Horst Günther

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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 [and] murdered in Camp Aiken prisoner-of-war camp, South Carolina".[1] He was suspected of collaborating with the American authorities and strangled by two fellow prisoners-of-war, Erich Gauss and Rudolf Straub. "His body was hanged on a tree to make it appear a suicide."[2] Gauss and Straub were hanged on 14 July 1945 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They were buried in the prison cemetery.[3] 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."[4]

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Original German text: "Gefangennahme am 09.05.1943 in Tunesien. Er wurde im Kriegsgefangenenlager Aiken, South Carolina, ermordet."
  2. ^ Newsweek; "Death and Treason", 5 February 1945.
  3. ^ Fort Leavenworth Military Prison cemetery
  4. ^ "Abolish" Death penalty news, 1 March 1998
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