Walter Bertsch (4 January 1900 in

Oppenweiler Oppenweiler is a town in the Rems-Murr district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Oppenweiler merged with Reichenberg on 1 April 1938. Geography The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Oppenweiler is located in the Rems-Murr district of Bad ...

- 5 January 1952 in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

) was a German SS and

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

member, who served as Minister of Economy and Labour in the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexation, annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), German occupation of the Czech lands. The protector ...

. Along with Bernhard Adolf he was the most powerful manager of the Protectorate economy. Bertsch favored Germanization of the economy, but not at the expense of production especially in the arms industry. As a result some Czech businessmen had the opportunity to profit, even from

Aryanization Aryanization () was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...

. A longtime German civil servant, Bertsch was brought to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

specifically to serve in the Protectorate government. Bertsch was a member of the

and held the rank of '' SS-Oberführer''. In 1948 he was found guilty by a Czechoslovak court of overseeing the transfer of funds from the

National Bank of Czechoslovakia The National Bank of Czechoslovakia () was the central bank of Czechoslovakia between 1926 and 1939, succeeding the Austro-Hungarian Bank after a 6-year interval during which central banking functions were assumed directly by the country's minis ...

to the German government and sentenced to life imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertsch, Walter 1900 births 1952 deaths People from Rems-Murr-Kreis People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Nazi Party members Government ministers of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia SS-Oberführer Nazis convicted of war crimes Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Czechoslovakia German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners who died in Czechoslovak detention Nazis who died in prison custody