| Walter Schimana | |
| Birth Date: | 12 March 1898 |
| Birth Place: | Troppau, Austria-Hungary |
| Death Place: | Salzburg, Allied-occupied Austria |
| Branch: | Waffen-SS |
| Rank: | SS-Gruppenführer, Lieutenant General of the Police and Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS |
| Commands: | SS and Police Leader (SSPF) Central Russia and Belarus Higher SS and Police Leader Greece |
Walter Schimana (12 March 1898 – 12 September 1948) was an Austrian functionary in the German SS during the Nazi era. He was SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union in 1942 and Higher SS and Police Leader in occupied Greece from October 1943. Responsible for numerous war crimes and atrocities in the occupied territories, Schimana was arrested by the Allies after the war and died by suicide while awaiting trial.
In 1915, after attending school, he went to a cadet school in Prague. He then spent a short time at the Theresian Military Academy. From September 1918, during the endphase of WWI, to 15 December 1918, when demobilization was completed, he served with the k. k. Schützenregiment Nr. 1 (SchR 1) of the k. k. 25. Schützenbrigade (Vienna), a unit of the Landwehr of the Imperial Austrian k.u.k. Armee (Imperial and Royal Army). After the war, he moved to Bavaria. On 1 June 1919, he joined the 3rd Battalion of the 2. bayerisches Reichswehr-Infanterie-Regiment 44 in Passau and was promoted to Fähnrich der Reserve (cadet officer of the reserves) on 15 July 1919.
On 2 September 1919, he joined the Freikorps in the Baltic and served with the Iron Division (Eiserne Division) which, only shortly later, joined the West Russian Volunteer Army. In mid-December 1919, the German troops were evacuted to East Prussia, Schimana was released from service on 20 April 1920 as Leutnant der Reserve (2nd lieutenant of the reserves). He attended a business school from 1921 to 1922, then worked as an accountant, with a bank and as a commercial businessman.
Schimana became an early member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), on 7 December 1926 (Party-Nr. 49042), and joined the paramilitary SA in Munich. After the Nazis came to national power, in 1934 he joined the uniformed Protection Police (Schutzpolizei) with the rank of captain. In 1936, Schimana was transferred to the Gendarmerie as a major. After the Anschluss, he was transferred to the Police Headquarters at Vienna as Commander of the motorized Gendarmerie for Austria. On 15 August 1939, he joined the SS with the rank of Standartenführer. At the outbreak of the war in Europe, he took over command of a field gendarmerie battalion in Poland, France then General Government (Poland) up to 1940. He held command of various schools of the motorized gendarmerie then staff duties into Main Office for the Order Police from 1940 to 1941.
On 4 September 1941, he was appointed SS and Police Leader (SSPF) for the Saratov area, and later attached to the staff of the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) for Central Russia until July 1942, taking part in rear-security operations. From 21 July 1942 to 15 July 1943, he was SSPF of Belarus, with headquarters at Minsk. Reporting to Friedrich Jeckeln, he was responsible for the formation of the Schutzmannschaft (collaborationist police) battalions.[1] Subsequently, he underwent training as a divisional commander and was appointed commander of the newly formed SS Division Galicia until October 1943.
On 18 October, Schimana was appointed HSSPF for Greece, in replacement to Jürgen Stroop, a position he held until the withdrawal of German forces from the country in September–October 1944. On 20 April 1944, he was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer, on 20 June 1944 also to Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS und Polizei (Lieutenant General of the Waffen-SS and Police).
He became actively engaged in carrying out the persecution of Greek Jews and the campaign against the Greek Resistance movement. In this capacity, he was instrumental in the formation of the infamous "Security Battalions". After the German withdrawal, he was appointed HSSPF of the Danube Sector, which had its headquarters in Vienna. He remained in that position until the German capitulation.
After Germany's capitulation, Schimana was arrested by the Allies. He died by suicide before he was brought to trial.