Hanns Ludin

Who was Hanns Ludin?

Hanns Elard Ludin was a German diplomat.

Born in Freiburg to Friedrich and Johanna Ludin, Ludin began his Nazi affiliation in 1930 by joining the party, and was arrested for his political activities the same year. Imprisoned until 1931, he joined the SA on his release.

Ludin was lucky to survive the "Night of the Long Knives" in 1934 when Hitler purged much of the left-wing of the Nazi party. Ludin restored his reputation by joining the Foreign Office and became Ambassador to the Slovak Republic in 1941, replacing Manfred von Killinger.

Ludin's activities included convincing the Slovak government to comply with deportations for slave labor and providing diplomatic cover to such activities. In 1943, he was promoted to SA-Obergruppenführer.

Ludin was arrested after the war and extradited to Czechoslovakia, where he was tried with SS-Obergruppenführer Hermann Höfle. He was sentenced to death and was hanged, or rather strangled, on December 9, 1947. It took him twenty minutes to die in the noose.

Married to Erla von Jordan, Ludin had six children: Erika, Barbara, Ellen, Tilman, Malte and Andrea.