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Karl Sack (9 June 1896 – 9 April 1945) was a Germanjurist and member of theresistance movement duringWorld War II.
Karl Sack was born in Bosenheim (nowBad Kreuznach. He studied law inHeidelberg where he joined aBurschenschaft (Burschenschaft Vineta) and after a time in legal practice became ajudge inHesse. He married Wilhelmine Weber and had two sons. In 1934, Sack joined the newly established Reichskriegsgericht (Reich Military Court) where he quickly rose to a senior position. He was able to delay proceedings against Army Commander-in-ChiefWerner von Fritsch who had been falsely accused ofhomosexuality by theGestapo in an attempt to discredit him for his opposition toHitler's attempts to subjugate the German armed forces. In the autumn of 1942, Karl Sack became Judge Advocate General of the Army.
During the Second World War, Sack maintained contacts within the resistance circles in themilitary, including AdmiralWilhelm Canaris, Major GeneralHans Oster andHans von Dohnanyi, as well as with others within theAbwehr (German military intelligence). He was part of the attempt to assassinate Hitler on20 July 1944, and after that attempt failed he was arrested on 9 August. In the very last days of the war, he was brought before anSSdrumhead court-martial presided over byOtto Thorbeck. He was sentenced to death andhanged two days later atFlossenbürg concentration camp. Sack had been slated for the role of Justice Minister within a planned post-coup civilian government.
In 1984, Sack's role as a member of the resistance was remembered with a bronze plaque placed in the former Reichskriegsgericht inBerlin-Charlottenburg. There was some opposition to this honour as Sack favoured a far-reaching interpretation of what constituteddesertion, which ostensibly could have led to unwarranted death sentences.
In Bosenheim, a suburb of Bad Kreuznach, a street has been named in his honour.
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