Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 - 8 June 1945) was a Nazi Party official who served as Gauleiter of Lower Silesia from 1940 to 1945. August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: , or NSDAP), generally known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ... A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP (more commonly known as the Nazi Party) or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau. ... Lower Silesia (German: ; Polish: ; Latin: Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

Early Career

Hanke learned the trade of a miller and from 1928 onward worked as an instructor in a vocational school in Berlin. An early and fervent member of the Nazi party (NSDAP) and the "General SS", he was a member of the Prussian state parliament ("Landtag") from 1928 onward, but was finally fired from his Prussian state service job in 1931 for his political activities. After the Nazis won a huge electoral victory in September 1930, Hanke became leader of the party's local office in the western district of Berlin. In this position he was the first party official to establish contact with the young architect Albert Speer, giving him a contract to convert a villa in the western suburbs into an office for the local party organization. Hanke and Speer became close friends, so much so that in 1944 (according to Albert Speer's book Inside the Third Reich), Hanke strongly advised Speer never to visit Auschwitz for any reason because he had "seen something that he was not allowed to describe and indeed could not describe". 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. ... now. ... Albert Speer, c. ... Inside the Third Reich is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945. ... 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. ...

Government Service

In 1932, Hanke was elected to the German parliament ("Reichstag") on the slate of the NSDAP. On 1 April 1932 he became personal aide to Joseph Goebbels, NSDAP Gauleiter of Berlin. Again he secured a task for Albert Speer, having him build a headquarters for the Berlin NSDAP in the center of the city (at Voßstraße 11). Following the Nazi takeover of power and the parliamentary elections of March 1933, Goebbels established the propaganda ministry, and Hanke followed his boss there as personal aide. In 1938 he was promoted to State Secretary (deputy minister) in the propaganda ministry. Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was Adolf Hitlers Propaganda Minister (see Propagandaministerium) in Nazi Germany. ... The Propagandaministerium () (or State Ministry for Public enlightenment and Propaganda) was the Ministry of propaganda in Nazi Germany. ...

Hanke's seemingly unstoppable ascent on the coattails of Goebbels came to a sudden, albeit temporary halt when he was drawn into the marital affairs of the Joseph and Magda Goebbels. Goebbels had many extramarital affairs, notably with actresses, and in 1938 his wife Magda appeared ready to abandon her marriage when Goebbels had a liaison with a young Czech actress. Hanke sided with Magda, to whom he was attracted and who apparently seemed willing to leave Goebbels for Hanke. Both affairs were finally stopped by an order from Hitler.

In 1939 Hanke volunteered for military service, having previously obtained a reserve officer's commission. He served with the 3rd Panzerdivision in Poland and under General Erwin Rommel with the 7th Panzer Division in France in 1940. He was discharged from the Wehrmacht in 1941 with the rank of Oberleutnant (lieutenant). Hitler thereupon appointed Hanke to the position of governor and Gauleiter of Lower Silesia in Breslau. geschickt. One year later, SS-Chief Heinrich Himmler promoted him to the rank of SS-Gruppenführer. Hanke was a fanatical enforcer of Nazi policy: during his rule in Breslau more than 1000 people were excuted on his orders, earning him the moniker "Hangman of Breslau". Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel ( ) (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was one of the most distinguished German field marshals of World War II. He was the commander of the Deutsches Afrika Korps and also became known by the nickname The Desert Fox (Wüstenfuchs,  ) for the skillful military campaigns he... The 7th Panzer Division, which participated in the Battle of France, was nicknamed the Ghost Division because nobody knew where they were attacking from, not even the German High Command. ... Wehrmacht troops of the Heer (military land forces) marching at a military parade in honour of the 50th birthday of Adolf Hitler, on April 20th, 1939. ... Oberleutnant is a rank of the German military which dates from the early 19th century. ... Wrocław. ...   (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... SS-Gruppenführer collar patch SA-Gruppenführer rank insignia Volkssturm Gruppenführer insignia Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. SA Rank Translated as “Group Leader”, a Gruppenführer was typically in charge of...

The Fall of Breslau

During the waning months of World War II, as the Soviet army advanced into Silesia and encircled Breslau, Hanke was named by Hitler to be the city's "battle commander (Kampfkommandant) and oversaw, with brutal fanaticism, the futile and militarily useless defense of the city. Goebbels, dictating for his diary, repeatedly expressed his admiration of Hanke during the spring of 1945. When the city was finally taken, Hanke was not found. He apparently flew out in early May in a small plane, a Fieseler Storch, kept in reserve for him. (Speer's assertion that Hanke fled in a prototype helicopter is not credible.) The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (stork) was a small liaison aircraft built by Fieseler during World War II, and production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. ...

Reichsführer-SS

Hanke's fanaticism and unconditional obedience to Hitler's orders also impressed Hitler, who in his final will appointed him to be the last Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police, replacing Heinrich Himmler on 29 April 1945. Just eight days before, Hanke had been honored with Nazi Germany's highest decoration, the German Order, a reward for his defence of Breslau against the advancing Soviet army. Hanke's ascendancy to the rank of Reichsführer-SS was a result of Adolf Hitler proclaiming Himmler a traitor, stripping him of all his offices and ranks, and ordering his arrest. Heinrich Himmler as the Reichsführer-SS Reichsführer-SS was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. ...   (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... April 29 is the 119th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (120th in leap years). ... The German Order The German Order (German: Deutscher Orden) was the most important decoration that the Nazi Party could bestow on an individual for duties of the highest order to the state and party. This award was first made by Adolf Hitler posthumously to Reichsminister Fritz Todt at his funeral... Heinrich Himmler as the Reichsführer-SS Reichsführer-SS was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. ... Hitler redirects here. ...

Death

Hanke received word of his promotion on 5 May 1945. For unknown reasons, he flew to Prague and attached himself to the 18th SS-Freiwilligen-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Horst Wessel". Hanke chose to wear the uniform of an SS private, to conceal his identity in the event of capture. The group attempted to fight its way back to Germany but, after a fierce battle with Czech partisans, surrendered in what is now Nova Ves (ex Neudorf), north west of Chomutov (ex Komotau). His true identity was not discovered by his captors, and Hanke was thus placed in a POW camp alongside other low-ranking SS members. Realizing it was only a matter of time before he would be found out, Hanke attempted to escape from the camp on the morning of 8 June 1945. He managed to escape the camp itself, but a Czech guard spotted him fleeing and shot him in the back, killing him instantly. He was 41 years old. May 5 is the 125th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (126th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... June 8 is the 159th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (160th in leap years), with 206 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMVL) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Literature

• Antony Beevor: Berlin 1945. Das Ende. Goldmann: München 2005, ISBN 3-442-15313-1
• Martin Moll: Der Sturz alter Kämpfer. Ein neuer Zugang zur Herrschaftsanalyse des NS-Regimes, in: Historische Mitteilungen der Ranke-Gesellschaft 5. Jg. (1992), S. 1-51.
• Jana Richter: Karl Hanke, in: Hermann Weiß (Hg.): Biographisches Lexikon zum Dritten Reich, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, S. 177f.
• Gitta Sereny: Albert Speer. Sein Ringen mit der Wahrheit, München 2005, ISBN 3-442-15328-X
• Albert Speer: Erinnerungen, Frankfurt a. M. u. Berlin 1969.