Karl Sack (9 June 1896 – 9 April 1945) was a German jurist and member of the

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Life

Karl Sack was born in Bosenheim (now Bad Kreuznach. He studied law in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

where he joined a

Burschenschaft A Burschenschaft (; sometimes abbreviated in the German ''Burschenschaft'' jargon; plural: ) is one of the traditional (student associations) of Germany, Austria, and Chile (the latter due to German cultural influence). Burschenschaften were fo ...

( Burschenschaft Vineta) and after a time in legal practice became a judge in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

. He married Wilhelmine Weber and had two sons. In 1934, Sack joined the newly established Reichskriegsgericht (Reich Military Court) where he quickly rose to a senior position. He was able to delay proceedings against Army Commander-in-Chief

Werner von Fritsch Thomas Ludwig Werner Freiherr von Fritsch (4 August 1880 – 22 September 1939) was a member of the German High Command. He was Commander-in-Chief of the German Army from February 1934 until February 1938, when he was forced to resign after he ...

who had been falsely accused of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

in an attempt to discredit him for his opposition to

Hitler's Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

attempts to subjugate the German armed forces. In the autumn of 1942, Karl Sack became Judge Advocate General of the Army. During the Second World War, Sack maintained contacts within the resistance circles in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, including Admiral

Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...

, Major General

Hans Oster Hans Paul Oster (9 August 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a general in the ''Wehrmacht'' and a leading figure of the anti-Nazi German resistance from 1938 to 1943. As deputy head of the counter-espionage bureau in the ''Abwehr'' (German military inte ...

and

Hans von Dohnanyi Hans von Dohnanyi (; originally ''Johann von Dohnányi'' ; 1 January 1902 – 8 or 9 April 1945) was a German jurist. He used his position in the Abwehr to help Jews escape Germany, worked with German resistance against the Nazi régime, a ...

, as well as with others within the Abwehr (German military intelligence). He was part of the attempt to assassinate Hitler on 20 July plot and after that failed attempt he was arrested on 9 August 1944. In the very last days of the war, he was brought before an SS

drumhead court-martial A drumhead court-martial is a court-martial held in the field to hear urgent charges of offences committed in action. The term sometimes has connotations of summary offence, summary justice. The term is said to originate from the use of a drum as ...

presided over by

Otto Thorbeck Otto Thorbeck (26 August 1912 in Brieg, Silesia – 10 October 1976 in Nuremberg) was a German lawyer and Nazi SS judge in the ''Hauptamt SS-Gericht''. In 1941, Sturmbannführer (Major) Thorbeck was appointed the chief judge of the SS and p ...

. He was sentenced to death and

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

two days later at

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

. Sack had been slated for the role of Justice Minister within a planned post-coup civilian government. In 1984, Sack's role as a member of the resistance was remembered with a bronze plaque placed in the former Reichskriegsgericht in

Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the l ...

. There was some opposition to this honour as Sack favoured a far-reaching interpretation of what constituted desertion, which ostensibly could have led to unwarranted death sentences. In Bosenheim, a suburb of Bad Kreuznach, a street has been named in his honour.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sack, Karl 1896 births 1945 deaths People from Bad Kreuznach People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging 20th-century German judges German People's Party politicians German conservatives in the German Resistance Executed people from Rhineland-Palatinate People who died in Flossenbürg concentration camp Executed members of the 20 July plot Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps People from Rhineland-Palatinate executed in Nazi concentration camps People who were court-martialed

Life

See also

Further reading

External links