Date of birth:

May 1st, 1899 (Gnesen/Posen, Germany)

Date of death:

August 17th, 1973 (Hamburg/Hamburg, Germany)

Service number:

282.737 (NSDAP Nr.) / 10.110 (SS Nr.)

Nationality:

German (1933-1945, Third Reich)

Günther Pancke was born May 1st, 1899 in Gnesen, at the time Posen in Germany (today Gniezo, Poland). From 1910 onwards, he was a member of a Kadettenkorps in Prussia; in World War One he served as frontofficer in the rank of Leutnant. During this period he was awarded the EK 2 and the Verwundetenabzeichen Schwarz.
After WW 1 he participated in the Eiserne Division from 1919 to 1920 after which he left for Argentina. On his return to Germany in 1927 he became a member of a Freikorps and served with the East-Prussian border patrol (Grenzschütz). In 1930 he became a member of the NSDAP (National Socialist German Workers Party) and as early as 1931 he became a member of the SS. 1936 saw him promoted to SS-Brigadeführer as Führer in the SS-Oberabschnitt Nordwest. Promotion to SS-Gruppenführer and nomination as Chief of the Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt (Head Office for Racial and Settlement issues, RuSHA) followed in 1938.
In 1939, Pancke was appointed lliason officer between the Führer’s headquarters and the SS-Totenkopfverbände (Death head units) and the Einsatzgruppen (Special Duties Units – murder squads) of the SD, Security Police). He subsequently served as Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer "Mitte" (Higher Chief of SS and Police (HSSPF).
From October 1943 up to the end of the war he served as Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer in Denmark and on April 20th, 1944, he was promoted to SS-Obergruppenführer and General of the Police and subsequently on March 21st, 1945 to General of the Waffen-SS.
Following WW 2 he was interned by the Danish and on September 20th, 1948 he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for his work as police official in Denmark. He was pardoned in 1953.
Günther Pancke passed away August 17th, 1973 in Hamburg, Germany.

Promotions:
June 1918: Leutnant;
December 25th, 1932, SS-Sturmführer;
January 30th, 1933, SS-Sturmhauptführer;
June 12th, 1933, SS-Sturmbannführer;
September 3rd, 1933, SS-Obersturmbannführer;
December 15th, 1933, SS-Standartenführer;
April 20th, 1934, SS-Oberführer;
September 13th, 1936, SS-Brigadeführer;
February 1st, 1938, Rittmeister ausser Dienst;
September 1st, 1938, SS-Gruppenführer;
April 10th, 1941, Generalleutnant der Polizei;
June 21st, 1943, SS-Obergruppenführer;
April 20th, 1944, General der Polizei;
March 21st, 1945, General der Waffen-SS.

Career:
August 1st, 1930, Mitglied NSDAP;
June 1st, 1931, Mitglied SS;
June 1932: Ausbilder SS-Schule Kreiensen;
1938 - 1940: Chef des SS-Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamts (RuSHA);
1939: Verbindungsoffizier zwischen Führerhauptquartier, den SS-Totenkopfverbänden und den Einsatzgruppen des SD;
?: Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer „Mitte";
1943 - 1945: Höherer SS- und Polizeiführer in Dänemark.

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• - Items from family via Helmut Weitze
  - Katalog 32.Auktion, Auktionshaus Andreas Thies, 3 mai 2007