Life
Kritzinger was born as a son of a pastor in Grünfier near Filehne (Polish: Wieleń) in the Prussian province of Posen. He received his Abitur in 1908 and studied law. During 1914–1918 Kritzinger served in the German military, reaching the rank of lieutenant in the reserve. In 1921 he passed the bar examination and then worked as an assistant in the Reich Ministry of Justice. In 1925-1926 he worked in the Prussian Ministry of Commerce and in 1926 moved back to the Ministry of Justice. He joined the Nazi party in 1938.
In February 1938 Kritzinger was transferred into the Reich Chancellery, as head of the Division B with the official designation of a Permanent Secretary. In early 1942 Kritzinger was promoted to State Secretary.
Kritzinger was one of the participants at the Wannsee Conference. Following the conference, he attempted to resign his position in the Chancellery, but his resignation was refused on the grounds that "it would be worse without him". It is speculated by historians that he may have openly and vocally opposed the Wannsee protocols, which would have explained his resignation, but no accurate historical record exists to support or confirm such speculation.
Kritzinger would be eventually arrested, along with most of the surviving members of the Conference, in 1946. During the Nuremberg Trials, where he was a witness, he publicly declared himself ashamed of the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime. He was released, and died in Nuremberg the following year.
Kritzinger was portrayed by Franz Rudnick in a 1984 movie Wannseekonferenz, and again by David Threlfall in the 2001 BBC/HBO film Conspiracy.
Read more about this topic: Friedrich Wilhelm Kritzinger
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