"Freisler" redirects here. For other people with the surname Freisler or Freissler, see Freisler (surname).
Roland Freisler
Freisler in 1942
Judge President of the People's Court
In office 20 August 1942 – 3 February 1945
Nominated by
Adolf Hitler
Appointed by
Heinrich Himmler
Preceded by
Otto Thierack
Succeeded by
Wilhelm Crohne (acting) Harry Haffner
Personal details
Born
(1893-10-30)30 October 1893 Celle, Hanover Province, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died
3 February 1945(1945-02-03) (aged 51) Berlin, Free State of Prussia, Nazi Germany
Resting place
Waldfriedhof Dahlem, Berlin, Germany
Political party
Nazi Party
Other political affiliations
Völkisch-Sozialer Block
Spouse
Marion Russegger
(m. 1928)
Relations
Oswald Freisler (brother)
Children
2
Alma mater
University of Jena
Occupation
Judge, lawyer
Awards
Iron Cross 1st Class & 2nd Class
Military service
Allegiance
German Empire
Branch/service
Prussian Army
Years of service
1914–1918
Rank
Leutnant
Unit
22nd Division
Battles/wars
World War I
Karl Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945) was a German jurist, judge and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice from 1934 to 1942 and as President of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945.[1]
As a prominent ideologist of Nazism, he influenced as a jurist the Nazification of Germany's legal system. He attended the 1942 Wannsee Conference, the event which set the Holocaust in motion. He was appointed President of the People's Court in 1942, overseeing the prosecution of political crimes as a judge, and became known for his aggressive personality, his humiliation of defendants, and frequent use of the death penalty in sentencing.
Although the death penalty was abolished with the creation of the Federal Republic in 1949, Freisler's 1941 definition of murder in German law, as opposed to the less severe crime of killing, survives in the Strafgesetzbuch § 211.
^"Hessische Biografie : Erweiterte Suche : LAGIS Hessen". Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS) (in German). Hessisches Instituts für Landesgeschichte [de]. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
Karl RolandFreisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945) was a German jurist, judge and politician who served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry...
Oswald Freisler (29 December 1895 – 4 March 1939) was a lawyer in Nazi Germany and the younger brother of RolandFreisler, who a few years after Oswald's...
Marion Freisler (née Russegger; 10 February 1910 – 21 January 1997) was the wife of RolandFreisler, the infamous judge and chairman of the Nazi Volksgerichtshof...
Ranevskaya and Alan Bates as Gayev. He played the infamous Nazi judge RolandFreisler in Conspiracy. He also had parts In Midsomer Murders and Lewis. In...
to be harmful; such Nazis as RolandFreisler regarded this as irrelevant owing to the "racial treason" involved. Freisler published a pamphlet that called...
forces, until August 1942, when he was succeeded in the position by RolandFreisler. On 20 August 1942, he succeeded Hans Frank as President of the Academy...
court; in 1939, its remit was expanded to include minor offenses. RolandFreisler, appointed in 1942 as judge and interrogator, was infamous for "berating...
Probst, Sophie Scholl, and Hans Scholl were put to a trial before Judge RolandFreisler. The latter was known as the "Hanging judge" as about 90% of his trials...
guilty by the "People's Court" (Volksgerichtshof) under presiding judge RolandFreisler on October 2, 1944; they were shot by Gestapo henchmen in the night...
the camp on 28 June 1944. On 12 March 1945, following the death of RolandFreisler in an air raid, he succeeded him as the last Judge-President of the...
Thierack, president of the court from May 1936 to August 1942, and RolandFreisler who presided from August 1942 to February 1945. After the war ended...
presiding judge RolandFreisler. Witzleben was sentenced to death on the same day. Witzleben gave these closing words in court, addressed to Freisler: You can...
Müller, Minister of Justice Franz Gürtner and even then-State Secretary RolandFreisler, she was unable to secure her son's release. Despite his injuries and...
Government (Polish Occupation Authority) Governor-General Hans Frank RolandFreisler State Secretary Ministry of Justice Minister of Justice Franz Schlegelberger...
on 21 August was sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof, with RolandFreisler presiding. The recordings of the show trial attest how a doomed Schwerin...
unofficial group of lawyers within the Nazi Party, led by Hans Frank and RolandFreisler, whose aim was to transform the legal profession by installing loyal...
concentration camp. Thereafter, there was a show trial overseen by RolandFreisler, followed by their execution. Some Germans were convinced that it was...
Global Information
German Empire