Curt von Gottberg
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Curt von Gottberg | |
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SS and Police Leader (HSSPF), "Russland Mitte und Weissruthenien" Kampfgruppe von Gottberg XII SS Corps | |
| Awards | Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross German Cross in Gold |
Curt Gustav Friedrich Walther von Gottberg (11 February 1896 – 31 May 1945) was a high-ranking
Gottberg personally ordered many
Early life
Gottberg was born in East Prussia, to an old Farther Pomeranian aristocratic family. After a training in agricultural management, from 1912, he fought in World War I, serving from 2 August 1914. He served through nearly the entire war, receiving numerous bullet and shell wounds, and was decorated with the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class. Along with other demobilised officers, he then joined the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt (a Freikorps). Gottberg returned to East Prussia in 1924, finished his agricultural training and until the end of the 1920s managed personal estates near Königsberg.
Early SS career
Following a common route for former Freikorps members, Gottberg joined the
In 1936, Gottberg assumed leadership of the 49th SS-Standarte in Brunswick. In January 1936 Gottberg was involved in a car accident, and his left leg was amputated below the knee. Heinrich Himmler personally intervened on his behalf: the cost of medical care and of the damaged car (which was not Gottberg's) was covered. Himmler also intervened so that Gottberg was promoted to head of the Office for Settlement into the Race and Settlement (RuSHA) in July 1937. However, Gottberg became overwhelmed by his duties; by summer 1939 he was also the acting Commissar of Land Management for Prague. Gottberg's financial mismanagement in these roles (dubious transactions, "donations", loans to private individuals, lack of supervision of subordinates, losses running into the millions) led to a scandal within the SS administration. In November 1939 his superior at RuSHA, Günther Pancke, called for Gottberg's resignation, even threatening him with dispatch to a concentration camp.
His suspension and 'house arrest' lasted until November 1940, after interventions on his behalf. The long-delayed disciplinary proceedings at an internal SS court took place in April 1942, ending with Gottberg's rehabilitation. It was decided that "factual errors" had led him to make "inappropriate" decisions, but that he had also conducted himself with "remarkable" persistence, intelligence and "personal devotion".
Later SS career and war crimes
Gottberg was appointed
Gottberg developed a new 'strategy' in the fight against
As a result, Kampfgruppe von Gottberg, along with the Dirlewanger and Kaminski Brigades, under the coordination of Bach-Zelewski, were responsible for the organised mass murder of countless civilians in Belarus. On 21 June 1944, a few days before the collapse of the front, was made permanent HSSPF for Central Russia in succession to Bach-Zelewski and, on 30 June, he was promoted to the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Waffen-SS and the Police. He was also awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.[1]
The defeat of Army Group Centre saw Kampfgruppe von Gottberg thrown into front-line service against the
From August to October 1944, Gottberg commanded
Arrest and suicide
Gottberg was arrested by the Allies after the war's end. He committed suicide on 31 May 1945 while in British captivity in Flensburg.
Awards and decorations
- German Cross in Gold on 7 August 1943 as SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor of the Polizei, commander of a Kampfgruppe, and SS and SS and police leader "Weißruthenien"[3]
- Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 June 1944 as SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Polizei and leader of Kampfgruppe von Gottberg[4]
References
Citations
- ^ a b Miller 2006, pp. 456–457.
- ^ Miller 2006, p. 457.
- ^ Patzwall & Scherzer 2001, p. 143.
- ^ Scherzer 2007, p. 343.
Bibliography
- Gerlach, C. Kalkulierte Morde. Die deutsche Wirtschafts- und Vernichtungspolitik in Weißrußland 1941 bis 1944, Hamburger Edition
- Klein, P. Curt von Gottberg. In Mallmann, K. and Paul, G. (eds) Karrieren der Gewalt. Nationalsozialistische Täterbiographien, WBG, Darmstadt 2004, ISBN 3-534-16654-X
- Miller, Michael D. (2006). Leaders of the SS & German Police. Vol. 1 Reichsführer SS – Gruppenführer (Georg Ahrens to Karl Gutenberger). R. James Bender Publishing. ISBN 978-9-329-70037-2.
- Patzwall, Klaus D.; Scherzer, Veit (2001). Das Deutsche Kreuz 1941 – 1945 Band II [The German Cross 1941 – 1945 Volume 2] (in German). Norderstedt, Germany: Verlag Klaus D. Patzwall. ISBN 978-3-931533-45-8.
- Scherzer, Veit (2007). Die Ritterkreuzträger 1939–1945 [The Knight's Cross Bearers 1939–1945] (in German). Jena, Germany: Scherzers Militaer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-938845-17-2.
- Trevor-Roper, H. Final Entries 1945: The Diaries of Joseph Goebbels, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1978
External links
Media related to Curt von Gottberg at Wikimedia Commons
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