In November 1940, the German SS-Sturmscharführer (Sergeant Major) Franz Fischer started to work in Referat IV-B4 in The Hague. This office was responsible for deporting Jews and for finding Jews who were in hiding. Fischer's immediate superior was government advisor Willy Zöpf, but he left the daily operations to Fischer, who viewed the acceleration of Jewish deportation as a personal crusade. His fanatic hunt for Jews earned him his nickname "Judenfischer" (fisherman of Jews).
In 1949, the Special Court in The Hague sentenced Fischer to life imprisonment. In 1950 he was actually given the death sentence, but this was never executed, and in 1951 he was pardoned. He was incarcerated in De Boschpoort Penitentiary (the Dome Prison) in Breda along with Willy Lages, Joseph Kotälla, and Ferdinand aus der Fünten (the Breda four). On 27 January 1989, Fischer and Aus der Fünten were released. Fischer died that same year.