Karl Kaufmann (10 October 1900 – 4 December 1969) was a German politician who served as a Nazi Party Gauleiter from 1925 to 1945 and as the Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) of Hamburg from 1933 to 1945.

He entered military service during the First World War and underwent pilot training but, due to a vision loss, was transferred to Brunswick Infantry Regiment 92.

In 1920 he joined the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund, the largest most active, and most influential anti-Semitic federation in Germany and in 1921 he took over the leadership of their youth group in Elberfeld.

He co-founded the Nazi Party in the Ruhr area, establishing Ortsgruppen (Local Groups) in Elberfeld, Essen, Bochum and other cities.

[3] In July 1925, at the age of only 25, Kaufmann became Acting Gauleiter of Gau Rheinland-North in a power sharing agreement with Joseph Goebbels and Viktor Lutze.

However, conflicts and disputes among them led to Adolf Hitler resolving the issue in favor of Kaufmann becoming sole Gauleiter on 20 June 1926.

[5] Goebbels would go on later that year to become the Gauleiter of Berlin-Brandenburg and Pfeffer von Salomon was soon made Oberster SA-Führer (Supreme SA Leader).

Kaufman's tenure was marked by further conflict and upheaval, particularly when his Deputy Gauleiter, Erich Koch accused him of embezzling Party funds.

[7] On 16 May 1933, a few months after the Nazi seizure of power, Kaufmann was named the Reichsstatthalter (Reich Governor) of the State of Hamburg, thus uniting under his control the highest party and governmental offices in his jurisdiction.

He commissioned the formation of a “search commando unit” in the Hamburg State Police to suppress Communist and Socialist groups in the city.

[10] After the Allied bombing raid of 15–16 September 1941 resulted in over 600 homeless in Hamburg, Kaufmann petitioned Hitler to allow him to deport local Jews so that he could confiscate their property to rehouse bombed-out Germans.

[13] The bombing of Hamburg between 24 July and 3 August 1943 ("Operation Gomorrah") resulted in massive material destruction and unprecedented loss of life, estimated at nearly 40,000.

On route to being transferred to Nuremberg, he was involved in an auto accident resulting in a severe head injury which required a lengthy hospitalization.

In April 1946 he gave testimony at a British war crimes tribunal investigating the sinking of the SS Cap Arcona which resulted in the deaths of some 7,500 concentration camp inmates.

He was eventually sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment for war crimes by a British military court but was released on 22 April 1949 for health reasons relating to his head injury.