In October 1944, he was appointed head of the civil administration of German-occupied Lorraine, although the area was already being overrun by the Allied armies. In February 1945, he was nominated Gauleiter of the Gau Westmark, based in Saarbrücken, and was in charge of the defence of the city, which fell to the Americans on 20 March 1945. After a period of imprisonment, he emigrated to Canada, where he was still living in 1995; his date of death is unknown.[1]