Günther Altenburg

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Altenburg as a witness at the Nuremberg Trials

Günther Altenburg (Königsberg, 5 June 1894 – Bonn, 23 October 1984) was a German diplomat.

His first diplomatic assginments took him to postings at Rome, Vienna and Bucharest, and he remained involved with southeastern Europe throughout his career. In 1934, he was serving in Vienna during the failed July Putsch, and probably involved in its preparation. Thereafter he was recalled to Berlin, where he worked in the section dealing with Austria and Czechoslovakia.

He joined the Nazi Party in 1935, and was given a position in the secretariat of Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. After the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, he was initially slated to become plenipotentiary for Serbia, but on 28 April 1941 he was named Reich plenipotentiary for Greece. As the highest-ranking German civil official in occupied Greece, he functioned as the overseer of the Greek puppet government along with his Italian counterpart Pellegrino Ghigi, and was directly involved in the deportation of the Jewish population of Thessaloniki in spring 1943. He was removed from his post on 3 November 1943, after the Italian capitulation and the complete occupation of Greece by the Germans, which led to a complete restructuring of the German administration under the new Military Governor of Greece, Alexander Löhr.

After the war, he testified at the Nuremberg Trials, and served as the secretary general of the Deutsche Gruppe der Internationalen Handelskammer ("German Group of the International Chamber of Commerce") industrial lobby.

Greece during World War II

1940–41 Balkans Campaign	Occupation and Resistance		Greek government-in-exile

Greco-Italian War Battles Elaia–Kalamas Pindus Morava–Ivan Himara Klisura Trebeshina Italian Spring Offensive Commanders Greece Ioannis Metaxas Alexander Papagos Charalambos Katsimitros Konstantinos Davakis Ioannis Pitsikas Italy Benito Mussolini Sebastiano Visconti Prasca Ubaldo Soddu Ugo Cavallero Carlo Geloso German invasion Battles Metaxas Line Vevi Kleisoura Pass Thermopylae Crete Commanders Greece Alexander Papagos Georgios Tsolakoglou British Empire & Commonwealth Henry Maitland Wilson Thomas Blamey Bernard Freyberg Germany Wilhelm List Kurt Student	Occupying powers Authorities/People Germany Günther Altenburg Hermann Neubacher Walter Schimana Alexander Löhr Hellmuth Felmy Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller Alexander Andrae Bruno Bräuer Italy Angelico Carta Pellegrino Ghigi Carlo Geloso Bulgaria Andon Kalchev Atrocities Kondomari Kandanos Alikianos Doxato Kommeno Kalavryta Distomo Domenikon Drakeia Cephalonia Mesovouno Pyrgoi Viannos Kedros Kleisoura Mousiotitsa Chortiatis The Holocaust in Greece Great Famine Collaborators People Georgios Tsolakoglou K. Logothetopoulos Ioannis Rallis Georgios Poulos George S. Mercouris Ioannis Plytzanopoulos Organizations Collaborationist government Security Battalions ESPO EEE Greek National Socialist Party Secessionists Principality of the Pindus Ohrana Cham collaboration (Këshilla) Atrocities Paramythia Kaisariani Kokkinia	National Liberation Front (EAM) People Aris Velouchiotis Stefanos Sarafis Georgios Siantos Andreas Tzimas Alexandros Svolos Evripidis Bakirtzis Markos Vafiades Organizations KKE Socialist Party ELAS ELAN PEEA EPON E.A. OPLA SNOF Operations Drama Uprising Ryka Mikro Chorio Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Sarantaporo Porta Steiri Agorelitsa Atrocities Feneos 5/42 dissolution Meligalas Non-EAM Resistance People Napoleon Zervas Georgios Kartalis Dimitrios Psarros Komninos Pyromaglou Kostas Perrikos Vasilios Sachinis Georgios Petrakis Organizations EDES EKKA YVE/PAO PEAN ΕΟΚ E.S. MAVI Other Operations ESPO bombing Gorgopotamos Bridge Fardykambos Agia Kyriaki Milia Skala Paramythias Xirovouni Menina Dodona Atrocities Expulsion of Cham Albanians British Mission in Greece (SOE) People Eddie Myers Chris Woodhouse Patrick Leigh Fermor Bill Stanley Moss Operations Operation "Albumen" Gorgopotamos Bridge Operation "Animals" Asopos Bridge Kidnap of General Kreipe Damasta sabotage	Events El Alamein Dodecanese April 1944 mutiny Rimini People King George II Emmanouil Tsouderos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Notable units 3rd Mountain Brigade Sacred Band Vasilissa Olga Adrias Katsonis Papanikolis 13th Squadron 335th Squadron 336th Squadron Toward the Civil War Events National Bands Agreement Plaka agreement Lebanon conference Caserta agreement Percentages agreement Dekemvriana Treaty of Varkiza People Ronald Scobie George Papandreou Archbishop Damaskinos Nikos Zachariadis

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 18 September 2010 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

Persondata
Name	Altenburg, Gunther
Alternative names
Short description	Diplomat
Date of birth	5 June 1894
Place of birth
Date of death	23 October 1984
Place of death

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