Günther Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Pancke (1 May 1899 – 17 August 1973) was an SS

Schutzstaffel

The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...

-Obergruppenführer

Obergruppenführer

Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...

(General) and the Higher SS and Police Leader

SS and Police Leader

SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...

 of Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

.

Pancke was born in Gnesen

Gniezno

Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...

 (Gniezno), Province of Posen

Province of Posen

The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....

, German Empire

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

. He served during the First World War as frontline officer with the rank of Leutnant. Between 1920 and 1927 he stayed in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

. He joined the Nazi Party 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"

SS and Police Leader

SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...

. 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

Waffen-SS

The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...

 on 21 March 1945.

After 8 years of imprisonment in Denmark, Pancke was released 1953 and died on 17 August 1973 in Hamburg.

Promotions

Rank	Achieved
Leutnant	June 1918
SS-Sturmführer	25 December 1932
SS-Sturmhauptführer	30 January 1933
SS-Sturmbannführer	12 June 1933
SS-Obersturmbannführer	3 September 1933
SS-Standartenführer	15 December 1933
SS-Oberführer	20 April 1934
SS-Brigadeführer	13 September 1936
Rittmeister a.D.	1 February 1938
SS-Gruppenführer	1 September 1938
Generalleutnant der Polizei	10 April 1941
SS-Obergruppenführer	21 June 1943
General der Polizei	20 April 1944
General der Waffen-SS	21 March 1945

Decorations and awards

• Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP für 10 Dienstjahre (Bronze)
• Dienstauszeichnung der NSDAP für 15 Dienstjahre (Silber)
• Eisernes Kreuz von 1914 2. Klasse (EK II)
• Ehrendegen des Reichsführers-SS
• Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer
  Cross of Honor
  The Cross of Honor, also known as the Honor Cross or, popularly, the Hindenburg Cross, was a commemorative medal inaugurated on July 13, 1934 by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg for those soldiers of Imperial Germany who fought in World War I...
  
  
• Goldenes Parteiabzeichen der NSDAP
• Kriegsverdienstkreuz (KVK) I. Klasse mit Schwerternwith Swords
• Kriegsverdienstkreuz (KVK) II. Klasse mit Schwertern
• Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
• Spange zur Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938
• Verwundetenabzeichen von 1918 in Schwarz

Sources and external links

• WW2 Awards, retrieved on January 20, 2008.
• http://www.dws.xip.pl/reich/biografie/10110.html, retrieved on January 20, 2008.
• Janssen-Militaria SS and Waffen-SS research, retrieved on January 20, 2008
• Axis History Factbook, retrieved on January 20, 2008.
• Interrogation of Pancke, Günther, in pdf format in Nuremberg.pdf