctor Huber. I know the Defendant Huber. He doesn't have the right to be a German." Alex, Willi and Professor Huber were each condemned to die.
Freisler's brief moment of fame in history comes in the wake of the failed July 20, 1944 coup attempt against the Nazi regime. Throughout the second half of 1944 he presides over the show trials of many of the July 20th conspirators including those of Witzleben, Hoepner, Hofacker, Goerdeler, Leber, Leuschner, Trott, Moltke, Schwanenfeld, and Bonhoeffer.
The obscene manner in which Freisler humiliates the unfortunate July 20th conspirators in his court room - bellowing at them non-stop and denying them the right to wear belts or suspenders so that their trousers fall - prompts even members of Hitler's entourage to recommend that he be reigned in.
Roland Freisler was on the bench 3 February 1945 when air raid sirens sounded. The courtroom emptied as people scurried to nearby bomb shelters. Noticing that he'd left some important files behind, Freisler returned to the courthouse. An Allied bomb destroyed the courthouse and killed Roland Freisler, Hitler's "hanging judge", instantly.
Freisler was denied an honorable state funeral by Hitler himself. Instead, Freisler was buried anonymously in his wife's family plot
Career in short:
High school in Aachen, diploma in 1912. Study of law at the university of Kiel. Entered military service in August 1914 as an officer cadet, subsequently lieutenant. Russian prisoner of war from October 1915 to 1920. Continuation of the study of law at Jena. Doctor of law degree in 1922, and from 1924 lawyer in Kassel and member in the city parliament for the Völkisch-Sozial Block. Joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in July 1925. Member of the Prussian Diet. As of June 1933, state secretary (Staatssekretär) in the Prussian Ministry of Justice, member of the Prussian Council of State, and in October 1933 state secretary in the newly combined Reich and Prussian Ministry of Justice. There he was primarily responsible for personnel questions, penal legislation, and execution of sentences. Perished in Berlin during an air raid on February 3, 1945.
http://www.jlrweb.com/whiterose/freisler.html
http://www.webpolitik.de/drittreich/doenitza.htm
http://www.ghwk.de/engl/catalog/cateng6.htm
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERfriesler.htm
