Hanns Lilje

Johannes (Hanns) Ernst Richard Lilje (20 August 1899, in Hannover – 6 January 1977, in Hannover) was a German Protestant church leader and later bishop in the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover. In the early post-war years, he became a prominent public figure in West German Protestantism. He also intervened on behalf of several convicted Nazi war criminals, including Erich von Manstein and Paul Blobel, and was involved in Protestant church efforts to obtain clemency in war crimes cases. He was also involved in a clemency petition for the former Auschwitz commandant Fritz Hartjenstein. Provided by Wikipedia