Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk

The first meeting of Hitler's cabinet in 1933, with Krosigk standing third from left.

In 1932 Franz von Papen appointed Krosigk as national Minister of Finance, and at the request of President Paul von Hindenburg he continued in that office under Kurt von Schleicher and throughout the period of Nazi rule. Several members of his family took part in assassination attempts against Adolf Hitler, but not Krosigk himself. He was rarely seen in public, and Hitler did not hold regular cabinet meetings. Following the final meeting of Hitler's cabinet in 1938 Krosigk did not make any public political statements and instead focused on running his ministry.[3]

Krosigk held his position under both Schleicher and Hitler as a representative of the conservative movement in Germany. While he later claimed to have remained in the role only to prevent "worse things" from happening, he welcomed the Nazi Party's rise to power and both agreed with and contributed to many of its policies. These included measures targeting Germany's Jewish community. While Krosigk's ability to shape Germany's fiscal policies was constrained by the influence of both the President of the Reichsbank and Hermann Göring (in his role as Plenipotentiary of the Four Year Plan), he was able to implement policies.[4] In August 1938 Krosigk sent Hitler a memorandum which strongly argued against starting a war over the Sudeten crisis as the German economy was not yet ready, and claimed that "Communists, Jews and Czechs" were seeking to lure the country into a premature conflict. He argued that Germany should instead "await her hour" and initiate war once it had completed building up its military and economy.[5]

Krosigk and Goebbels salute at the Reichstag

From 1939, Krosigk's ministry was increasingly focused on persecuting Jews and stealing their belongings as well as illegally laundering money.[4]

In February 1945 von Krosigk stressed the importance of preserving Germany's remaining industrial capacities in a letter to Reich Minister for Weapons, Munitions, and Armaments Albert Speer. This was motivated by his mistaken belief that the Allied bombing campaign directed at Germany had the goal of destroying the country's industry so that it could not be captured by the Soviet Union, and that retaining industrial capacity would position Germany to re-establish friendly relations with the western Allies following the war. It is unclear whether this had any influence of Speer's actions to prevent the implementation of the "scorched earth" policy ordered by Hitler.[6]

In his final testament Hitler selected Krosigk to continue as finance minister after his death.[4] He was to serve in a government headed by Goebbels as Chancellor (Reichskanzler). However, Goebbels himself committed suicide only a day later, on 1 May 1945. Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz then asked Schwerin von Krosigk to succeed him as Chancellor. He declined but accepted the position of "Leading Minister" the following day.[7][8] In a broadcast to the German people on 2 May 1945, he became one of the first commentators to refer to an "Iron Curtain" across Europe, a phrase he had picked up from an article by Joseph Goebbels[9] and which was later made famous by Winston Churchill.

Rapidly advancing Allied forces limited the jurisdiction of the new German government to an area around Flensburg near the Danish border, where Dönitz's headquarters were located, along with Mürwik. Accordingly, this administration was referred to as the Flensburg government.[10] Dönitz and Schwerin von Krosigk attempted to negotiate an armistice with the Western allies while continuing to resist the Soviet Army.[11] On 7 May 1945, Dönitz authorised the signature of the German Instrument of Surrender to the Allies, which took place in Rheims before General Dwight D. Eisenhower; Dönitz would later authorise the Wehrmacht to sign another instrument of surrender in Berlin, in a ceremony presided over by the Soviets. On 23 May 1945, the Flensburg Government was dissolved by order of the Supreme Allied Commander, General Eisenhower, and its members arrested.[12]

• Kitchen, Martin (2015). Speer: Hitler's Architect. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300190441.
• Klee, Ernst (2005). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945 (Zweite Auflage ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. p. 574. ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8.
• Neal, Stephan D Yada-MC (2018). Hitlers williger Adel (in German). Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3752803266.
• Götz Aly: Hitlers Volksstaat. S. Fischer, Frankfurt 2005. ISBN 3-10-000420-5
• Friedenberger, Martin: Die Reichsfinanzverwaltung im Nationalsozialismus. Darstellung und Dokumente, Ed. Temmen, Veröffentlichungen der Gedenk- und Bildungsstätte Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz 1, Bremen 2002. ISBN 3-86108-377-9.
• Johnson, Eric A.: Terror: Gestapo, Juden und gewöhnliche Deutsche, Siedler, Berlin 2001. ISBN 3-88680-619-7.