August Frank

August Franz Frank (5 April 1898 – 21 March 1984) was Nazi German official of the SS Main Economic Administration Office (German: SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt), generally known by its initials WVHA. The WVHA was, among other things, responsible for the administration of the Nazi concentration camps. After the war, the higher WVHA officials, including Frank, were placed on trial for, and convicted of, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Early Nazi career

Frank joined the SS as a private on May 1, 1932, and the Nazi party on January 1, 1933. From 1933 to 1935, Frank worked at minor administrative duties in connection with a number of small industries at the Dachau concentration camp manned by inmate labor, most of which were concerned with concentration camp maintenance.

Rise in Nazi hierarchy

In 1935, at the request of Oswald Pohl, Frank became SS Administrative Officer of the Special Purpose Troops (SS-Verfügungstruppe) and of the concentration camp guards, the SS Death's Head units (SS-Totenkopfverbände), although the presence of a bureaucratic rival somewhat limited his authority in the second capacity. In February 1940, Frank became chief supply officer of the Waffen SS and Death's Head units under Pohl.