Hans Walter Zech‐Nenntwich (10 July 1916 – after 1964) was a member of the SS who defected to the United Kingdom after being imprisoned in 1943. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was convicted of war crimes and temporarily fled Germany before returning and surrendering himself.

Career

Hans Walter Zech‐Nenntwich was born on 10 July 1916, in Thorn,

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

He became a member of the

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

before 1933 and joined the SA. He fell out of favor after the

Night of the Long Knives The Night of the Long Knives (, ), also called the Röhm purge or Operation Hummingbird (), was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, urged on by Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler, ord ...

which purged the leadership of the SA, but later regained favor in the party. In 1934, he became a policeman in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. From 1934 to 1935, he served as an air observer in the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

. From 1935 to 1938, he served as a non-commissioned officer for administrative functions in the

Reich Labour Service The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major paramilitary organization established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate ...

. Zech-Nenntwich joined the Schutzstaffel and later served as a guard at the

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

World War II

Zech-Nenntwich was transferred from Sachsenhausen to the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

and his unit there was later reorganized into the

SS Heimwehr Danzig SS Heimwehr "Danzig" was an SS unit established in the Free City of Danzig (today Gdańsk and environs, Poland) before the Second World War. It fought with the German Army against the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland, and some of its me ...

. From 1939 to 1940, he received training courses at the

SS-Junkerschule Bad Tölz SS-Junker Schools (German ''SS-Junkerschulen'') were leadership training facilities for officer candidates of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The term ''Junkerschulen'' was introduced by Nazi Germany in 1937, although the first facilities were establi ...

and served in 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 ...

as a non-commissioned officer in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. In 1941, he was transferred to the 2nd SS Cavalry Regiment where he served as a reconnaissance officer during the

invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

. In 1941, he was transferred to Warsaw to serve in the SS cavalry recruit depot. From 1942 to 1943, he served in the

8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer The 8th SS Cavalry Division "Florian Geyer" was a German Waffen-SS cavalry division during World War II. It was formed in 1942 from a cadre of the SS Cavalry Brigade which was involved in the ''Bandenbekämpfung'' ("bandit-fighting") operations b ...

until he was transferred back to Warsaw after suffering an injury.

British intelligence

In 1943, Zech-Nenntwich was arrested for rape, but according to him it was for making contact with the Polish resistance. In March, he escaped from prison and fled to Sweden where he was employed by

British military intelligence The Intelligence Corps (Int Corps) is a corps of the British Army. It is responsible for gathering, analysing and disseminating military intelligence and also for counter-intelligence and security. The Director of the Intelligence Corps is a br ...

. In April, he was sentenced to death

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

for desertion, rape, and weapons theft, and removed from the SS. From 1944 to 1945, he served under

Sefton Delmer Denis Sefton Delmer (24 May 1904 – 4 September 1979) was a British journalist of Australian heritage and propagandist for the British government during the Second World War. Born in Berlin and fluent in German, he became friendly with Erns ...

black propaganda Black propaganda is a form of propaganda intended to create the impression that it was created by those it is supposed to discredit. Black propaganda contrasts with gray propaganda, which does not identify its source, as well as white propagan ...

campaigns under the alias of Sven Nansen. Following the end of World War II, he returned to Germany, where he interrogated prisoners of war in the British-occupation zone and later worked as a civil servant in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

from 1945 to 1947.

Later life

From 1947 to 1962, he served in multiple businesses and owned a film company and factory. In 1952, he was convicted of bribing a British civilian guard and sentenced to prison for three months. On 5 December 1952, he was given a five-week suspended sentence and a 170 DM fine for assault and slander. On 24 September 1952, his home in Mehlem,

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

was raided by the orders of a federal court. During the raid a letter from Zech-Nenntwich to

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; ; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar republic, Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later in the early development ...

, leader of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

, asking for a job in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

was found.

Prison escape

From 1963 to 1964, he was one of the members of the 2nd SS Cavalry put on trial for mass killings of 5,200 Jews at the

Pinsk Marshes __NOTOC__ The Pripet Marshes or Pripyat Marshes (), also known as Pinsk Marshes (), the Polesie Marshes, and the Rokitno Marshes, are a vast natural region of wetlands in Polesia, along the forested basin of the Pripyat River and its tributaries ...

. He was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison. However, he escaped from Braunschweig Prison on 23 April after being let out by Dietrich Zeemann, a prison guard who had met Zech-Nenntwich when both of them were at a Nazi labor service school in 1936, and fled to Egypt with Margit Steinheuer, his fiancée. While in Egypt he was interviewed by a ''Stern'' reporter. The West German government attempted to extradite him from Egypt, but President

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

refused. On 26 July, Zech-Nenntwich returned to Germany and hid at his villa in

Remagen Remagen () is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West Germany, West German seat of government. It i ...

. He later turned himself in to the Ministry of Justice of Lower Saxony on 7 August 1964, as he was afraid of being captured by Israeli agents. He was put on trial again for bribing a guard during his escape and had another 10 months added to his sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter Zech-Nenntwich, Hans 1916 births 20th-century German civil servants Anti-Polish sentiment Antisemitism in Germany British intelligence operatives Escapees from German detention German people convicted of rape German prisoners sentenced to death Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus Luftwaffe personnel Mauthausen concentration camp personnel Nazis convicted of war crimes People condemned by Nazi courts in absentia People convicted of desertion People from Toruń Prisoners and detainees of Germany Reich Labour Service members Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel SS-Untersturmführer Waffen-SS personnel Year of death missing