Martin Luther (diplomat)

Martin Luther
Undersecretary (from July 1941) Head of Abteilung D (Deutschland) Reich Foreign Office
In office 7 May 1940 – 10 February 1943
Minister	Joachim von Ribbentrop
Head of Referat Partei Reich Foreign Office
In office November 1938 – 7 May 1940
Minister	Joachim von Ribbentrop
Head of Party Liaison Office Ribbentrop Bureau
In office August 1936 – November 1938
Personal details
Born	16 December 1895 Berlin, German Empire
Died	13 May 1945(1945-05-13) (aged 49) Berlin, Soviet occupation zone
Occupation	Businessman Diplomat
Known for	Wannsee Conference participant
Military service
Allegiance	German Empire
Branch/service	Imperial German Army
Years of service	1914–1918
Rank	Leutnant der Reserves
Battles/wars	World War I
Awards	Iron Cross, 2nd class

Martin Franz Julius Luther (German: [ˈmaʁtiːn ˈlʊtɐ] ^ⓘ, 16 December 1895 – 13 May 1945) was a German diplomat. A member of the Nazi Party, he was a protégé of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, first as an advisor in the Ribbentrop Bureau (Dienststelle Ribbentrop), and later as a diplomat in the Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). He participated in the 20 January 1942 Wannsee Conference, at which the genocidal Final Solution to the Jewish Question was planned. It was the 1946 discovery of his copy of the minutes of that conference that first brought to light the existence of the conference and its purpose. After plotting to replace Ribbentrop, Luther was arrested in February 1943 and sent to a concentration camp. He died of natural causes very shortly after the end of the Second World War in Europe.