A dedicated Nazi
Though it ended over seven decades ago, World War II keeps being brought to mind by oldsters who lived through it and youngsters who research it. Unlike its predecessor a quarter-century earlier, it wasn’t billed as the War of Wars. Nor did it end with a peace treaty.
What is recalled about World War II is the unique set of leaders simultaneously thrown onto the world stage: Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Churchill, Roosevelt. And Hitler’s subordinates — Göring, Goebbels — also left a strong impression.
While the cause of the first global war is still a moot question, that of the second isn’t. With Germany in his grip, Hitler intended to conquer the world. Germans were the master race, meant to survive. The other races were sub-beings, and had to be eliminated, starting with the Jews.
The hundreds of thousands in Germany didn’t take long to dispose of, but what of the millions in Eastern Europe the Wehrmacht overran? Wanting their demise to be methodical, efficient, quick, he chose the ideal man for the job.
A lawyer and fervent Nazi, as minister of justice for Bavaria, Hans Frank expunged its Jews with a vengeance. Hitler tapped him up for the position of governor-general of the occupied Polish territories.
Little known was that he was unhappily married, siring children with his wife and his mistress. Otherwise, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his task.
In East West Street, British international lawyer Philippe Sands both traces Frank’s private and public life, and learns all he can about his own Polish-Jewish forebears, delving into the Holocaust.
Hitler’s choice of Frank was indeed ideal. The ghettos were filled, than emptied as the Jews were sent to the death camps. He boasted of his progress in speeches. Hitler praised his dedication. Along the way he collected great art.
Though working all-out, to Frank’s great regret the tide of the war turned and the Red Army was approaching. It was time to leave. He surrendered to the Americans.
Like the other two dozen defendants at the Nuremberg trials, he pleaded innocent. But the evidence for crimes against humanity and genocide was overwhelming. Blaming it all on the SS and even Hitler didn’t wash. They were all hung, Göring taking poison.