His name may be derived from the Willys-Knight automobile. The internal struggle in the Freedom Party has rough historic parallels with the Röhm-Putsch. Ferdinand Koenig is a high-ranking member of the Freedom Party and the CSA's Attorney General. His character appears to have been inspired by both Heinrich Himmler and Hermann Göring. It is interesting that he is one of the few Confederates in this series with a German name, as the Germans are theoretically "good guys" (allied with the USA), and the Nazis never exist. The name Koenig means King. Koenig began his career as Party secretary, where he was found by Jake Featherston and molded into his staunchest supporter. Twice he ran on the Freedom ticket as vice president, but allowed the spot to go to Willy Knight in 1933. Instead Featherston made Koenig attorney general of the Confederate States. Once in office, Koenig searched for ways to disband the Supreme Court and increase Featherston's power by arresting and executing members of the opposition parties. As the 1940s dawned, Featherston decided that the time had come to begin "population reductions" (i.e.: killing off the Confederacy's blacks). Koenig was tasked with overseeing this program, for which he ordered a number of camps established in Louisiana. Shipments of Negroes commenced in 1940, composed of men from Confederate jails or those arrested at roadblocks in the towns. Before long places such as Camp Dependable, outside of Alexandria, Louisiana, were filled to overflowing. Shortly before the outbreak of War in 1941, Koenig phoned Camp Dependable's commandant, Jefferson Pinkard, with the news that 2000 more blacks would arriving, along with an unspoken order to ensure there was sufficient room for them. Other camps received similar instructions, resulting in the first massacres. In early 1942, Koenig upped the ante. Entire portions of black districts in towns would be cleared out over the course of a single night. Even as the situation of the war grew obviously worse, Koenig rarely wavered in his belief that Confederates will win the war as Featherston promised. Evidently, his blind devotion to Featherston and his cause prevented him from making rational decisions in the better interest of the nation. Under Featherston's orders, he diverted badly needed resources from the war effort into the extermination program, which he believed takes priority to winning the conflict. He authorized the building of Camp Humble when Camp Determination was overrun by U.S. troops.