Ernst von Weizsacker (WeiszIcker)

Weizsacker, Ernst von (WeiszIcker), (1882-1951), German diplomat, Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany. Born May 12, 1882 in Stuttgart. In 1910 he joined the Imperial Navy, participated in the 1 st World War. From 1920 to the diplomatic work. Von Weizsacker took an active part in the diplomatic security of Hitler's aggressive plans against Czechoslovakia and Poland. Shortly after the appointment in 1938, Joachim von Ribbentrop, foreign minister of Germany, von Weizsacker, was promoted to State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1943-45 he was the representative of Germany to the Vatican. Arrested by the Allied authorities, von Weizsacker in 1947 appeared before the court for taking part in war crimes. In 1949 was sentenced to seven years in prison. In 1950, released under the amnesty. Von Weizsacker died Aug. 4, 1951 in Lindau. In his memoirs, von Weizsacker asserted that he had never supported Hitler's foreign policy and did everything possible to prevent the Nazis in the sphere of diplomacy. He claimed that he became a member of the Nazi party only "to mask".