70 years ago on this
date, April 9, 1945, six German Resistance Members were executed by hanging at
Flossenbürg concentration camp. As the German Resistance had inspired the
comrades of Unit 1012, let us not forget them and remember them as heroes who
stood against evil.
We will
post information about one of the six, Karl Sack from Wikipedia and other
links.
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Karl
Sack
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Karl Sack (born June 9, 1896 in
Bosenheim (now Bad Kreuznach), executed April 9, 1945 in Flossenbürg
concentration camp) was a German jurist and member of the resistance movement
during World War II.
Life
Karl Sack studied law in Heidelberg where he joined a Burschenschaft
(Burschenschaft Vineta) and after a time in
legal practice became a judge in Hesse. He married Wilhelmine Weber and had two sons. In 1934,
Sack joined the newly established Reichskriegsgericht (Reich Military Court)
where he quickly rose to a senior position. He was able to delay proceedings
against Army Commander-in-Chief Werner von Fritsch who had been falsely accused
of homosexuality by the Gestapo in an
attempt to discredit him for his opposition to Hitler's attempts
to subjugate the German armed forces. In the fall of 1942, Karl Sack became
Judge Advocate General of the Army.
During World War II, Sack maintained
contacts within the resistance circles in the military, including Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Major General Hans Oster and Hans
von Dohnanyi, as well as with others within the Abwehr
(German military intelligence). He was part of the attempt to assassinate
Hitler on July 20, 1944 and after that
failed attempt he was arrested on August 9, 1944. In the very last days of the
war, he was brought before an SS drumhead court-martial presided over by Otto
Thorbeck. He was sentenced to death and hanged 2 days
later. Sack had been slated for the role of Justice Minister within a planned
post-coup civilian government.
In 1984, Sack's role as a member of
the resistance was remembered with a bronze plaque placed in the former Reichskriegsgericht
in Berlin-Charlottenburg. There was some
opposition to this honour as Sack favoured a far-reaching interpretation of
what constituted desertion, which must have led to more than a few death
sentences.
In Bosenheim, a suburb of Bad
Kreuznach, a street has been named in his honour.
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Plaque to Karl Sack at the former Reichskriegsgericht in Berlin
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