Horst Günther (23 September 1920 – 6 April 1944) was a German

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 ...

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. An Afrika Korps '' Gefreiter'', he was "captured on 9 May 1943 in Tunisia ndmurdered in Camp Aiken prisoner-of-war camp, South Carolina" United States, by fellow prisoners. He was suspected of collaborating with the American authorities and was strangled by two fellow prisoners-of-war, Erich Gauss and Rudolf Straub, who hung his body from a tree in order to make it seem that Günther had killed himself. Gauss, 32, and Staub, 39, were hanged on 14 July 1945 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were buried in the prison cemetery. Straub is alleged to have said just before his execution: "What I did was done as a German soldier under orders. If I had not done so, I would have been punished when I returned to Germany.""Abolish" Death penalty news, 1 March 1998

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1920 births 1944 deaths German Army personnel killed in World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States German people who died in prison custody Prisoners who died in United States military detention Prisoners murdered in custody German people murdered abroad People murdered in South Carolina German Army soldiers of World War II {{Germany-army-bio-stub Events that led to courts-martial

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