Kurt Gildisch (2 March 1904 – 3 March 1956) became the third commander of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's personal bodyguard (''

SS-Begleitkommando des Führers ''SS-Begleitkommando des Führers'' ("SS Escort Command of the Führer"; SS-BKdF), later known as the ''Führerbegleitkommando'' ("Führer Escort Command"; FBK), was originally an eight-man SS squad formed from a twelve-man security squad (kn ...

'') on 11 April 1933. He was a trained teacher, who had failed to find a classroom job and thereafter joined the

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

police force. Like his successor

Bruno Gesche Bruno Gesche (5 November 1905 – 7 August 1982)Registry Office Hannover: Death Certificate 5188/1982. The published literature erroneously ofen states his year of death to be 1980 (see e.g. Rochus Misch: ''Der letzte Zeuge. Ich war Hitlers Telef ...

, he was sacked for his

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

affiliations, and joined the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; literally "Storm Detachment") was the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s. Its primary purposes were providing protection for Nazi ral ...

'' (SA) in 1931. Later that year he transferred to the SS. 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 ...

, Gildisch was wounded and fell into

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

captivity during the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

. He was released in August 1946. In May 1953, he was convicted in the murder of Dr.

Erich Klausener Erich Klausener (25 January 1885 – 30 June 1934) was a German Roman Catholic, Catholic politician and Catholic martyr in the "Night of the Long Knives", a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934, when the Nazi regime c ...

, head of ''Katholische Aktion'' (Catholic Action) group, during the "

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (German: ), or the Röhm purge (German: ''Röhm-Putsch''), also called Operation Hummingbird (German: ''Unternehmen Kolibri''), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Ad ...

" in 1934. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and died in 1956.

Early life

Kurt Gildisch was born in Potrempschen (

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

), the fourth child of Paul Gildisch and his wife Marie (''nee'' Riel). In his childhood Kurt Gildisch attended primary school in the village of Potrempschen (23 km south west of

Insterburg Chernyakhovsk (russian: Черняхо́вск) – known prior to 1946 by its German name of (Old Prussian: Instrāpils, lt, Įsrutis; pl, Wystruć) – is a town in the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, where it is the administrative center of C ...

). Subsequently he was trained as a school teacher. He undertook the schoolteachers test (''Lehrerprüfung'') in 1924. As he found no opportunities in the teaching profession, he applied for and joined the

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

. In October 1925 Gildisch was transferred to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. He was suspended from the police force in 1930 for involvement in Nazi Party activities. He was later dismissed from the police force on 10 March 1931 because of his ties to the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

SS career

He joined the SA on 1 April 1931 and then transferred to the SS on 29 September 1931. On 29 February 1932,

chose eight from a prospective twelve SS men presented by

Sepp Dietrich Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 – 21 April 1966) was a German politician and SS commander during the Nazi era. He joined the Nazi Party in 1928 and was elected to the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic in 1930. Prior to 1929, Dietrich was A ...

to serve as his personal bodyguard, the ''

''. One of the handpicked men was Gildisch. He was viewed with mistrust and dislike by ''

Reichsführer-SS (, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest rank of the SS. The longest-servi ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

. While nominally under Himmler's control, Gildisch and other close comrades of the Führer took their orders direct from Hitler, much to Himmler's frustration. Gildisch had a heavy drinking problem, which within months of his assuming command of the ''SS–Begleitkommando'' from Willy Herzberger, got the better of him. On 15 June 1934, Himmler had Gildisch removed from his post because of his heavy drinking habits, and replaced by

as the commander of the ''SS-Begleitkommando''. Hitler did not interfere, but this was not the end of Gildisch's problems. Despite the warning and demotion, Gildisch continued to drink heavily and this led to his expulsion from both the SS and the Nazi Party in 1936. Prior to that, he had been a significant participant in the

, which took place from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Gildisch had been ordered by

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

to Dr.

's office to shoot him. Klausener had been a transportation official in the Prussian Ministry and head of the ''Katholische Aktion'' ("Catholic Action") group. After the killing on 30 June, Gildisch was promoted in rank to SS-''

Sturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the SA, SS, and the NSFK. The rank originated from German shock troop units of the First World War ...

''.

World War II

After the war in Europe began, Gildisch joined 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 participated in a leadership course at the SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz and on 20 April 1941, he was appointed ''

Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. ...

der

''. From 1942 Gildisch actively fought on the Eastern Front where he "distinguished himself" in combat. In 1944 Gildisch was attached to the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland on the

front. In August 1944 Gildisch was wounded on the Eastern Front. On 2 May 1945 Gildisch was wounded again and taken prisoner by Soviet

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

troops at the end of the

Post-war period

He was released after the war in August 1946. Upon his return from captivity Gildisch had his right leg amputated and replaced by a prosthesis. Gildisch was for some time incapable of work and due to his personal

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

politics he could seek only limited work options. Kurt Gildisch finally found work after retraining as a bookbinder in an

Evangelical-Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

maintained company that employed disabled people. In 1949 Gildisch was arrested. After a case at the Berlin court, he was convicted on 18 May 1953 of the murder of Dr.

during the "Night of the Long Knives" in 1934. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Kurt Gildisch died in 1956 of incurable liver disease in a Wilmersdorfer private hospital after the criminal sentence was suspended due to his poor health and lack of available medical treatment in prison.

SS career summary

* 1 July 1931: SS-''

Scharführer ''Scharführer'' (, ) was a title or rank used in early 20th Century German military terminology. In German, ''Schar'' was one term for the smallest sub-unit, equivalent to (for example) a "troop" , " squad", or "section". The word ''führer'' ...

'' * 1 October 1931: SS-''

Truppführer ''Truppführer'' (, "troop leader") was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1930 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA). Translated as "Troop Leader", the rank of ''Truppführer'' evolved from early ''Freikorps'' titles wh ...

'' * 1 July 1933: SS-''

Sturmführer ''Sturmführer'' (, "storm leader") was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party which began as a title used by the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) in 1925 and became an actual SA rank in 1928. Translated as "storm leader or assault leader", the origins o ...

'' * 1 September 1933: SS-''

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was first created in 1932 as the result of an expa ...

'' * 9 November 1933: SS-''

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

'' * July 1934: SS-''

'' * 1936: Expulsion from the SS * 1939: Entry into

* 1941: ''SS-

Oberscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberscharführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945. ''Oberscharführer'' was first used as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions ...

der Waffen-SS'' * 20 April 1941: ''SS-

der Waffen-SS''

Notes

References

* * Kempner, Robert M. W. ''SS im Kreuzverhör'', München 1964, S. 256ff. (Urteil des Schwugerichts Berlin in Auszügen) * * Hsi-Huey Liang: ''Die Berliner Polizei in der Weimarer Republik'', 1977, p. 185. * ''Verfahrensakten im Archiv des Instituts für Zeitgeschichte'', Sign. Gb 06.12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gildisch, Kurt 1904 births 1956 deaths SS-Sturmbannführer People from East Prussia Waffen-SS personnel Deaths from liver disease German people convicted of murder German amputees World War II prisoners of war held by the Soviet Union Night of the Long Knives