Georg Gartner

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Georg Gärtner (born December 18, 1920 in Schweidnitz , Lower Silesia Province , † January 30, 2013 in Longmont (Colorado) ), also known as Dennis Whiles , was a German prisoner of war from World War II in the USA .

biography

Gardener at the age of 89 (2009)

In 1943 he was captured as a soldier in the German Africa Corps and brought to the USA. He was transferred to a POW camp in New Mexico . After the end of the war, the prisoners were inappropriately announced that they would be transferred to their hometowns. Gärtner, who was not aware of the eviction of the inhabitants of his hometown, said that Schweidnitz was now under Soviet occupation. In September 1945 he fled the POW camp in order not to be transferred to Schweidnitz.

After his escape he built himself a new identity under the name Dennis Whiles, initially making his way as a dishwasher and harvest helper, later became a ski and tennis instructor and married an American. After confessing his true identity to his wife after 20 years of marriage, he surrendered to the authorities in 1985, forty years after his escape, which was expressed in his designation as Hitler's Last Soldier in America .

In the 40 years of his escape, Gärtner was one of the FBI's most wanted people and was the only German prisoner of war who had escaped from a US camp who was not caught. Georg Gärtner received a residence permit and was naturalized in the USA in November 2009 after the appointment was postponed several times due to lost documents with the authorities. He lived in Boulder , Colorado . Gardener died on January 30, 2013 in Longmont, Colorado.

literature

  • Georg Gaertner, Arnold Krammer: Hitler's Last Soldier in America . Stein and Day, New York 1985, ISBN 978-0812830071 (English, memoirs of Georg Gaertner)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 3SAT: Georg Gärtner - Hitler's last soldier January 7, 2005
  2. ↑ New York Times: HEADLINERS: PLANNED SURRENDER September 15, 1985
  3. ↑ tvschoenfilm: Georg Gärtner - Hitler's Last Soldier
  4. ↑ According to a message from a condolence company after information from the Social Security Administration (SSA)
personal data
SURNAME Gardener, Georg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Whiles, Dennis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German soldier of the Africa Corps
DATE OF BIRTH December 18, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Schweidnitz
DATE OF DEATH January 30, 2013
Place of death Longmont (Colorado)