Wilhelm Traub (2 April 1910 – 18 February 1946) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 ...

SS-''

Obersturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA ('' Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Oberstu ...

'' who, during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, served as the occupation administrator of the Navahrudak (today, Novogrudok) area of the ''

Generalbezirk Weißruthenien Generalbezirk Weissruthenien (General District White Ruthenia) was one of the four administrative subdivisions of ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'', the 1941-1945 civilian occupation regime established by Nazi Germany for the administration of the th ...

'', and as the SS and Police Leader of "Quarnero" (

Kvarner Gulf The Kvarner Gulf (, or , la, Sinus Flanaticus or ), sometimes also Kvarner Bay, is a bay in the northern Adriatic Sea, located between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Croatian Littoral mainland. The bay is a part of Croatia's internal wa ...

) based in Fiume (today, Rijeka). After the war ended, he died in captivity in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

in 1946.

Life

Few details are known about Traub's early life. He attended university, joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

(membership number 4,355,116) and the SS (member number 290,239) and was commissioned an SS-''

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. ...

'' in 1938. After the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named afte ...

, now a member of the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) with the rank of 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 ...

'', he was made the ''Gebietskommissar'' (Area Commissioner) of the ''Kreisgebiet'' "Navahrudak", a subdivision of the ''Generalbezirk Weißruthenien''. He reported to the ''Generalkommissar,'' SS-'' Gruppenführer'' Curt von Gottberg, whose headquarters were in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

. Traub was charged with creating a local mounted anti-partisan unit under the direction of the SS that would be raised from among the local Belarusian collaborators. In early autumn 1943, Traub summoned Boris Ragula, his twenty-three-year-old Belarusian translator and

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

. Traub outlined a plan for organizing a cavalry unit of 150 men under Ragula’s command that would operate directly under the German authorities. Ragula would go on to help organize and lead the Belarusian Home Defence force in early 1944. Following steady German reversals in Russia, Navahrudak fell to the

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, afte ...

on 8 July 1944. Now an SS-''Obersturmbannführer'', Traub subsequently was transferred to northern Italy, reporting to the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) of the

Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral The Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (german: Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland, OZAK; or colloquially: ''Operationszone Adria''; it, Zona d'operazioni del Litorale adriatico; hr, Operativna zona Jadransko primorje; sl, Operacijs ...

, SS-''Gruppenführer''

Odilo Globočnik Odilo Lothar Ludwig Globocnik (21 April 1904 – 31 May 1945) was an Austrian Nazi and a perpetrator of the Holocaust. He was an official of the Nazi Party and later a high-ranking leader of the SS. Globocnik had a leading role in Operation Re ...

. There on 27 October 1944, Traub was made SS and ''Polizeigebietkommandeur'' (Police Area Commander) of "Quarnero," with his headquarters in Fiume. Here also, he mainly was engaged anti- partisan warfare against the

Slovene partisans The Slovene Partisans, formally the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Slovenia, (NOV in POS) were part of Europe's most effective anti-Nazi resistance movement Jeffreys-Jones, R. (2013): ''In Spies We Trust: The Story of Western ...

. Fiume fell to the partisans on 2 May 1945 and, after the end of the war in Europe, Traub was imprisoned in Yugoslavia and died in a prisoner of war camp in Vrbas in February 1946.

Life

References

See also