Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 - 8 June 1945) was an official of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party or NSDAP). He served as Governor and Region Leader (Gauleiter) of Lower Silesia from 1940 to 1945.

Government Service
During the waning months of World War II, as the Soviet army advanced into Silesia and encircled Fortress (Festung) Breslau, Hanke was named by Hitler to be the city's "Battle Commander" (Kampfkommandant). Hanke oversaw, with brutal fanaticism, the futile and militarily useless defense of the city during the Battle of Breslau. Goebbels, dictating for his diary, repeatedly expressed his admiration of Hanke during the spring of 1945. However, when Breslau was finally taken, Hanke was not to be found.
On 6 May, German General Hermann Niehoff surrendered Breslau. Hanke flew out on 5 May in a small plane kept in reserve for him, a Fieseler Storch. (Speer's assertion that Hanke fled in a prototype helicopter may not be credible.)

The Fall of Breslau
Hanke's fanaticism and unconditional obedience to Hitler's orders also impressed Hitler, who in his final will appointed him to be the last Reichsführer-SS and Chief of the German Police, replacing Heinrich Himmler on 29 April 1945. Just eight days before, Hanke had been honored with Nazi Germany's highest decoration, the German Order, a reward for his defence of Breslau against the advancing Soviet army. Hanke's ascendancy to the rank of Reichsführer-SS was a result of Adolf Hitler proclaiming Himmler a traitor, stripping him of all his offices and ranks, and ordering his arrest.

Death

List of Gauleiters