Friedrich Carl Arthur Kranefuß (born 19 October 1900 in Herford

Herford

Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...

 - died 1945), known as Fritz Kranefuß, was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 industrialist and a Wehrwirtschaftsführer (Military Economy Leader) in the Third Reich.

Kranefuss was on the board of Braunekohle-Benzin AG (BRABAG), a conglomerate of collieries concerned with the production of syntheitc fuel. He joined the Nazi Party in 1932.

He was one of three directors of the Dresdner Bank

Dresdner Bank

Dresdner Bank AG was one of Germany's largest banking corporations and was based in Frankfurt. It was acquired by competitor Commerzbank in December 2009.- 19th century :...

, the others being Karl Rasche

Karl Rasche

Karl Emil August Rasche was an SS-Obersturmbannführer and a Ph.D. in law as well as a Board member and banker, later spokesman, of the Dresdner Bank during the Third Reich...

 and Emil Heinrich Meyer

Emil Heinrich Meyer

Emil Heinrich Meyer was a German business executive. Meyer was a board member at the ITT Corporation's Germany-based subsidiaries Standard Elektrik Lorenz and Mix & Genest as well as AEG....

, to belong to the exclusive Freunde des Reichsführer-SS

Reichsführer-SS

was a special SS rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945. Reichsführer-SS was a title from 1925 to 1933 and, after 1934, the highest rank of the German Schutzstaffel .-Definition:...

circle. Kranefuss had been introduced to Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Himmler

Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...

 by his uncle Wilhelm Keppler

Wilhelm Keppler

Wilhelm Karl Keppler was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party....

's Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft

Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft

The Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft, or Circle of Friends of the Economy was a group of German industrialists whose aim was to raise funds for racial research within the Third Reich...

, although it was Kranefuss' idea to make the movement more specific to Himmler. As a consequence it was Kranefuss who was chosen as head of the circle. His involvement in the circle also entitled him to the Schutzstaffel

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

 rank of Brigadeführer

Brigadeführer

SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....

. He also helped to ensure that BRABAG became one of the leading users of forced labour during the Second World War. Towards the end of the war Kranefuss, a well-connected international businessman, was also used by Himmler to open unofficial channels of contact with Allies of World War II.