Wilhelm Göcke (12 February 1898, Schwelm,

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 ...

– 20 October 1944,

Fontana Liri Fontana Liri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italy, Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone. Fontana Liri is in the Latin Valley. Fontana Liri borders the following mun ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

) was an ''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 ...

'', ''SS- Obersturmbannführer der Reserve der

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

'' and a commandant of

Warsaw concentration camp Warsaw was a Nazi concentration camps, Nazi concentration camp in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland during World War II. It was formed on the base of the now-nonexistent Gęsiówka prison, in what is today the Warsaw neig ...

and the Kovno Ghetto.

Life

After the outbreak of 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 ...

, Göcke left his school education and volunteered for the military as a 16-year-old. Although he was considered a promising student, the outbreak of the war effectively marked the end of his education. He obtained the rank of ''

Leutnant () is the lowest junior officer rank in the armed forces of Germany ( Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the military of Switzerland. History The German noun (with the meaning "" (in English "deputy") from Middle High German «locum ...

'' and after the war ended, he was part of the nationalist Lützow ''

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 ...

'' in 1919. Göcke 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 335,455). In 1931, Göcke joined the SS (member number 21,529). As of April 1933, he was part of the ''SS-Standarten''. From June 1942, Wilhelm Göcke was leader of the

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

''Arbeitslager'' (work camp) in Norway, and from July 1942, a warehouse manager in

Mauthausen-Gusen 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 ...

. As of July 1943, he served as commandant of

, and from September 1943, as commandant of the Kovno Ghetto in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. Göcke served in this capacity until June 1944. As a camp commandant he received a base salary of 740

Marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks A collective trademark, collective trade mark, or collective mark is a trademark owned by an organization (such ...

.Tom Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', Berkley Books, 1991, p. 49 Göcke then served under

Higher SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police ('' Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the ...

Odilo Globocnik Odilo Lothar Ludwig Globocnik (21 April 1904 – 31 May 1945) was a Nazi Party official from Austria and a perpetrator of the Holocaust. A high-ranking member of the SS, Globocnik was the leader of Operation Reinhard, the organized murder of ar ...

in the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral, where the SS were conducting anti-partisan activity. Göcke was killed in action by partisans in October 1944. According to witnesses, Göcke was involved in the shooting of

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Bibliography

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, ) *

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, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gocke, Wilhelm 1898 births 1944 deaths People from Schwelm German Army personnel of World War I SS-Standartenführer Warsaw concentration camp personnel Kovno Ghetto Mauthausen concentration camp personnel 20th-century Freikorps personnel Military personnel from North Rhine-Westphalia Holocaust perpetrators in Lithuania Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Holocaust perpetrators in Italy Nazi concentration camp commandants Waffen-SS personnel killed in action