   hans michael frank (23 may 1900 â 16 october 1946) was a german lawyer who worked for the nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s, and later became hitler's personal lawyer. after hitler's ascension to power in 1933, frank became nazi germany's chief jurist and governor-general of occupied poland's "general government" territory. during his tenure throughout world war ii (1939â1945), he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population, systematic plunder and brutal economic exploitation and became directly involved in the mass murder of polish citizens. at the nuremberg trials, he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and was executed. ==pre-war career== frank was born in karlsruhe to karl frank, a lawyer, and his wife, magdalena (nÃ©e buchmaier). he had an older brother, karl jr., and a younger sister, elisabeth. he joined the german army in 1917, during world war i. after the war he served in the freikorps under franz ritter von epp's command, and then joined the german worker's party (which soon evolved into nsdap), in 1919. he was one of the party's earliest members. frank studied law (he passed the final state examination in 1926) and rose to become adolf hitler's personal legal adviser. as the nazis rose to power, frank also served as the party's lawyer. he represented it in over 2,400 cases and spent over $10,000. this sometimes brought him into conflict with other lawyers. one, a former teacher, appealed to him: "i beg you to leave these people alone! no good will come of it! political movements that begin in the criminal courts will end in the criminal courts!"evans, richard j. (2004). the coming of the third reich. penguin press, p. 179. isbn 978-1-59420-004-5 in septemberâoctober 1930, frank served as the defence lawyer at the court-martial in leipzig of lieutenants richard scheringer, hans friedrich wendt and hanns ludin, three reichswehr officers charged with me
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