Walther Funk

Walther Funk was a prominent German economist, journalist, and senior official of the Nazi Party. He served as the Reich Minister of Economics and later as the President of the Reichsbank, playing a key role in financing Nazi Germany's rearmament and war efforts. Following World War II, he was convicted of major war crimes at the Nuremberg trials and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Early life and career

Walther Funk was born in 1890 in the city of Danzig, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia. He studied law, economics, and philosophy at the University of Berlin and the University of Leipzig. After serving in World War I, he embarked on a career in financial journalism, eventually becoming the editor of the influential Berliner Börsen-Zeitung. His work brought him into contact with leading figures in German industry and finance, and he developed strong nationalist and anti-Semitic views. During the late 1920s, he briefly associated with the dissident Black Front led by Otto Strasser before fully committing to the Nazi Party.

Role in the Nazi Party

Funk formally joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and quickly became a key economic advisor to Adolf Hitler. His connections within the business community were invaluable to the party's rise, helping to secure vital funding from major industrialists like Fritz Thyssen of Vereinigte Stahlwerke. Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Hitler appointed him as a State Secretary in the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels. In this role, Funk helped control the German press and acted as a liaison between the Nazi regime and the country's financial elite, advocating for policies that served the party's goals.

Minister of Economics and Reichsbank President

In February 1938, Funk succeeded Hermann Göring as Reich Minister of Economics. He was tasked with organizing the German economy for total war, a policy known as Wehrwirtschaft. A year later, he also replaced the conservative Hjalmar Schacht as President of the Reichsbank. In these dual roles, Funk was instrumental in plundering the financial resources of occupied territories, notably through the acquisition of gold reserves from the central banks of defeated nations like Austria and Czechoslovakia. He oversaw the systematic theft of Jewish assets, including the infamous Melmer account which held valuables seized from victims of the Holocaust. His policies directly supported the massive expenditures required for the German re-armament and the Invasion of Poland.

Post-war trial and conviction

Arrested by Allied forces at the end of World War II, Funk was indicted as a major war criminal and stood trial before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. He was charged with conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, planning and waging wars of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The prosecution, led by figures like Robert H. Jackson, presented extensive evidence of his role in financing the Nazi war machine and exploiting occupied Europe. In 1946, he was found guilty on all counts, though the tribunal accepted that he was not a principal architect of aggressive war. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and incarcerated at Spandau Prison.

Death and legacy

Due to poor health, Funk was released from Spandau Prison in 1957. He lived quietly in West Germany until his death from complications of diabetes in Düsseldorf in 1960. Historians remember Funk as a technically competent but morally pliant bureaucrat who placed his financial expertise at the service of a criminal regime. His career exemplifies the crucial collaboration between the Nazi state and Germany's economic establishment, facilitating both rearmament and genocide. The Nuremberg trials established the legal precedent that financiers and economic planners could be held accountable for enabling war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Category:1890 births Category:1960 deaths Category:People from Gdańsk Category:Nazi Party officials Category:Convicted war criminals Category:Nuremberg trials