Gerhard Sommer

Gerhard Sommer (b. 24 June 1921, Rudolstadt, Germany) is a former SS-"Untersturmführer" in the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS" who was involved in the massacre of 560 civilians on 12 August 1944 in the Italian village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema.

In July 1933, when he was 12 years old, Sommer became a member of the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth), where he obtained the rank of "Jungzugführer" in the Deutsche Jungvolk. On 1 September 1939, at age 18, he joined the Nazi Party NSDAP (NSDAP-Nr.: 7111565) and in October enlisted in the Waffen-SS (SS-Nr.: 474378).

Sommer fought in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS "Adolf Hitler" in the Balkans and Ukraine. He was wounded twice and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class. In 1943 Sommer applied for the rank of SS-"Reserveführer". After training in Proschnitz, he was appointed an SS-"Untersturmführer" on January 30 1944. He served as a "Zugführer" and later a "Kompanieführer" in the "7th Kompanie des II. Bataillons/SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 35". On August 19, 1944 he received the Iron Cross 1st class. Near the end of the war, Sommer served in the 4th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Brigade Netherlands. [Tribunale Militare di La Spezia, Urteil im Verfahren gegen Gerhard Sommer u.a., La Spezia, 22. Juni 2005; Bundesarchiv, SSO-Karte, Gebührnis-Karte, Sommer Gerhard, 24.06.1921; John P. Moore, Führerliste der Waffen-SS, s. u. Sommer Gerhard, 24.06.1921.]

On June 22 2005, Sommer and nine other former SS members were convicted by an Italian military court in La Spezia for the "continued murder with special cruelty" of 560 villagers at Sant'Anna di Stazzema. All ten were sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to paycompensation payments. [http://www.broschuere.resistenza.de/material/broschuere_santanna_web.pdf Das Massaker von Sant’Anna di Stazzema am 12. August 1944 - Materialiensammlung 1 für eine bundesweite Kampagne zur Anklageerhebung in Deutschland] Mai 2006, S. 12-14/17-19/23-24/30-34, (Pdf 880 KB)]

Sommer and four of his comrades appealed, but the sentences were confirmed in 2006 by a military court in Rome.Lars Reissmann: [http://85.183.64.11/archiv/Lokal/Hamburg/2006/24hh.pdf Verurteilung wegen des SS-Massakers von Sant’Anna di Stazzema bestätigt] . Lokalberichte Hamburg, 17. Jahrgang, Nr. 24, 23. November 2006, S. 8, (Pdf 553 KB)]

In 2002 investigations against Sommer were initiated in Germany, but no criminal charges have yet been brought. Gabriela Heinecke, a lawyer from Hamburg in charge of the "Nebenklage" of the Italian survivors of the massacre continues to be denied access to the records by the German public prosecution department. [http://www.resistenza.de/krieg/kampagne/gerhard_sommer.pdf Flugblatt zu Gerhard Sommer] (Pdf 121 KB)]

As of 2007, the elderly Sommer lives in a nursing home in Hamburg-Volksdorf, Germany.

References

External links

* [http://www.akweb.de/ak_s/ak500/09.htm „Die NS-Mörder sind noch unter uns. SS-Kriegsverbrecher Gerhard Sommer lebt bis heute unbehelligt in Hamburg.“]
* [http://www.systemkritik.de/bmuhl/forschung/justiz/gerhard_sommer.html Rechtspolitische Initiative zum Fall Gerhard Sommer aus dem Forschungsansatz „Systemkritik: Deutsche Justizverbrechen“]
* [http://www.broschuere.resistenza.de/material/broschuere_santanna_web.pdf Das Massaker von Sant’Anna di Stazzema am 12. August 1944 - Materialiensammlung 1 für eine bundesweite Kampagne zur Anklageerhebung in Deutschland]