Inside of concentration camps such as Bergen-Belsen, Auschwitz and Ravensbruck, there were many
female guards who inflicted misery and suffering onto the prisoners.
Guards such as Irma Grese were known for being beasts with their whips and other weapons
they had including their dogs, which they’d encourage to attack inmates on a daily basis.
These dogs were even trained to kill, and one woman Johanna Bormann encouraged hers
to maim and savage inmates to death.
But for every well known female guard, there are many more who’s story is not so well
known, or is not documented as well.
After the war there were a number of war crimes trials which aimed to bring some form of justice
for the victims of the Nazi’s policies and the concentration camps, and many former guards
were brought to trial.
But there were so many more who never faced up to their crimes, and a very small percentage
of the guards who had murdered, attacked and instigated a reign of terror were even given
a day in court.
But one woman who was sentenced to death for her crimes inside of the concentration camps
was Elisabeth Lupka, and in January 1949 inside of Montelupich Prison in Krakow, she went
to her execution inside the prisons’ execution chamber.
But what is her story?
Join us today as we look at the justified execution of Elisabeth lupka, remember as
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Elisabeth Lupka was born on the 27th October 1902 in Klein Damner.
Today the town where she was born can be found in Poland.
It’s believed that she had a rather normal upbringing and life before the Nazis came
into power, and in 1934 she got married.
She and her husband had no children, and quickly after marrying Elisabeth and her husband divorced.
But as the Second World War was apparoaching and Hitler was building up his armaments and
army, as well as supplies to launch an invasion, Elisabeth Lupka went to work inside of an
aircraft factory in Berlin.
She would have been involved in the creation of the planes which would be used during the
conflict, and many of these factories were kept secret to ensure other nations were not
aware of Hitler’s re-armament campaign, and intentions to begin a new world war.
She continued working as a labourer there, but in 1942 like many other women did, Elisabeth
changed jobs.
Many women were attracted to work inside of the concentration camps as the pay was much
better than what they were getting in German society at the time, and women from all walks
of life trained as guards for concentration camps.
Some women were hairdressers, others had been nurses and they came from a variety of different
professions.
Elisabeth Lupka left her job and then went to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp, where she
would learn how to become an SS Aufseherin, a female overseer.
She wanted to train in how to work at camps such as Auschwitz, and may have been attracted
to this work due to an increase in pay.
It’s not entirely known how indoctrinated she was as a Nazi, but when she transferred
to Auschwitz it’s fair to say that she became a violent brute.
But at Ravensbruck, which was an all female camp many women arrived with the dream of
training to become a female guard.
Ravensbruck in a sense was an apprenticeship for many women who would learn how to create
sadistic reputations for themselves, and how to beat prisoners into submission.
Teachers such as Maria Mandel would school the women on how to instigate reigns of terror,
and strike fear into the hearts of prisoners.
The women typically would learn at Ravensbruck for a period of time, before they were sent
to other camps inside of the Third Reich.
Ravensbruck itself was known for being a brutal place where women were forced to work hard,
and where many women were killed by the incredibly harsh conditions and treatment.
But following her completing her studies at Ravensbruck, Elisabeth then transferred to
become an Aufseherin there and she looked after a number of work detachments and details.
But the following year, in 1943 she was summoned and transferred to move to Auschwitz II Birkenau.
Birkenau was the camp where hundreds of thousands of prisoners inside the largest concentration
camp would be killed, and it became the centre for extermination at Auschwitz.
Inside here, brutal SS guards such as Josef Kramer who became known as the beast of Belsen
would drive thousands of people into the gas chambers each day, forcing them in with his
whip.
As Auschwitz expanded it’s killing capabilities and operation, many guards were summoned to
staff the camp and Elisabeth was one of those women who was recruited.
Whilst at Asuchwitz she was known for being brutal and barbaric.
She was noted to have been spotted beating a number of prisoners with her whip, and forcing
them to work harder.
She became a Block Overseer, so she was responsible for a number of prisoners inside the camp,
and she would also be responsible for punishing those if there were infringements of the rules.
Usually women were driven from their beds early in the morning by guards armed with
their whips, and it’s likely Elisabeth Lupka did this.
She was also noted to have been at the railway station when new arrivals came to Auschwitz.
When people were deported to the camp, there were huge selections that took place.
Guards, doctors and other members of staff would whilst the victims were disembarking
the train, walk through the crowds and select those men, women and children who would go
to the gas chambers.
These guards played god with people’s lives, and Elisabeth Lupka was spotted taking part
in these selections.
She would choose which inmates were healthy enough and fit enough to work at the camp,
but also she would choose who wasn’t and who would then be loaded onto the trucks to
be taken to the gas chambers straight away.
The selections were a terrifying part of Auschwitz, and only a select few were ever allowed inside
the camp to work, with the majority being killed within minutes of arriving.
The selections were also the reasons why a number of guards were executed in post war
trials, as they were responsible for the murder of others.
Elisabeth Lupka stayed at Auschwitz for a couple of years until the camp was evacuated
in January 1945.
She went with a death march of prisoners to Loslau, but following accompanying the inmates
there, she then returned to the all female camp Ravensbruck.
Camps all over Nazi Germany’s lands were being evacuated as the threat of the advancing
Red Army and the Allies was looming, and Hitler did not want a single prisoner falling into
the hands of his enemies, so that the true nature of the camps would be told.
But following a short stint back where she trained, on the 6th June 1945 she was arrested
by allied soldiers and was then sent to an internment camp to be processed as a prisoner
of war.
However it took two years for Elisabeth Lupka and her crimes to come to fruition, and following
a long interrogation and investigation she was extradited to Poland, to start trial for
war crimes.
She appeared in a court in Krakow, and was accused of many crimes including mistreating
the prisoners at Auschwitz.
She was accused of beating prisoners and using violence against them, but also that she was
involved in selecting prisoners to go to their deaths inside of the gas chambers.
Testimony was made against her and eyewitness accounts stated that she was in the selection
yards taking part in this.
But because of the evidence against her, Elisabeth Lupka was found guilty of war crimes, and
was sentenced to death.
Inside of Montelupich Prison, executions were done of war criminals in a more primitive
way.
Inside of the execution chamber there a number of hooks were embedded into the ceiling.
Many former Nazi guards of Auschwitz were hanged inside of that execution chamber including
Maria Mandel.
But Elisabeth Lupka on the 8th January 1949 was led from her cell by guards into the execution
chamber.
From the hooks in the ceiling dangled the rope and nooses that would take the war criminals
lives, and a stool was found underneath this.
Her identity was confirmed before she was led under one rope and hook and was told to
stand on the stool.
As she stood on this, the noose was tied around her neck, and then quickly the stool was kicked
out from under her.
This led to her strangling to death, and it would have taken a few minutes for Elisabeth
Lupka to die.
Following her death, her body was cut down and was then given to a university in Krakow,
where they dissected it for medical research.
But Elisabeth Lupka today isn’t as well known as other nazi war criminals, but she
was responsible for the deaths of many inside of Auschwitz.
She was notorious for her use of the whip and violent beatings, and she also was personally
accountable for sending people to the gas chambers.
Ultimately at Asuchwitz over 1 million people would go to their deaths, and still today
decades on after the camp was liberated the true horrors there are being uncovered with
new discoveries.
Many of the stories of the victims remain untold today, but what is tragic is that only
a small number of the guards and staff that worked there were ever brought to trial for
their crimes.
Elisabeth Lupka was one of those who was executed for her work at Auschwitz, but there were
so many more former guards who managed to evade capture, and lived out the rest of their
lives in relative peace in the knowledge of the true crimes that they had been involved
in.
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