Erwin Bumke (7 July 1874-20 April 1945) was a German politician who served as President of the Reich Court of Justice from 1 April 1929 to 20 April 1945, succeeding Walter Simons.
Biography[]
Erwin Bumke was born in Stolp, Pomerania, German Empire (present-day Slupsk, Poland) in 1874, and he served as a judge in Essen and served as an Imperial German Army captain during World War I. After the war, he joined the national conservative DNVP, and he served as President of the Reich Court of Justice from 1929 to 1945, both during the Weimar and Nazi periods. He joined the NSDAP in 1937, and he oversaw the passage of the Nuremberg Laws and the legalization of "euthanasia". He committed suicide on 20 April 1945 as US Army forces entered Leipzig.