Hitler's executioner

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Roland Freisler, a little-known figure, is closely associated with the judiciary in Nazi Germany. He served as the State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice and was the infamous president of the People’s Court, responsible for over 2,200 death sentences, with cases almost always resulting in predetermined guilty verdicts. Freisler notably tried three members of the White Rose resistance movement in February 1943. Arrested for their anti-Nazi leaflet and graffiti campaign, Christoph Probst, Sophie, and Hans Scholl were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death by beheading, executed the same day. In August 1944, Freisler was pivotal in the show trials following the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler, known as Operation Valkyrie. Many conspirators faced trial in the People’s Court, with proceedings filmed for propaganda purposes. Freisler's courtroom demeanor ranged from clinical interrogations to theatrical outbursts of rage directed at defendants. Almost all were sentenced to death by hanging, often within hours of their verdicts. His legal expertise and dramatic courtroom presence made him the most feared judge in the Third Reich. This examination delves into the workings of the Nazi tribunal and Freisler's career, which ended when he was killed during an Allied air raid in February 1945.