Karl Hanke

Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 – 8 June 1945) was an official of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) during its rule over Germany and served as the fifth and final Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Hanke was born in Lauban (present-day Lubań) in Silesia, on 24 August 1903.

His older brother was killed in World War I.

Hanke was too young for service in the war and attended Gymnasium through Obersekunda.

He served in the Reichswehr as a Zeitfreiwilliger (temporary volunteer) in the 19th Infantry Regiment (von Courbiere) at Frankfurt/Oder from 1920 to 1921.

Hanke obtained an education as a milling engineer by attending the German Millers' School at Dippoldiswalde.

He then decided to obtain a year's practical experience as a railway workshop apprentice before returning to milling.

From 1921 to around 1926, Hanke mainly worked in the milling industry, serving as a business manager for mills in the vicinity of Silesia, Bavaria, and Tyrol.

He later attended the Berufspädagogische Institut in Berlin, receiving a degree that qualified him to teach milling at vocational schools.

Later in 1928, he worked in Berlin-Steglitz as a master miller.

After this he became a vocational instructor at a technical school in Berlin.

Hanke joined the Nazi Party on 1 November 1928, with membership number 102606.

Hanke began his career at the somewhat low level of Amtswalter, a low ranking speaker and factory cell organizer in Berlin.

He joined the Sturmabteilung (SA) Reserve in 1929; that same year he became a deputy street cell leader.

In 1930 he was promoted to street cell leader (Strassenzellenleiter) and then a section leader (Sektionsführer) in Berlin.

Hanke was fired from his teaching position at the vocational school in April 1931 for his political agitation for the Nazi Party.

He went to work full-time for the party.

By late 1931, he was Kreisleiter (ward leader) of Westend in Berlin, working under Berlin's Gauleiter Joseph Goebbels.

In 1932, Hanke was made chief Gau organizational director and on 1 April 1932, personal adjutant and Referent (advisor) to Goebbels in his capacity as propaganda director of the NSDAP (Reichspropagandaleiter der NSDAP).

In his position as Kreisleiter of Westend in Berlin, Hanke was the first party official to establish contact with the young architect Albert Speer.

Hanke contracted Speer to convert a villa in the western suburbs into an office for the local party organization in 1932.

Hanke and Speer became close friends.

Adolf Hitler took an early liking to the outspoken young Hanke, who by April 1932 had become an NSDAP delegate to the Prussian State Parliament (Landtag).

Later in November 1932, Hanke was elected to the German Parliament (Reichstag) on the slate of the NSDAP, representing Potsdam.

He held this seat until the end of the war in Europe.

Hanke again secured a task for Albert Speer in July 1932, having him build a headquarters for the Berlin NSDAP in the centre of the city (at Vossstrasse 11).

Following the Nazi takeover of power and the parliamentary elections of March 1933, Goebbels established the Propaganda Ministry (Propagandaministerium).

Hanke followed his boss there as his private secretary and aide.

At the time, Hanke was a favorite of Goebbels and accompanied his boss on official visits to Italy and Poland.

On 15 February 1934, Hanke joined the Allgemeine SS or general SS with membership number 203,103.

He was attached to the 6th SS-Standarte which was situated in Berlin.

This led to Hanke serving as a special duties officer on the staff of the Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler from January 1935 through 1 April 1936.

Then in late 1937, he was promoted to State Secretary (Deputy Minister) in the Propaganda Ministry.

The effective date for the promotion being 15 January 1938.

Also in January 1938, he became second vice president of the Reichskulturkammer (Reich Chamber of Culture; RKK) succeeding Walther Funk.

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 Joseph Goebbels and his wife, Magda.

He also served as Gauleiter of Gau Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and as Oberpräsident of the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia.

In 1944, according to Speer's book (Inside the Third Reich), Hanke strongly advised Speer never to visit "a camp in Upper Silesia" (Auschwitz) for any reason.

Hanke had "seen something that he was not allowed to describe and indeed could not describe."

Captured on 6 May 1945, he was shot and wounded during an escape attempt and then beaten to death by Czech communists on 8 June, after the war had ended.