VI Circle VI of VII

Enablers of war and occupation

Ministers, officers, judges, administrators and industrial managers whose laws, resources and professional decisions enabled criminal policy.

This circle examines the administrative, military, judicial, economic and logistical systems that sustained occupation and persecution. Inclusion depends on documented agency, not on office or professional title alone.

How the circles work. The seven circles classify a person’s documented place in the chain of decision, coordination, administration and execution. They do not rank suffering, notoriety or numbers of victims. Placement is based on function, formal authority, decision-making power, operational control and proven individual conduct. Roles sometimes overlapped, and a person’s position could change over time; each profile therefore explains the evidence and the limits of attribution.

68 profiles

Profiles are ordered alphabetically by surname. Placement reflects documented function and agency, never a ranking by numbers of victims.

Circle VI of VII

Gustav Abb

head of the Main Administration of Libraries in the General Government

killed in 1945; never tried

Circle VI of VII

Otto Ambros

IG Farben board member responsible for Buna/Monowitz and chemical-warfare agent production programmes

convicted in the IG Farben Trial and sentenced to eight years; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Walter Andreas Hofer

Hermann Göring's chief art adviser and agent, organising the purchase, confiscation and exchange of looted artworks

sentenced in absentia in France to ten years; never served the sentence

Circle VI of VII

Heinz Auerswald

commissioner for the Jewish residential district in Warsaw

investigated but never tried; died in 1970

Circle VI of VII

Franz Böhme

Plenipotentiary Commanding General in occupied Serbia in autumn 1941

indicted in the Hostages Trial but died by suicide in 1947 before trial

Circle VI of VII

Heinrich Bütefisch

member of the IG Farben managing board responsible for the Auschwitz-Monowitz works and mining ventures that used prisoners

sentenced to six years for slave labour; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Walter Caspar Többens

German entrepreneur exploiting forced labour in the Warsaw ghetto and Poniatowa

convicted after the war, later classified as a 'Mitläufer'; died in 1954

Circle VI of VII

Friedrich Christiansen

Wehrmacht commander in the occupied Netherlands

sentenced to twelve years' imprisonment in 1948; released after the remainder of his sentence was remitted

Circle VI of VII

Friedrich Class

head of the Gdynia branch of Einsatzkommando 16 and the Gestapo

died in December 1945 without trial

Circle VI of VII

Max Daume

Order Police officer in Warsaw responsible for repression and hostage executions

executed in 1947

Circle VI of VII

Karl Dönitz

commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine and Hitler's successor as head of state

convicted at Nuremberg; served ten years and died in 1980

Circle VI of VII

Walther Dürrfeld

technical director and construction manager of the IG Farben works at Auschwitz-Monowitz

convicted in the IG Farben Trial and sentenced to eight years; released early in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Kurt Eimann

commander of SS-Wachsturmbann Eimann during executions in Pomerania

sentenced in West Germany to four years' imprisonment and served approximately two years

Circle VI of VII

Karl Essig

head of the Security Police and SD post in Kielce

tried in West Germany in cases concerning Kielce crimes and acquitted in one proceeding; no comprehensive reckoning

Circle VI of VII

Friedrich Flick

owner and dominant head of the Flick concern, one of the Reich's principal heavy-industry and armaments complexes

sentenced to 7 years; released early in 1950

Circle VI of VII

Roland Freisler

president of the People's Court and a leading architect of Nazi judicial terror

killed in an air raid in February 1945 and never tried

Circle VI of VII

Wilhelm Frick

Reich Minister of the Interior and later Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia

convicted at Nuremberg and executed in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Erich Fuchs

technician of Operation T4 and Operation Reinhard, associated with the installation of gassing equipment

sentenced in Hagen to four years' imprisonment; died in 1980

Circle VI of VII

Günter Fuchs

head of Section II B of the Łódź Gestapo, responsible for Jewish affairs

life sentence in 1963

Circle VI of VII

Walther Funk

Reich Economics Minister and president of the Reichsbank

sentenced to life imprisonment; released in 1957 and died in 1960

Circle VI of VII

Fritz Gustav Friedel

head of the Jewish affairs section of the Gestapo in Białystok

sentenced to death; executed in 1952

Circle VI of VII

Hellmuth Holland

head of the German Public Prosecutor's Office in Piotrków and prosecutor before the Special Court in Piotrków

convicted twice in Poland; aggregate sentence of 8 years; worked in the West German judiciary after release

