World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseJosef Bühler was born in Bad Waldsee, Germany into a Catholic family of 12 children; his father was a baker. He achieved a degree in law and worked for Hans Frank, a legal advisor to Adolf Hitler. In 1933, he joined the Nazi Party, and soon after became an administrator of the Court of Munich. In 1935, he became the district chief attorney. In 1938, Frank placed him in charge of Frank's cabinet office. In Sep 1939, Frank was appointed the Governor General for the occupied Polish territories, and Bühler became Frank's deputy and the State Secretary of the General Government. Around this time, he was given the rank of SS-Brigadeführer by SS chief Heinrich Himmler. On 20 Jan 1942, he attended the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, Germany as the representative from Frank's office, during which Nazi leaders discussed the extermination of Jews. After the war, he testified on Frank's behalf at the Nuremberg Trials before he was turned over to Poland. Between Jun and Jul 1948, he was tried by the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland in Kraków, and was found guilty of crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to death on 10 Jul and was executed by hanging on 22 Aug in Kraków.

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Josef Bühler Timeline