Hans-Otto Woellke (18 February 1911 – 22 March 1943) was a German
shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...
ter, who won a gold medal at the
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics (German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad (German: ''Spiele der XI. Olympiade'') and commonly known as Berlin 1936 or the Nazi Olympics, were an international multi-sp ...
and a bronze medal at the 1938 European Championships.
Woellke served with the
Order Police
The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction w ...
. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he was a captain in the
Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118
''Schutzmannschaft'' Battalion 118 (Ukrainian Schuma)Natalia Petrouchkevitch, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityVictims and criminals: Schutzmannschaft battalion 118 (Belarus, Ukraine) was a Schutzmannschaft auxiliary police battalion (Schuma). The core o ...
attached to a regiment in the
Waffen-SS
The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...
. He was killed by partisans on 22 March 1943 near
Khatyn
Khatyn ( be, Хаты́нь, Chatyń, ; russian: Хаты́нь, ) was a village of 26 houses and 157 inhabitants in Belarus, in Lahoysk Raion, Minsk Region, 50 km away from Minsk. On 22 March 1943, almost the entire population of the vil ...
village, after which a retaliatory
mass killing
Mass killing is a concept which has been proposed by genocide scholars who wish to define incidents of non-combat killing which are perpetrated by a government or a state. A mass killing is commonly defined as the killing of group members withou ...
of civilians took place by Schutzmannschaft and Waffen-SS soldiers.
[Genocide Policy](_blank)
khatyn.by
References
1911 births
1943 deaths
People from Biskupiec
People from East Prussia
German male shot putters
Olympic gold medalists for Germany
Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes of Germany
German military personnel killed in World War II
Sportspeople from Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
European Athletics Championships medalists
Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
SS-Hauptsturmführer
Deaths by firearm in the Soviet Union
Deaths by firearm in Belarus
Reich Security Main Office personnel
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