Horst Günther (23 September 1920 – 6 April 1944) was a German World War II prisoner of war. An Afrika Korps Gefreiter, he was "captured on 9 May 1943 in Tunisia murdered in Camp Aiken prisoner-of-war camp, South Carolina" United States, by fellow prisoners.
He was suspected of collaborating with the American authorities and was strangled by two fellow prisoners-of-war, Erich Gauss and Rudolf Straub, who hung his body from a tree in order to make it seem that Günther had killed himself. Gauss, 32, and Staub, 39, were hanged on 14 July 1945 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were buried in the prison cemetery. Straub is alleged to have said just before his execution: "What I did was done as a German soldier under orders. If I had not done so, I would have been punished when I returned to Germany."
See also
Notes and references
- "Original German text: "Gefangennahme am 09.05.1943 in Tunesien. Er wurde im Kriegsgefangenenlager Aiken, South Carolina, ermordet."". Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- Newsweek; "Death and Treason", 5 February 1945.
- Fort Leavenworth Military Prison cemetery Archived 2007-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- "Abolish" Death penalty news, 1 March 1998 Archived September 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  | This biographical article related to the German Army is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
- 1920 births
- 1944 deaths
- German Army personnel killed in World War II
- German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States
- German people who died in prison custody
- Prisoners who died in United States military detention
- Prisoners murdered in custody
- German people murdered abroad
- People murdered in South Carolina
- German Army soldiers of World War II
- German Army personnel stubs
- Events that led to courts-martial