Fritz Sauckel

Ernst Friedrich Christoph Sauckel (27 October 1894 – 16 October 1946) was a German Nazi politician and convicted war criminal. As General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment (Arbeitseinsatz) from March 1942 until the end of the Second World War, he oversaw the mobilization of forced labour for the benefit of the German war effort.

Born in Haßfurt in Bavaria, Sauckel worked as a seaman from a young age. During the First World War, he was interned in France as an enemy alien. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 and established himself as a leading party organiser in Thuringia. He was appointed Gauleiter of Thuringia in 1927 and, following Hitler's appointment as chancellor, Reichsstatthalter in 1933; he would retain both positions until the end of the Nazi regime.

During the Second World War, Sauckel was responsible for regional defense until 1942, when he was appointed General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment, working directly under Hermann Göring's Four Year Plan office. In this capacity, he deported some five million workers from occupied territories for forced labour in German industries, often by brutal coercion. In addition, he authorized the use of prisoners of war in response to ever-increasing demands.

At the end of the war, Sauckel was arrested by American troops in Salzburg. He was among the 24 major war criminals accused in the Nuremberg trials before the International Military Tribunal. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentenced to death, and executed by hanging in October 1946.