About Roland Freisler
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 1935 to 1942 and as president of the People's Court from 1942 to 1945. During this time, Freisler became known for his histrionics, attempts to humiliate defendants, and his frequent use of the death penalty. A law student at Kiel University, Freisler joined the Imperial German Army on the outbreak of the First World War and saw action on the Eastern Front, where he was wounded and taken prisoner of war by the Imperial Russian Army. On his return to Germany, he completed his law studies at the University of Jena and was awarded a Doctorate of Law in 1922. Freisler joined the Nazi Party in 1925, upon which he began defending Party members in court for acts of political violence. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Freisler was appointed State Secretary of the Prussian Ministry of Justice; two years later he became State Secretary in the unified Reich Ministry of Justice. In 1942, representing Acting Reichsminister of Justice Franz Schlegelberger, Freisler attended the Wannsee Conference. In August 1942, Freisler succeeded Otto Georg Thierack as president of the People's Court. Under Freisler, the number of death sentences imposed by the court rose dramatically, and he presided over, amongst others, the show trials of the White Rose resistance group and those involved in the 20 July plot. Freisler handed out over 5,000 death sentences during his three-year tenure before being killed in February 1945 during an American bombing raid on Berlin. Freisler became known for his aggressive personality, his humiliation of defendants, and his frequent use of the death penalty in sentencing.
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