Hans Frank at Nürnburg

Having had his Government General collapse around him in late 1944, Hans Frank fled to Germany, remaining obscure until 1945, when he was captured in Bavaria. There, American soldiers treated him less than hospitably, forcing him to "run through a seventy-foot line of soldiers, getting kicked and punched the whole way."²⁶

At Nürnberg, Frank received more humane treatment in the Palace of Justice prison, being allowed access to religious services, even converting to Catholicism during the interrogation period. It was at this time that he began to feel remorse and conflict, stating to his prison psychologist G. M. Gilbert:

It is as though I am two people - me, myself, Frank here - and the other Frank, the Nazi leader. And sometimes I wonder how that Frank could have done those things. This Frank looks at the other Frank and says, 'Hmm, what a louse you are, Frank! - How could you do such things?'²⁷

On 20 November 1945, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) opened, indicting twenty-two men (on one to four charges.²⁸ These four charges consisted of:

• Count One - Conspiracy to wage an aggressive war in violation of international law or treaties.
• Count Two - Planning, preparation of, or waging of an aggressive war.
• Count Three - War Crimes -- Violations of the international rules of war.
• Count Four - Crimes Against Humanity - The murder, extermination, and/or enslavement of civilian populations. This charge also included the persecution of civilian populations on the basis of racial, religious or political affiliation.²⁹

Frank was charged with all four charges of the indictment. During the trial, the amount of compassion held out to him was scant, as shown in the opening argument of Justice Robert Jackson, who was a Supreme Court Justice at the time:

And the Defendant Hans Frank, a lawyer by profession, I say with shame, summarized in his diary in 1944 the Nazi policy thus: 'The Jews are a race which has to be eliminated, whenever we catch one, it is his end.' And earlier speaking of his function as Governor General of Poland, he confided to his diary this sentiment: 'Of course I cannot eliminate all lice and Jews in only a year's time.' I could multiply endlessly this kind of Nazi ranting but I will leave it to the evidence and turn to the fruit of this perverted thinking.³⁰

In his defense testimony, Hans Frank painted a picture of himself as powerless and frustrated by political machinations. He testified that he had to struggle for power of the Government General and that he had to fight against the "power of violence." While this was true, in the sense that he had been outmaneuvered by Himmler's SS, he could not say that he was unaware of events transpiring in Poland during the war. Although there was little proof that Frank had any involvement or even much knowledge of the concentration camps' workings, it was clear that he did know about the concentration camps. This was evidenced by his own Nürnberg testimony that he participated in a tour of Dachau in 1935. In addition, he testified that he had attempted to visit Belzec and Auschwitz during the war, although he had little success.³¹

Frank testified that he had participated in the annihilation of Jews, because he had been a component of the Nazi machine; however, he would not accept responsibility in any way for his virulently anti-Semitic statements and speeches. He admitted he had ordered the establishment of ghettos within the Government General and that he had forced the Jewish population to wear identification badges, and introduced forced labor into the territory. What he would not do, however, was accept responsibility for involvement in the Final Solution to the Jewish Question. On some level, he was correct for this refusal, as he did not participate in the Wannsee Conference, he had not ordered the establishment of concentration camps, he had not ordered the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and Auschwitz itself was not within the Government General. But it was not true that he had had no involvement with the annihilation of the Jewish population within the Government General. He had approved the withholding of foodstuffs from 1.2 million Government General Jews, stating,

That we sentence 1.2 million Jews to die of hunger should be noted only marginally. It is a matter of course that should the Jews not starve it would, we hope, result in speeding up anti-Jewish measures.³³

Frank tried to portray himself as a concerned administrator, wishing to be fair and impartial in legal affairs. As an example, he offered up to the court his "right of reprieve" as the Governor General of Poland. Frank's right of reprieve was the only court-related power available to him: the right to review verdicts handed down in summary court-martials. The prosecution rightly pointed out to him that this "power" was absurd; the law clearly stated that there was only one possible punishment in the event of a guilty verdict - death. In addition, persons convicted in summary court-martials were to be executed immediately following the trial. So what good would it have done to review the case? Frank responded to this, "the sentence would nevertheless have to come before me." So this olive branch of "impartiality" had little meaning, since these case reviews concerned dead victims.³⁴

No one at court was moved by his testimony, and Justice Jackson in his closing address derisively called him a "governor general who reigned but did not rule." The trial ended on 1 August 1946, and sentences were given on 1 October.³⁵ The forty-six year old Hans Frank was declared guilty of all four counts of the indictment, and was sentenced to death by hanging, along with ten others. Three were freed, and the rest jailed for terms ranging from ten years to life.³⁶

The executions were conducted early in the morning of 16 October.³⁷ Hans Frank was the fifth man in the "parade of death." He was the only one, out of these condemned, to walk into the execution chamber with a smile on his face. He was evidently nervous, but appeared to feel relieved to finally face "the prospect of atoning for his evil deeds."³⁸ He stated his name quietly when he was asked for it. When he was asked for his last statement, he replied in a low voice that was almost a whisper, "I am thankful for the kind treatment during my captivity and I ask God to accept me with mercy." Then he closed his eyes, and the black hood went over his head. And he was hanged.

(25) Fest, 219.
(26) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/NurembergNews10_16_46.html
(27) Fest, 211.
(28) Martin, 11.
(29) http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials12.htm
(30) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/Jackson.html
(31) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/franktest.html
(32) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/franktest.html
(33) http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/Frank2.htm
(34) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/nuremberg/franktest.html
(35) Martin, 11.
(36) Martin, 49.
(37) Martin, 11.
(38) Smith, 1.