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Hans Frank, the Killer of Many Polish Jews Without Pulling the Trigger

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Hans Frank served as a personal legal advisor to Adolf Hitler and was former “Generalgouverneur of Poland” a region which soon became the testing ground for the conspirators' program of "Lebensraum." Frank referred the policy which he envisioned to put into effect by declaring: "Poland shall be treated like a colony; the Poles will become the slaves of the Greater German World Empire." Frank can be considered the emblematic ‘desk perpetrator’, never personally drawing the trigger but managerially supporting the smooth organization of the killing operations and deportation of Polish Jews. The area originally contained from 2,500,000 to 3,500,000 Jews. They were forced into ghettoes, subjected to discriminatory laws, deprived of the food …show more content…

Frank’s diary consisted of 38 volumes, which recorded official texts of transcripts speeches, of conferences, minutes of cabinet meetings, etc. The volumes are divided into several concurrent series (Tagebuch, Abteilungsleitersitxungen etc.) covering several aspects of the authorized business of the administration. Frank however had first removed the utmost incriminating passages of the concentration camp system from his diary before handing it over and had burnt official documentation from his office in Cracow. Frank claimed whilst in prison he had experience a profound religious experience, which made him to repent his Nazi past. Frank was not charged with crimes against peace, due to the fact he had not been part of the military circle that had planned the war. Nonetheless, he was charged with count one, the crime of conspiracy, the American Prosecution debated that he had “actively promoted the coming to power of the Nazi leadership through his legal activities.” More significantly Frank was charged with “war crimes and crimes against Humanity.” Robert Jackson on October 18th 1945 gave his legendary opening speech, followed by the presentation of the evidence concerning the conspiracy charge.” The Prosecution conceived that crimes against humanity had merely been a by-product of the conspiracy in order to wage an

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