Ernst von Weizsäcker (German Resistance Museum, Berlin)

Ernst Freiherr von Weizsäcker (25 May 1882 in Stuttgart - 4 August 1951) was a German diplomat. Weizsäcker was the father of Richard von Weizsäcker, who was President of the Federal Republic of Germany 1984-94. See Weizsäcker for the family tree. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (772x1036, 108 KB) Summary Photo by User:Adam Carr, May 2006 Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (772x1036, 108 KB) Summary Photo by User:Adam Carr, May 2006 Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar. ... Stuttgart [], located in southern Germany, is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg with a population of approximately 590,000 (as of September 2005) in the city and around 3 million in the metropolitan area. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Dr. Richard Freiherr von Weizsäcker â–¶ (help· info) (born April 15, 1920) is a German politician (CDU). ... Weizsäcker may refer to either the German family name or the formula named after a member of the family. ...

He was born Ernst Weizsäcker to his father, Karl Hugo von Weizsäcker, who would become Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Württemberg and raised to personal nobility in 1897, and Paula von Meibom. His father and his family were raised to heritable nobility in 1916. Arms of the Kingdom of Württemberg The title of this article contains the character ü. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Wuerttemberg. ...

In 1900, he joined the Kaiserliche Marine to become an officer, serving mainly in Berlin. In 1917 he earned the Iron Cross (both classes) and was made Korvettenkapitän. The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire and existed between 1871 and 1919; it grew out of the Prussian Navy and the Norddeutsche Bundesmarine. ... A stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Bundeswehr, Germanys Armed Forces. ... Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain) is a rank in the German Navy that is equivalent to a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy or Royal Navy. ...

Weizsäcker joined the German Foreign Office in 1920 and spent the 1930s in Oslo and Bern. After having been advised to do so, he joined the NSDAP and the SS in 1938, and was made Secretary of State under Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. He was promoted to SS-Brigadeführer on 30 January 1942. Following his request, Weizsäcker was German Ambassador to the Holy See from 1943 to 1945. He died of a stroke in 1951. County Oslo NO-03 District Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ... Location within Switzerland The city of Bern, English traditionally Berne (Bernese German Bärn , German Bern , French Berne , Italian Berna , Romansh Berna ), is the Bundesstadt (administrative capital) of Switzerland, and is the fourth most populous Swiss city (after Zürich, Geneva and Basel). ... The Nazi swastika The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... Joachim von Ribbentrop with his son. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

Prosecution for War Crimes

Weizsäcker was arrested in July 1947, in Nuremberg in connection with the Ministries Trial, also known as the Wilhelmstrasse Trial, after the location of the German Foreign Office. He was charged with active cooperation with the deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz, as a crime against humanity. Weizsäcker, with the assistance of his son Richard, who appeared as his assistant defense counsel, claimed that he had no knowledge of the purpose for which Auschwitz had been designed and believed that Jewish prisoners would face less danger if deported to the east. Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. ... Telford Taylor delivers the prosecutions opening statement. ... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ...

The Court was not persuaded, especially when presented with records prepared at the Wannsee Conference by one of his assistants concerning the mass executions of Jews already underway in 1941. Weizsäcker was sentenced to seven years, later reduced to five. The Wannsee Villa, location of the Wannsee Conference, is now a Holocaust museum. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ...

Weizsäcker was released as part of a general amnesty in 1950, after which he published his memoirs, in which he portrayed himself as a supporter of the resistance. Some defenders have continued to argue that his record was mixed, that he did, in fact, work against the goals of the Nazi government while serving it, and that his sentence was unjust^{[citation needed]}; Winston Churchill allegedly called his sentence a "deadly error"^{[citation needed]}. 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Notes

Note regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin. Freiherr (German for Free Lord) is a title of lower nobility in Germany, the Baltic states and Austria-Hungary, considered equal to the title Baron. ... Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. ... Freiherr (German for Free Lord) is a title of lower nobility in Germany, the Baltic states and Austria-Hungary, considered equal to the title Baron. ... Freiherr (German for Free Lord) is a title of lower nobility in Germany, the Baltic states and Austria-Hungary, considered equal to the title Baron. ...