Hans Frank

The Tribunal acquitted Frank of the conspiracy/aggression charge but found him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. After referring at trial to “terrible guilt” connected with the atrocities committed in Poland, he was sentenced to death and hanged on 16 October 1946.

Attribution

Accused

Under Frank, the General Government was marked by public shootings, hostage executions and summary courts. In October 1943, Frank issued a decree allowing summary police and SD courts to sentence non-Germans accused of obstructing certain German work to death.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

Frank's administration shipped quantities of food to Germany disproportionate to local resources, reducing rations for the occupied population to starvation levels and encouraging epidemics. Frank's notes show that he explicitly accepted giving priority to the Reich's food supply.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

As early as January 1940, Frank envisaged sending one million workers to Germany and discussed police round-ups to meet quotas. By August 1942, he announced that he had already supplied 800,000 workers and intended to continue deportations.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

In December 1941, Frank told his government that Jews had to be “annihilated” wherever possible. The Tribunal concluded that he had participated in a programme involving the murder of at least three million Jews in the territory he administered.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

In the General Government, several million Jews were subjected to discriminatory laws, concentrated in ghettos, dispossessed and deprived of vital resources. Frank's civilian administration provided the territorial and regulatory framework for this persecution.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

On 30 May 1940, Frank announced his intention to exploit world attention being diverted towards the western offensive to liquidate thousands of Poles who might resist, including members of the intelligentsia. This policy led to Aktion AB, carried out by the security police and SD.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

Appointed Governor-General of the occupied Polish territories that were not annexed, Frank announced a policy treating Poland as a colony and its population as a workforce subordinate to the Reich. The Tribunal found systematic exploitation and the destruction of Poland as a national entity.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility