Günther Tamaschke (26 February 1896 – 14 October 1959) was a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

German SS-''

Standartenführer __NOTOC__ ''Standartenführer'' (short: ''Staf'', , ) was a Nazi Party (NSDAP) paramilitary rank that was used in several NSDAP organizations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 it became one of ...

'' and commandant of the Lichtenburg and Ravensbrück concentration camps. He was never tried for his role in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Early life

Günther Tamaschke was born the son of a merchant. Tamaschke passed his ''

Notabitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'', a wartime emergency high school diploma that allowed one to graduate early provided that he then serve in the military. He then volunteered for the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

in 1914. From 1914, he was employed in various units during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and came under French captivity during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme (; ), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and the French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 Nove ...

in 1916. Tamaschke returned to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in March 1920 and took part in the

Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...

. After that, he joined the ''

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

''. After three semesters, he left the Handelshochschule Berlin and completed his training as a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

. Tamaschke married and became a partner at his father-in-law's wholesale store in late 1922. Politically, Tamaschke committed himself to the German Völkisch Freedom Party and was the founder of the Berlin branch of the party's Officers Bund. Tamaschke broke up his household in 1930, and quit working in his father-in-law's business at the end of 1932. After a period of unemployment, Tamaschke found a job in the district office in Berlin-Neukölln.Johannes Tuchel: ''Konzentrationslager: Organisationsgeschichte und Funktion der Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1934–1938.'' 1991, p. 392.

Nazi SS career in concentration camps

He joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

(Nazi Party member number 36,978) in 1926, and the SS (member number 851); he was one of the first members of the Berlin SS in 1927. Tamaschke rose to the rank of SS-''

'' by mid-September 1935. Through the actions of

Kurt Daluege Kurt Max Franz Daluege (15 September 1897 – 24 October 1946) was a German ''SS-Oberst-Gruppenführer'' and ''Generaloberst'' of the police, the highest ranking police officer, who served as chief of ''Ordnungspolizei'' (Order Police) of N ...

, Tamaschke was made ''

Schutzhaftlagerführer ''Schutzhaftlagerführer'', or head of the "preventive detention camp" - ', lit. protective custody, being a Nazi euphemism for preventive detention - was a paramilitary title of the SS, specific to the concentration and extermination camps ' ...

'' in the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

and remained in this position until the beginning of 1935. Under

Theodor Eicke Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was both a senior SS functionary and a Waffen-SS divisional commander in Nazi Germany. He was a key figure in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second com ...

, the Inspector of Concentration Camps, Tamaschke rose to become head of the

Politische Abteilung The ''Politische Abteilung'' ("Political Department"), also called the "concentration camp Gestapo," was one of the five departments of a Nazi concentration camp set up by the Concentration Camps Inspectorate (CCI) to operate the camps. An outpos ...

in the Concentration Camps Inspectorate (CCI). Through Eicke, with whom he had a special relationship of trust, Tamaschke was employed as the director (''Lagerdirektor'') of the newly established women's camp (''Frauenkonzentrationslager'') Lichtenburg starting on 1 December 1937.

Karin Orth Karin Orth (born 1963) is a German historian, known for her research into the Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territor ...

: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS.'' Munich 2004, p. 134f. As early as December 1938, he was involved in establishing

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

, a concentration camp for women and children, and stayed on the construction site at

Fürstenberg/Havel Fürstenberg () is a town in the Oberhavel district, Brandenburg, Germany. Geography Fürstenberg is situated on the Havel, River Havel, south of Neustrelitz, and north of Berlin. The town lies at the southern edge of the Mecklenburg Lake Di ...

. After the dissolution of the Lichtenburg concentration camp, Tamaschke moved with his staff to the newly built concentration camp at Ravensbrück, where he retained his position as ''Lagerdirektor'', in May 1939. By August 1939 Tamaschke was relieved of his duties as director of Ravensbrück concentration camp and released in early September 1939 from the ''

SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; or 'SS Death's Head Battalions') was a major branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary (SS) organisation. It was responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps, concentration camps and extermination camps of Nazi Germany ...

''.Silke Schäfer: ''Zum Selbstverständnis von Frauen im Konzentrationslager. Das Lager Ravensbrück.'' Berlin 2002, p. 169f. The reason was Tamaschke's private life. Tamaschke, who was married and had at least one child, began an affair with an '' Aufseherin'' (female guard). Since the affair had become public, and Tamaschke's wife had complained to

Heinrich Himmler's personal staff Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

, and given the fact that Tamaschke paid her no sustenance, Tamaschke lost the trust of Eicke, and he was removed from his post. His marriage ended in divorce by 1940. In September 1939, he moved to the Land Office near

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. At the start of January 1942, Tamaschke was dismissed from the SS at

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

's instigation, because as a trustee in the private sector, Tamaschke had been enriching himself with Jewish assets gained from

Aryanization Aryanization () was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...

. Himmler processed this dismissal in March 1944, retroactively effective as of January 1942, as the allegations against Tamaschke proved to be untenable according to Himmler's findings. Tamaschke had been reprimanded for attempting to buy the Jewish-owned Czech company Nalus and Mansfeld, something which Himmler described in his official reprimand as Tamaschke taking "advantage of your position as an SS officer in order to lay your hands on a commercial enterprise you could not gain possession of in any other way". Subsequently, Tamaschke served in the '' Heer'' and was still on the staff of the ''

SS-Oberabschnitt Böhmen-Mähren Units and commands of the ''Schutzstaffel'' were organizational titles used by the SS to describe the many groups, forces, and formations that existed within the SS from its inception in 1923 to the eventual fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The SS ...

'' in October 1944.

Post-war

After the war's end, Tamaschke last resided in

Uhingen Uhingen is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Uhingen was a possession of the until 1332. Geography The city ('' Stadt'') of Uhingen is located on the north-west of the district of Göpping ...

, where he died on 14 October 1959.Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich.'' Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 617.

Personal life

Tamaschke's first marriage would end in divorce, although Tamaschke's decision to stop alimony payments led to his being disciplined by the SS as any such scandal was seen as bringing dishonour on the organisation. He subsequently remarried, his second wife being Emmy Hirschberg, an office clerk from

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...

. The marriage had initially been delayed when an investigation uncovered that Hirschberg's grandfather had committed suicide and that two of her uncles were involved in left-wing politics. Eventually, the marriage was allowed to take place.Tom Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', Berkley Books, 1991, p. 78

Bibliography

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was conce ...

: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, . * Karin Orth: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS''. dtv, München 2004, . * Silke Schäfer: ''Zum Selbstverständnis von Frauen im Konzentrationslager. Das Lager Ravensbrück.'' Berlin 2002
Dissertation as pdf
*

Tom Segev Tom Segev (; born March 1, 1945) is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group critical of many of the country's traditional narratives. Biography Segev was born on March 1, 1945 in Jeru ...

: ''Soldiers of Evil: The Commandants of the Nazi Concentration Camps'' (1988, ) * Johannes Tuchel: ''Konzentrationslager: Organisationsgeschichte und Funktion der Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1934–1938.'' (= Schriften des Bundesarchivs, Band 39). H. Boldt, 1991, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamaschke, Gunther 1896 births 1959 deaths Military personnel from Berlin Nazi concentration camp commandants Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel Dachau concentration camp personnel Schutzhaftlagerführer German Völkisch Freedom Party politicians 20th-century Freikorps personnel German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by France German Army personnel of World War I Kapp Putsch participants Lichtenburg concentration camp personnel