Robert Ley

Robert Ley (German: [ˈʁoːbɛʁt ˈlaɪ]; 15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945) was a German Nazi politician and head of the German Labour Front during its entire existence, from 1933 to 1945. He also held many other high positions in the Nazi Party, including Gauleiter, Reichsleiter and Reichsorganisationsleiter.

The son of a farmer from the Rhine Province, Ley saw action in both the eastern and western fronts of the First World War and received the Iron Cross Second Class. After the war, he resumed his studies in chemistry, obtained his doctorate, and worked for IG Farben as a food chemist. Radicalised following the French occupation of the Ruhr, Ley joined the Nazi Party in 1925 and subsequently became the Gauleiter of Southern Rhineland (later Rhineland). Steadily rising through the ranks, he was elected to the Reichstag in 1930, and replaced Gregor Strasser as Reichsorganisationsleiter in 1932.

In 1933, Hitler appointed Ley as the head of the newly founded German Labour Front following the suppression of the trade unions. In addition to facilitating German rearmament, Ley also presided over the creation of a number of programs, including Strength Through Joy and the Volkswagen. Ley's influence declined after the outbreak of the Second World War, his role as leader of the German workforce supplanted by Fritz Todt (and later Albert Speer) and his alcoholism gradually coming into focus. Nevertheless, he retained Hitler's favour, and remained part of Hitler's inner circle until the last months of the war.

Ley was captured by American paratroopers near the Austrian border at the end of the war. He committed suicide in October 1945 while awaiting trial at Nuremberg for crimes against humanity and war crimes.