Wilhelm Rediess (October 10, 1900 – May 8, 1945) was the German chief of secret police (General der Polizei) during the German occupation of Norway in the Second World War. He was also the commanding General (Obergruppenführer) of all SS troops stationed in occupied Norway, assuming command upon his arrival in Norway on June 22, 1940 and serving until his death in 1945.

Rediess was born in Heinsberg, Westphalia, German Empire, the son of a court employee. After high school, Rediess became an apprentice electrician. In June 1918, he enlisted in the German army, serving as an infantryman until the end of the First World War in November 1918. He then worked as an electrician until losing his job in the German economic crisis of 1929.

In May 1925, Rediess joined the Sturmabteilung and in December 1925 was approved for membership in the Nazi Party. He was promoted to group leader of a Düsseldorf Sturmabteilung company in 1927 and was transferred to the SS when his unit was reorganized into the SS in 1930. Promotions swiftly followed for Rediess, achieving the rank of Lieutenant General (SS-Gruppenführer) in 1935.

At the onset of World War II, Rediess was responsible for implementing German racial laws in Prussia, forcing the evacuation of Jews from East Prussia. Rediess was then tasked with the eradication of 1,558 Jewish evacuees deemed mentally ill. Rediess made arrangements to borrow "gassing vans" and personnel from other SS units, offering a bounty of ten Reichmarks for each Jew killed. It took seventeen days to accomplish these killings, and Rediess then reneged on the agreed upon payment once the operation was concluded.

Rediess was commended for his initiative and given command of SS units in Norway as a reward for his actions.

In March 1941, citing reports of large numbers of Norwegian women impregnated by German soldiers, Rediess implemented the controversial German Lebensborn program in Norway. This program encourage the production of "racially pure" Aryan children, usually sired by SS troops. Ultimately 8,000 children were born under the auspices of this program, making Norway second only to Germany in registered Aryan births during World War II.

Rediess committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound upon the collapse of the Third Reich in Norway on May 8, 1945. His remains were then destroyed when Reichskommissar Josef Terboven detonated fifty kilograms of dynamite in the estate of Skaugum, Oslo, the same day.

SS generals | SS and Police Leaders | German World War II people | Nazi leaders | Nazis who committed suicide | Military people who committed suicide | Deaths by firearm | Suicides by firearm | 1900 births | 1945 deaths

Wilhelm Rediess | Wilhelm Rediess | Wilhelm Rediess