Otto Dietrich was the Third Reich's Press Chief, and Hitler's confidante.
He was born in August 1887, and died at the age of 55 in 1952, after
serving time in Landberg Prison following the Nuremberg
trials, at which he was convicted of “crimes against humanity.”
After his time as a soldier in WWI, he was awarded
the Iron Cross (First Class). After this he went to the universities
of Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Freiburg, from which he graduated with
a doctorate in politcal science in 1921.
He strongly supported Nazi idelology, and became a member of the Party almost immediately after
its foundation in 1919. On August 1, 1931, he was appointed Press Chief
of the NSDAP and, the following
year, joined the SS. By 1941 he had risen
to the rank of SS-Obergruppenfuher.
His job as Press Chief overlapped with Goebbels' Ministry for Propaganda, and thus many anecdotes exist of their feuds.
They were infamous for their disagreements, and both often felt obliged
to “repair” the mistakes of the other.
Dietrich retained the confidence of the Fuhrer throughout
the regime, and remained a strong Nazi supporter until his death.