Circle VI of VII

Alfred Jodl

chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command

convicted at Nuremberg and executed in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Günther Joël

Reich Ministry of Justice criminal-law official, later general prosecutor in Hamm

sentenced to ten years' imprisonment; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Werner Kampe

NSDAP Kreisleiter and municipal commissioner, later occupation mayor of Bydgoszcz

subject of a postwar investigation; no final conviction established

Circle VI of VII

Wilhelm Keitel

chief of the Armed Forces High Command

convicted at Nuremberg and executed in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Franz Konrad

head of the Werterfassung property-seizure apparatus in the Warsaw ghetto

executed in 1952

Circle VI of VII

Carl Krauch

chairman of IG Farben's supervisory board and plenipotentiary for chemical production under the Four Year Plan

convicted in the IG Farben Trial and sentenced to six years; released early in 1950

Circle VI of VII

Alfried Krupp

sole owner and head of the Krupp industrial group from 1943

sentenced to twelve years in the Krupp Trial; released and his property restored in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Hans Lammers

head of the Reich Chancellery and Hitler's senior legal-administrative intermediary

convicted in the Ministries Trial; released early and died in 1962

Circle VI of VII

Ernst Lautz

chief public prosecutor at the People's Court in Berlin

sentenced to ten years' imprisonment; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Rudolf Lehmann

head of the OKW Legal Department and Generaloberstabsrichter, a co-architect of the legal framework for wartime terror

sentenced to seven years; released early in 1950

Circle VI of VII

Wilhelm List

commander of the 12th Army and Wehrmacht Commander Southeast during the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece

sentenced to life imprisonment in 1948; released early in December 1952

Circle VI of VII

Jakob Lölgen

commander of an Einsatzkommando 16 detachment in Bydgoszcz

acquitted in 1966

Circle VI of VII

Waldemar Macholl

border police commissioner in Suwałki, then head of the Białystok Gestapo's Section IV A-3 for combating resistance

sentenced to death in Poland; executed on 15 July 1949

Circle VI of VII

Erich von Manstein

field marshal; commander of the Eleventh Army and later army groups on the eastern front

convicted by a British military court in 1949; released early in 1953

Circle VI of VII

Gerulf Mayer

commander of Gendarmerie-Hauptmannschaft Kielce

sentenced in Graz in 1969 to eleven years for murders and participation in the Skałka Polska pacification

Circle VI of VII

Bruno Müller

commander of Einsatzkommando 2/I and Security Police and SD commander in Kraków

interned and questioned after the war but not convicted for Sonderaktion Krakau

Circle VI of VII

Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller

commander of the 22nd Infantry Division and commandant of Fortress Crete

sentenced to death in Greece; executed by firing squad on 20 May 1947

Circle VI of VII

Horst Neubauer

judge of the German Special Court in Łódź

not convicted after the war for judgments delivered in occupied Łódź

Circle VI of VII

Johann Niemann

deputy commandant of the German Sobibór killing centre

killed during the Sobibór prisoners' uprising in 1943

Circle VI of VII

Helmut Ortwin Pohl

officer on Odilo Globocnik's staff who participated in deportations and resettlement in the Lublin District during the first half of 1942

indicted; trial interrupted and proceedings discontinued without a judgment

Circle VI of VII

Peter Paulsen

SS archaeologist and commander of Sonderkommando Paulsen

not convicted for Sonderkommando Paulsen's activity and continued an academic career after the war

