These crimes came under the broad brush of the term “political offences,” and most were dealt with harshly by the raving judge. His full title was State Secretary and Reich Ministry of Justice, President of the Volksgerichtshof (people's court). This evil advocate of National Socialism quickly became one of the most feared judges in all the land, thanks to a combination of his excellent legal knowledge, berating and aggressive delivery and humiliation tactics in the courtroom. They came out as though they made perfect sense, as though this was the philosophy of the ages. You should tell me, because I don't know myself. Universe - Galaxies and Stars: Links and Contacts, Judge Freisler was a prominent and notorious Nazi German judge. This court handled political crimes against Adolf Hitler's dictatorial regime. In 1927 the Gauleiter of Kurhessen characterized Freisler in the following manner: "Rhetorically he is equal to our best speakers, if not superior to them. "Sophie, how can I express things that I myself don't understand? It was at this moment that a bomb struck, and the judge was crushed to death beneath a falling piece of masonry. While interned in Russia, Freisler learned the Russian language, and after the Russian Revolution of 1917, developed an interest in Marxism. Berlin, Germany, 1944. Freisler's mastery of legal texts, mental agility and overwhelming verbal force combined well with strict adherence to the party line and the corresponding ideology, so that he became the most feared judge and the personification of the Nazis' "blood justice." During this period, he served as defense counsel for members of the nascent Party who got into trouble with the law. Party Comrade Freisler is only usable as a speaker. A number of the trials for defendants in the July 20 Plot before the People's Court were filmed and recorded. He served as the state secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection from the mid-930s to early 1940s, and later as president of the People's Court until 1945. But the judge never lets this cloud the tyrannical way he policed the People’s Court, to which he was promoted to the role of President in 1942. He became State Secretary of Adolf Hitler's Reich Ministry of Justice and President of the Volksgerichtshof, a court set up outside constitutional authority. This is the greatest insult against us.”. Freisler was appointed as president of the “People's Court” in August 1942. ), Below is an excerpt from "With You There Is Light. Freisler was appointed as the Director of the Prussian Ministry of Justice in 1933, followed by stints as Secretary of State in the Prussian Ministry of Justice (1933-1934) and the Reich Ministry of Justice (1934-1942). “It is treason against the dead of this war. They have committed treason against the German people!”. Notes from the Scholl's siblings and Christoph Probst's trial did not survive the war. He also acted as court recorder; that way, he was responsible for the composition of written grounds for the sentences, that he wrote up in his own unique fashion, namely in accordance with his own notions of a "National Socialist criminal court." He even sent the family of Joseph Muller, a Catholic priest, the bill for his execution by guillotine. This time the words hadn’t vomited out of him, each one assaulting his listeners like arrows piercing the flesh. In the eyes of the Nazi German elite, Freisler was compromised by his brother Oswald's rise to prominence. They flowed together and in their fluidity, gathered momentum and speed. "I can't feel my fingers," she complained. ", For more information on "With You There Is Light," visit, White Rose Traveling Exhibition Available in the United States (in English), Use of the Word “Resistance” in Campaigning, New Brunswick Theological Seminary Exhibition To Highlight “The Spirit in the Struggle against Nazism”.