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Portrait of Wilhelm Frick.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 06834

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    Portrait of Wilhelm Frick.
    Portrait of Wilhelm Frick. Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946), Minister of the Interior and Reichprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, was an early NSDAP sympathizer. In the early 1920s, Frick was Hitler's informant inside the Munich police and a political follower. On January 23, 1930, Frick was appointed minister of the interior in Thuringia, and became the first NSDAP minister in a provincial government. As minister of the interior, he purged the police forces of Weimar sympathizers and replaced them with NSDAP members. Under Hitler, Frick drafted the Nuremberg Race Laws, which were used to exclude Jews from society. Technically, he was Heinrich Himmler's superior, but he never imposed restrictions on the SS. After Hitler consolidated power, Frick steadily lost his influence. In 1943, he was appointed Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, but he was given no real power. His subordinate, Karl Hermann Frank, was recognized as the real authority. After the war, Frick refused to testify at Nuremberg, but was nevertheless convicted of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He was executed on October 16, 1946. Sources: Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (Snyder) pp. 100-101; Who's Who in Nazi Germany (Wistrich) pp. 81-83; Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (Zentner) 1:299-300 (photo included).

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    Caption
    Portrait of Wilhelm Frick.

    Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946), Minister of the Interior and Reichprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, was an early NSDAP sympathizer. In the early 1920s, Frick was Hitler's informant inside the Munich police and a political follower. On January 23, 1930, Frick was appointed minister of the interior in Thuringia, and became the first NSDAP minister in a provincial government. As minister of the interior, he purged the police forces of Weimar sympathizers and replaced them with NSDAP members. Under Hitler, Frick drafted the Nuremberg Race Laws, which were used to exclude Jews from society. Technically, he was Heinrich Himmler's superior, but he never imposed restrictions on the SS. After Hitler consolidated power, Frick steadily lost his influence. In 1943, he was appointed Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, but he was given no real power. His subordinate, Karl Hermann Frank, was recognized as the real authority. After the war, Frick refused to testify at Nuremberg, but was nevertheless convicted of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. He was executed on October 16, 1946.
    Sources: Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (Snyder) pp. 100-101; Who's Who in Nazi Germany (Wistrich) pp. 81-83; Encyclopedia of the Third Reich (Zentner) 1:299-300 (photo included).
    Date
    1933 - 1945
    Locale
    Germany
    Photo Credit
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of William O. McWorkman

    Rights & Restrictions

    Photo Source
    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
    Provenance: William O. McWorkman

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    Administrative Notes

    Biography
    Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946), Reich Minister of the Interior and Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia. Frick was born in Alsenz, the son of a Protestant schoolteacher. He studied law at several German universities and received his doctorate in 1901. From 1904 to 1924 he worked as a government official in the Munich police department. An early adherent of National Socialism, Frick participated in the failed Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923, for which he was jailed for several months. In 1924 he was elected as one of the first Nazi deputies to the Reichstag. Six years later he became Minister of the Interior in Thuringia, the first Nazi minister in a provincial government. During his tenure he purged the police force of Weimar sympathizers and promoted Nazi candidates for office over all others. After the Nazi seizure of power, Frick was appointed Reich Minister of the Interior, a position he held until August 1943. His training as a jurist was put to use in the drafting of legislation that removed Jews from public life, abolished political parties, and sent dissidents to concentration camps. After helping Hitler to consolidate power, Frick steadily lost influence. In 1943 he was appointed Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, but real authority in the Protectorate lay in the hands of his subordinate, Karl Hermann Frank. After the war Frick was tried before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Following his conviction, he was hanged on October 16, 1946 in Nuremberg.

    [Source: Wistrich, Robert. "Who's Who in Nazi Germany." MacMillan, 1982; Zentner, Christian. "Encyclopedia of the Third Reich." MacMillan, 1991.]
    Record last modified:
    1996-11-13 00:00:00
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