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Ernst-Gunther Schenck

Ernst-Gunther Schenck (3 October 1904 – 21 December 1998) was a German doctor and SS Obersturmbannfurhrer during World War II.

Biography[]

Ernst-Gunther Schenck was born in Marburg, German Empire on 3 October 1904, and he trained as a doctor before joining the SS. During World War II, he created a large herbal plantation in the Dachau concentration camp to supply vitamin supplements for Waffen-SS soldiers, having become SS Inspector of Nutrition in 1940. He tested some of his inventions, such as a protein sausage, on camp inmates, leading to his medical license being revoked after the war's end. During the fighting on the Eastern Front, Schenck earned an Iron Cross after taking command of a gun battery from its dead commander while serving as the battalion physician. During the April 1945 Battle of Berlin, he volunteered to work an emergency casualty station in the cellar of the Reich Chancellery, and he assisted in major surgical operations despite having neither adequate supplies or surgical experience. He met Adolf Hitler in person twice, with Hitler thanking him for his services and inviting him to his birthday reception party. On 1 May 1945, he surrendered to the Soviets, and he was held in a Soviet internment camp until 1953, when he was allowed to return to West Germany. He later published his memoirs, and he died in 1998 at the age of 94.

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