Ludwig Fischer | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Fischer,c. 1939–1941 | |
| Governor of theWarsaw District within theGeneral Government | |
| In office September 1939 – January 1945 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 April 1905 (1905-04-16) |
| Died | 8 March 1947(1947-03-08) (aged 41) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Alma mater | University of Heidelberg University of Munich University of Würzburg University of Erlangen |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Ludwig Fischer (16 April 1905 – 8 March 1947) was a GermanNazi Party lawyer, politician and protégé ofHans Frank. During theSecond World War, he served as the governor of theWarsaw District under Frank in theGeneral Government where he was responsible for crimes against the Polish nation andHolocaust-related atrocities. After the end of the war, he wasextradited toPoland and executed for war crimes.
Born into aCatholic family inKaiserslautern, Fischer was educated at the localVolksschule andRealschule. He studied law and political science at the universities ofHeidelberg,Munich,Würzburg andErlangen. He obtained hisdoctorate of law in 1929. He was an expert speaker on legal issues and published articles in the area of Party law, co-editing the collection: "The Law of the NSDAP."[1]
Fischer was attracted to the Nazi movement at an early age and joined theNazi Party (membership number 36,499) on 20 May 1926 while still a student. He joined theSturmabteilung (SA) in 1929, eventually rising to the rank of SA-Gruppenführer in October 1940. As a lawyer, he served from 1931 as the chief of staff of the legal department underHans Frank in the Party'sReichsleitung (national leadership) inMunich. In 1933, after theNazi seizure of power, he obtained a government post as aRegierungsrat (government councilor). He was also a member of the presidium of Frank'sAcademy for German Law and of theNational Socialist Association of Legal Professionals.[2] In November 1937, he was appointed to theReichstag from electoral constituency 34 (Hamburg), succeedingWalter Raeke [de] who had resigned. At the April 1938 election, Fischer was returned to theReichstag from electoral district 23 (Düsseldorf West), serving until the fall of the Nazi regime.[3]
Germanyinvaded Poland in September 1939. On 24 October 1939 Fischer became Chief Administrator (and in 1941Governor) of theWarsaw District in the occupiedGeneral Government (the area of Poland that Germany did not formally annex) under Governor-General Hans Frank. He held this position until the withdrawal of the German forces from Warsaw in January 1945.
Fischer was responsible for terror in the occupied city, including mass executions,slave-labor pogroms and the deportation of Poles and Polish Jews to the variousGerman concentration camps. He also oversaw the establishment of theWarsaw Ghetto and issued manyantisemitic laws, as well as participating in the bloody ghetto dissolution and inmate deportation. TheUnderground courts of thePolish resistance movementsentenced him to death for crimes against Polish citizens. His name appeared first on the list of "Operation Heads" —planned assassinations of Nazi personnel by the Polish Resistance. Before theWarsaw Uprising in 1944, his car was shot at inOperation Hunting (Polish:Akcja Polowanie) but Fischer survived.
After the failure of the Warsaw Uprising of August to October 1944, Fischer played an important role in Germany'splanned destruction of Warsaw. He was also responsible for the poor conditions in the temporary transit camp on the western outskirts of Warsaw inPruszków, which the Nazis set up to intern people expelled from the capital.
After the war, Fischer hid in the town ofBad Neustadt an der Saale inBavaria. He was arrested by U.S. soldiers on 10 May 1945. On 30 March 1946, Fischer was extradited toPoland, where he was put on trial before theSupreme National Tribunal for crimes against humanity.Treblinka and Warsaw Uprising survivorJankiel Wiernik testified at his trial. On 3 March 1947, Fischer was sentenced to death, and he was executed byhanging in Warsaw'sMokotów Prison.[4][5]
