Ewald Oskar Ludwig Löser (11 April 1888 – 23 December 1970) was a German lawyer, a board member of

Krupp AG The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krupp A ...

and a convicted war criminal for Krupp's use of

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

. He was also a member of the 20 July plot. He was born in Storkow, Brandenburg and gained a doctorate in

Administrative Law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...

from The

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

in 1911. From 1930 to 1934 he served under

Carl Goerdeler Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (; 31 July 1884 – 2 February 1945) was a monarchist conservative German politician, executive, economist, civil servant and opponent of the Nazi regime. He opposed some anti-Jewish policies while he held office and was ...

as the deputy mayor and

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

of the city of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. He joined board of the Friedrich Krupp AG in 1934 as Director of Administration and Finance. From 1939 he was also on the board of Dresdner Bank. In 1943, Goerdeler convinced him of the necessity of a coup to overthrow Hitler. If the 20 July plot assassination attempt had succeeded. he was earmarked to be the Minister of Finance. Löser was arrested in its aftermath and on 20 October 1944 was tried by the People's Court, but succeeded in convincing

Roland Freisler Roland Freisler (30 October 1893 – 3 February 1945), a German Nazi jurist, judge, and politician, 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. As ...

that he was suffering from memory loss. Avoiding conviction he was committed to a sanatorium and survived the war. In 1947, Löser was indicted at the Krupp Trial for war crimes, including use of

slave labor Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and plunder of occupied Europe. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Löser was not granted clemency, but was released early on health grounds on 2 June 1951. He died in 1970.

External links

dmh de Biography of Ewald Loeser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loeser, Ewald 1888 births 1970 deaths People from Oder-Spree People from the Province of Brandenburg Jurists from Brandenburg Prisoners and detainees of Germany German people convicted of crimes against humanity People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals Members of the 20 July plot