Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger, 1936

Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger

Video Gebärdensprache

Audio Text

At the meeting in Wannsee, Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger represented the Reich Chancellery – the coordination office of Adolf Hitler’s government. Of the 15 people attending the meeting, nine were lawyers – including Kritzinger, who was also the oldest participant. In the Weimar Republic, Kritzinger had already held a high position in the Ministry of Justice. In that post, he saw himself as upholding the traditions of the Prussian civil service. Under the Nazi regime, he was especially valued for his legal knowledge. In 1938, his legal skills were also very much behind his transfer to Hitler’s Reich Chancellery, where he later rose to become State Secretary.

In the Reich Chancellery, he ensured the smooth operation of administrative procedures. This task was even more important after 1938, when cabinet meetings were suspended. The political decisions – including deportations and programmes of murder – were legally supported by decrees and laws from the Reich Chancellery, sometimes introduced as retrospective legislation. Many of these legal documents were personally drafted by Kritzinger. He was invited to the Wannsee meeting for his outstanding knowledge of the legal situation, although the protocol contains no mention of any contributions he may have made to the discussions.