Karl Roland Freisler was born on 30 October 1893 in the town of Celle, then part of the German Empire. When the First World War broke out in July 1914, Roland Freisler was in the midst of studying law. Upon his release and return to Germany in 1918, Freisler resumed his legal studies. His fluency in Russian distinguished him from many of his peers, and he completed his doctoral thesis in law at the University of Jena in 1922. During this period, the German society was in turmoil—postwar reparations, hyperinflation, and the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles fueled political unrest. Various extremist movements took shape, among them the Nazi Party, led by the fiery agitator Adolf Hitler. While initially Freisler had no direct connection to the Nazi Party, he practiced law and served as a defense counsel in several politically charged cases, gaining a reputation for his fierce courtroom manners.By the late 1920s, Freisler’s own political leanings took a sharp rightward turn. On 9 July 1925 he joined the Nazi Party, becoming member number 9679. He also secured a position as a city councillor in the city of Kassel, where his oratorical skilfulness and intimate knowledge of law earned him notice from Nazi Party officials. Freisler quickly became known for his fierce devotion to the party’s message, advocating radical reforms that placed the collective will of the German people above any notion of individual rights. In his speeches, he railed against “enemies of the state,” a category that, in his mind, could encompass Jews, socialists, and anyone critical of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Party. When Hitler seized power in January 1933, Freisler’s career prospects rocketed. The new regime demanded legal minds capable of rationalizing the Nazis’ dismantling of democratic institutions and Freisler proved more than willing. In 1933, he was appointed to the Prussian Ministry of Justice.
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