Circle VI of VII

Gerhard Pchalek

prosecutor before the special courts in Bielitz and Kattowitz and at the Office of the General Prosecutor attached to the Higher Regional Court in Kattowitz

sentenced in East Germany to 4 years; conditionally released in 1962

Circle VI of VII

Walter Pelzhausen

commandant of the Radogoszcz police prison in Łódź

executed in 1948

Circle VI of VII

Paul Pleiger

chairman of Reichswerke Hermann Göring and head of the coal economy, using forced-labour allocations and ventures with the SS

sentenced to 15 years; reduced to ten years; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Emil Puhl

Reichsbank vice-president responsible for implementing arrangements with the SS concerning stolen valuables

sentenced at Nuremberg to five years' imprisonment; died in 1962

Circle VI of VII

Karl Rasche

member of the Dresdner Bank management board responsible for the bank's expansion, financing SS enterprises and acquiring assets in occupied Europe

sentenced to seven years; released in 1950

Circle VI of VII

Hans-Joachim Rehse

judge of the First Senate of the People's Court who participated in repressive death sentences under the presidency of Roland Freisler

five-year sentence overturned; acquitted on retrial; appeal proceedings ended after his death

Circle VI of VII

Walter von Reichenau

commander of the Sixth Army and author of the criminal Severity Order

died on active service in January 1942 and was never tried

Circle VI of VII

Hermann Reinecke

head of the Allgemeines Wehrmachtamt in the OKW, responsible for central directives concerning prisoners of war

sentenced to life imprisonment in 1948; released early in October 1954

Circle VI of VII

Georg-Hans Reinhardt

commander of the 3rd Panzer Group, subsequently the 3rd Panzer Army, and acting commander of Army Group Centre

sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment; released in 1952

Circle VI of VII

Wilhelm Rosenbaum

commandant of the Security Police and SD school in Rabka

sentenced to life imprisonment; later conditionally released

Circle VI of VII

Oswald Rothaug

presiding judge of the Nuremberg Special Court and later Reich prosecutor at the People's Court

sentenced to life imprisonment in the Judges' Trial; released in 1956

Circle VI of VII

Franz Schlegelberger

state secretary and acting Reich minister of justice

life sentence; released in 1951

Circle VI of VII

Alfred Spilker

commander of Sonderkommando Spilker in Warsaw

died in 1945; never tried

Circle VI of VII

Bruno Tesch

co-owner and managing director of a principal distributor of Zyklon B

convicted by a British military court in the Zyklon B case and executed in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Otto Georg Thierack

Reich Minister of Justice and former president of the People's Court

not tried; died by suicide in Allied custody in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Werner Ventzki

lord mayor of occupied Łódź and an official of the Wartheland administration

never tried; continued an administrative career in West Germany

Circle VI of VII

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Reich Foreign Minister and diplomatic agent of German expansion

convicted at Nuremberg and executed in 1946

Circle VI of VII

Karl von Roques

commander of the Army Group South Rear Area, subsequently the Army Group A Rear Area

sentenced to 20 years; died while serving his sentence in 1949

Circle VI of VII

Max von Schenckendorff

commander of the Army Group Centre Rear Area and organiser of the anti-partisan conference in Mogilev

died in 1943; never tried

Circle VI of VII

Baldur von Schirach

Reich Youth Leader and later Gauleiter and Reich Governor of Vienna

convicted at Nuremberg; served twenty years and died in 1974

Circle VI of VII

Walter Warlimont

head of the National Defence Department and deputy chief of the Wehrmacht Operations Staff in the OKW

sentenced to life imprisonment; commuted to 18 years; released in 1954

Circle VI of VII

Erwin Wester

presiding judge of the German Special Court in Stanislau

extradited to Poland and indicted, but died in prison in July 1948 before trial

Circle VI of VII

Georg Wippern

head of SS Standortverwaltung Lublin, responsible for the inventory and transfer of stolen property

no conviction established in the sources used; died in 1993

Circle VI of VII

Ernst Woermann

head of the Political Department and undersecretary of state in the Foreign Office who participated in the administrative approval of deportations of Jews from France

ultimately convicted under count 5 and sentenced to five years; released in 1950

Circle VI of VII

Hermann Worthoff

head of the Jewish affairs section of the Lublin Gestapo and commander of a liquidation unit

sentenced to eight years in 1975