Wilhelm Günther

{{Infobox military person

|name= Wilhelm Günther

|birth_date= 21 April 1899

|death_date= (declared dead) 1945 (age 46)

|birth_place= Ermenrod, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire

|death_place= Allied-occupied Germany

|image= Wilhelm Gunther.jpg

|caption=

|nickname=

|allegiance={{flag|German Empire}}
{{flag|Weimar Republic}}
{{flag|Nazi Germany}}

|serviceyears= 1915-1919
1932-1945

| rank = SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of Police

|branch= Imperial German Army
Reichswehr
Schutzstaffel (SS)

|commands=SS and Police Leader, "Bergvölker-Ordshonikidse;" "Wolhynien-Luzk"
Commander of SiPo and SD, "Trieste"

|unit=

|battles= World War I
World War II

|awards= Iron Cross, 1st and 2nd class
War Merit Cross, 1st and 2nd class with Swords

}}

Wilhelm Günther (21 April 1899 - 1945) was a German SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of Police who served as an SS and Police Leader (SSPF) in the occupied Soviet Union, and as the commander of security police (SiPo) and intelligence forces (SD) in Trieste during Second World War. 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 during the First World War. After the end of the war, he served for a short time in the Reichswehr under the Weimar Republic until being discharged October 1919. He then studied electrical engineering. Active in the opposition to the Occupation of the Ruhr, he was briefly imprisoned for espionage activities by a French military court.{{sfn|Yerger|1997|p=62}}

In May 1932 Günther joined the Nazi Party (membership number 1,094,209) and on 14 March 1933, the SS (SS number 69,638).{{sfn|Schiffer Publishing Ltd.|2000|p=26}} From March 1933 to April 1935 he worked as a signals specialist in SS-Abschnitt (District) XI, based in Wiesbaden. Assigned to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), the SS intelligence service, he was posted to SS-Oberabschnitt (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. From October 1939 to March 1941 he was Inspekteur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Inspector of SiPo and SD) in Stettin and then in Kassel until September 1942.{{sfn|Yerger|1997|p=62}}

Wartime service

In the Second World War, following the German summer offensive aimed at the Caucasus, Günther was appointed, from 7 May to 23 August 1942, to be the SS and Police Leader (SSPF) "Bergvölker-Ordshonikidse," the only holder of this short-lived command. He was then transferred to become the SSPF "Wolhynien-Luzk" in western Ukraine from 1 September 1942 until June 1944 when he was succeeded by SS-Brigadeführer Ernst Hartmann. He left the eastern front in May 1944 to serve as the Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Commander of SiPo and SD) in Trieste, located in the Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral.{{sfn|Yerger|1997|pp=62, 68}}

In Italy, Günther reported to SS-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Harster, and his organization's chief responsibilities were combating partisan operations and carrying out anti-Jewish persecutions and deportations.{{cite web |title=The Police Transit Camps in Fossoli and Bolzano, The Organization of the Security Police and SD |date=October 2005 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1351730 |access-date=29 April 2022 |pages=5–8 |last1=Gentile |first1=Carlo }} Trieste was the site of the infamous Risiera di San Sabba concentration camp. Günther remained in Italy until mid-February 1945, and then served in a staff position in the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA) in Berlin until the end of the war.{{sfn|Yerger|1997|p=62}}

Little is known of Günther's ultimate fate, and he was declared dead after the end of the war.{{sfn|Klee|2007|p=209}}

class="wikitable" !colspan = "2"\|SS and police ranks{{sfn\|Yerger\|1997\|p=62}}
Date !Rank
April 1935 \| SS-Untersturmführer
January 1936 \| SS-Obersturmführer
April 1937 \| SS-Hauptsturmführer
January 1938 \| SS-Sturmbannführer
September 1938 \| SS-Obersturmbannführer
September 1939 \| SS-Standartenführer
November 1941 \| SS-Oberführer
April 1943 \| SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor'' of Police

class="wikitable"

!colspan = "2"|SS and police ranks{{sfn|Yerger|1997|p=62}}

Date

!Rank

April 1935

| SS-Untersturmführer

January 1936

| SS-Obersturmführer

April 1937

| SS-Hauptsturmführer

January 1938

| SS-Sturmbannführer

September 1938

| SS-Obersturmbannführer

September 1939

| SS-Standartenführer

November 1941

| SS-Oberführer

April 1943

| SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor'' of Police

Awards

Iron Cross (1914) 2nd class
Wound Badge (1918)
Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class
Iron Cross (1939) 1st class
War Merit Cross (1939) 1st and 2nd class with Swords

References

Sources

{{cite book |last= Klee |first= Ernst |title= Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945 |publisher= Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag |location= Frankfurt-am-Main |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-3-596-16048-8}}
{{cite book |editor-last=Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |title= SS Officers List: SS-Standartenführer to SS-Oberstgruppenführer (As of 30 January 1942) |publisher= Schiffer Military History Publishing |location= |year= 2000 |isbn= 0-7643-1061-5}}
{{cite book |last = Yerger |first = Mark C. |title= Allgemeine-SS: The Commands, Units and Leaders of the General SS |publisher =Schiffer Publishing Ltd. |year = 1997 |isbn = 0-7643-0145-4}}

Category:1899 births

Category:1945 deaths

Category:Date of death unknown

Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Italy

Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Ukraine

Category:People from Vogelsbergkreis

Category:Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 2nd class

Category:Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 1st class

Category:Recipients of the War Merit Cross

Category:Reichswehr personnel

Category:SS and police leaders

Category:SS-Brigadeführer