Günther Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Pancke (1 May 1899 – 17 August 1973) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era who served as Higher SS and Police Leader of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

History

Pancke was born in Gnesen (Gniezno), Province of Posen, German Empire (today part of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). He served during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

as frontline officer with the rank of

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

. Between 1920 and 1927 he stayed in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. He joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

on 1 August 1930, and the SS on 1 June 1931. Pancke was appointed as Verbindungsoffizier between the Führerhauptquartier and the SS-Totenkopfverbänden and Einsatzgruppen des SD in 1939. After that he served as Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer "Mitte". From October 1943 until the end of the war he was appointed as the SS- und Polizeiführer " Dänemark" and was promoted to ''Obergruppenführer'' und General der Polizei on 20 April 1944, and General der

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

on 21 March 1945. During his role in Denmark, he became incensed by the refusal of the Danish police to combat resistance forces or to protect factories from sabotage. He ordered the entire national police force, amounting to approximately 10,000 officers, to be arrested and sent to the

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

concentration camp. Approximately 1,700 were arrested, with the balance eluding capture.Stephanie A. Lewis and Barbara C. Mallen
''The Heel of the Conqueror''
p. 107.

Time Life Time Life, with sister subsidiaries StarVista Live and Lifestyle Products Group, a holding of Direct Holdings Global LLC, is an American production company and direct marketer conglomerate, that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, ...

series on The Third Reich (Henry Woodhead, Ed.), 1991. In 1948, Pancke was found guilty of war crimes by a Danish court and sentenced to 20 years in prison. However, he was released early in 1953. Pancke died on 17 August 1973 in Hamburg.

References

Sources and external links

Interrogation of Pancke, Günther, in pdf format in Nuremberg.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pancke, Gunther 1899 births 1973 deaths People from Gniezno People from the Province of Posen Prussian Army personnel German Army personnel of World War I Nazis convicted of war crimes SS and Police Leaders German prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Denmark German police officers convicted of crimes Waffen-SS personnel SS-Obergruppenführer 20th-century Freikorps personnel