Curt von Gottberg
German general (1896–1945)
Curt Gustav Friedrich Walther von Gottberg (11 February 1896 – 31 May 1945) was a high-ranking SS-Obergruppenführer who served as Higher SS and Police Leader for central Russia and, from September 1943, as the Generalkommissar (Commissioner-General) of occupied Belarus, combining the highest civil and police powers in that jurisdiction during the Second World War.
Gottberg personally ordered many war crimes and commanded units that committed atrocities against the civilian population of occupied territories. After the end of the war, he was arrested and committed suicide while in custody.
Early life
Gottberg was born in East Prussia, to an old Farther Pomeranian aristocratic family. After a training in agricultural management, from 1912, he fought in World War I, serving from 2 August 1914. He served through nearly the entire war, receiving numerous bullet and shell wounds, and was decorated with the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class. Along with other demobilised officers, he then joined the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt (a Freikorps). Gottberg returned to East Prussia in 1924, finished his agricultural training and until the end of the 1920s managed personal estates near Königsberg.
Early SS career
Following a common route for former Freikorps members, Gottberg joined the SA in 1931, and the Nazi Party in February 1932. In September 1932 he joined the Schutzstaffel (SS).
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This entry incorporates text from “Curt von Gottberg” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.