Dirksen, Herbert von

Dirksen, Herbert von (1882–1955) Nazi diplomat Dirksen was a Weimar diplomat and then a diplomat in the Nazi service. Born in Berlin, he studied law and became an attorney, then an assistant judge. He served with distinction in combat in World War I, earning an Iron Cross, then joined the diplomatic service, with postings in Kiev (1918–19) and Warsaw (1920–21). He was appointed consul-general in Danzig (Gdansk) in 1923 and served until 1925, when he was appointed chief of the East European division of the Foreign Office. In 1928, he was named ambassador to the Soviet Union and served until 1933. Adolf Hitler approved Dirksen's appointment as ambassador to Japan in 1933, and he served in that office until 1938, when he was tapped to replace Joachim von Ribbentrop as ambassador to Great Britain. Recalled at the outbreak of World War II, Dirksen returned to Berlin and retired. Although Dirksen was a member of the Nazi Party, he was cleared in June 1947 of any complicity in war crimes. He published Moscow, Tokyo, London, a valuable memoir of German foreign relations during the Weimar years and the prewar years of the Third Reich.