Wilhelm Günther (21 April 1899 - 1945) was a German SS-''

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

'' and ''

Generalmajor is the Germanic languages, Germanic variant of major general, used in a number of Central Europe, Central and Northern European countries. Austria Belgium Denmark is the second lowest general officer rank in the Royal Danish Army and R ...

'' of Police who served as an

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 o ...

(SSPF) in the occupied

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, and as the commander of security police ( SiPo) and intelligence forces ( SD) in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

during

Second World War 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 declared dead after the end of the war.

Early life and career

Günther was born in Ermenrod and served as a soldier with a signals unit in the

Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...

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 ...

. After the end of the war, he served for a short time in the ''

Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...

'' under the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

until being discharged October 1919. He then studied

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. Active in the opposition to the

Occupation of the Ruhr The occupation of the Ruhr () was the period from 11 January 1923 to 25 August 1925 when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region of Weimar Republic Germany. The occupation of the heavily industrialized Ruhr district came in respons ...

, he was briefly imprisoned for

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

activities by a French

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

. In May 1932 Günther joined 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 ...

(membership number 1,094,209) and on 14 March 1933, the SS (SS number 69,638). From March 1933 to April 1935 he worked as a signals specialist in ''

SS-Abschnitt 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 S ...

'' (District) XI, based in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

. Assigned to the ''

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

'' (SD), the SS intelligence service, he was posted to ''

SS-Oberabschnitt 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 S ...

'' (Main District) "Rhine," also headquartered in Wiesbaden, until April 1937. This was followed by a tour as the Commander of the SD in the ''Oberabschnitt'' "Südost" based in Breslau until November 1938. During this time he was active in the occupation of the

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 ...

. From October 1939 to March 1941 he was ''

Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD ''Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (IdS)'', or Inspectors of the Security Police and the SD, were regional commanders of the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo – security police) and the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD – security service) in ...

'' (Inspector of SiPo and SD) in

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

and then in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

until September 1942.

Wartime service

In the Second World War, following the German summer offensive aimed at the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, Günther was appointed, from 7 May to 23 August 1942, to be the

(SSPF) "Bergvölker- Ordshonikidse," the only holder of this short-lived command. He was then transferred to become the SSPF " Wolhynien- Luzk" in western

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

from 1 September 1942 until June 1944 when he was succeeded by SS-''Brigadeführer''

Ernst Hartmann Ernst Hartmann (born 10 November 1915 in Mannheim, d. 23 October 1992 in Waldkatzenbach, a suburb of Waldbrunn (Odenwald)) in Germany was a German medical doctor, author and publicist. "Hartmann lines", a epistemology, scientifically unproven gr ...

. He left the eastern front in May 1944 to serve as the ''

Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD ''Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (BdS)'', or Commanders of the Security Police and the SD, were regional commanders of the Nazi ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo – security police) and the ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD – security serv ...

'' (Commander of SiPo and SD) in

, located in the

Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral The Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (, OZAK; or colloquially: ''Operationszone Adria''; ; ; ) was a Nazi German district on the northern Adriatic coast created during World War II in 1943. It was formed out of territories that were pre ...

. In Italy, Günther reported to SS-''

Gruppenführer __NOTOC__ ''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...

Wilhelm Harster Wilhelm Harster (21 July 1904 – 25 December 1991) was a German lawyer, police official and convicted war criminal. An SS-''Gruppenführer'' in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS), he commanded German security police and intelligence services in Kraków ...

, and his organization's chief responsibilities were combating

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

operations and carrying out anti-

Jewish 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 ...

persecutions and

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

s. Trieste was the site of the infamous

Risiera di San Sabba Risiera di San Sabba () is a five-storey brick-built compound located in Trieste, northern Italy, that functioned during World War II as a Nazi concentration camp for the detention and killing of political prisoners, and a transit camp for Jews, ...

concentration camp. Günther remained in Italy until mid-February 1945, and then served in a staff position in the

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...

(RSHA) in

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 ...

until the end of the war. Little is known of Günther's ultimate fate, and he was declared dead after the end of the war.

Awards

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...

(1914) 2nd class *

Wound Badge The Wound Badge () was a German military decoration first promulgated by Wilhelm II, German Emperor on 3 March 1918, which was first awarded to soldiers of the Imperial German Army, German Army who were wounded during World War I. Between the worl ...

(1918) *

Clasp to the Iron Cross Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Book clasp, fastener for a book cover * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Lobster clasp, fastener for jewellery * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Medal bar, an element in militar ...

2nd Class * Iron Cross (1939) 1st class *

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

(1939) 1st and 2nd class with Swords

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Günther, Wilhelm 1899 births 1945 deaths Date of death unknown Holocaust perpetrators in Italy Holocaust perpetrators in Ukraine People from Vogelsbergkreis Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 2nd class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class Recipients of the War Merit Cross Reichswehr personnel SS and police leaders SS-Brigadeführer Waffen-SS personnel killed in action

Early life and career

Wartime service

Awards

See also

References

Sources