Hans Plesch

Hans Plesch (26 February 1905 – 17 May 1985) was an SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of police who served as the Police President in Munich from 12 May 1943 until the city was liberated on 30 April 1945. He also served with the Wehrmacht in the Second World War and was awarded the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross.

Early life Born in Wilhelmshaven, Plesch attended the gymnasium in Oldenburg. After passing his abitur, he studied law from 1923 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the University of Würzburg, and the University of Göttingen. He also became active in the German Student Corps at these schools. He passed the first state law examination in 1930 and, after completing a legal clerkship in Oldenburg, he passed the assessor examination on 19 December 1932. From February 1933 he worked as a lawyer in Oldenburg.

SS and Wehrmacht service Plesch first joined the Nazi Party in 1923. When the Party was banned in 1924, he joined the Oldenburg branch of the Völkisch-Social Bloc. He rejoined the Nazi Party (membership number 347,695) on 1 October 1930 and also became a member of the Schutzstaffel (SS number 4,339) on 1 December 1930. From this point on, he worked part-time as a legal adviser with the 24th SS-Standarte in Oldenburg and in November 1932 became a battalion adjutant. He was commissioned as an SS-Untersturmführer effective 20 April 1933. From 15 May 1934 to 15 April 1936, he was the full-time personnel officer for the SS–Oberabschnitt (Upper Section) Nord, headquartered in Hamburg. Date Rank 20 April 1933 SS-Untersturmführer 1 July 1934 SS-Obersturmführer 9 November 1934 SS-Hauptsturmführer 9 November 1935 SS-Sturmbannführer 20 April 1939 SS-Obersturmbannführer 9 November 1941 SS-Standartenführer 30 January 1943 SS-Oberführer 30 January 1944 SS-Brigadeführer