Following the Second World War, a number of war crimes trials were held to bring the perpetrators
of the Holocaust to justice. Inside a courtroom in Luneburg, the Belsen Trials took place
that sought to deal with the SS men and women who were captured after the liberation of
Belsen. Many of these guards had committed horrendous crimes at different concentration
camps around German occupied lands, but what shocked the world is that amongst the commandant
Josef Kramer, were a number of young women who were brought to trial. Irma Grese was
the the youngest female Nazi hanged by British law following the Second World War, and despite
being only 22 when she was executed, many around the world could not understand how
such a young woman had showed such depravity. She became known as ‘The Beautiful Beast,’
or the Hyena of Auschwitz for her sadistic treatment of prisoners. But what is the story
behind her terrible treatment of prisoners at some of Nazi Germany’s most horrific
camps. Join us today as we look at, ‘The Disgusting Crimes of Irma Grese,’ and remember
to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Irma Grese’ decision to join the League of German Girls, the youth branch of the Nazi
party for teenagers caused chaos within her family. Her father banned her from joining
the Nazi group, but Irma the rebellious teenager joined anyway. She went further rebelling
against her father’s anti-nazi beliefs, and shortly before her 18th birthday she moved
to the SS Female Helpers training base, found near to Ravensbruck, which was an all female
concentration camp. Whilst here, she trained in how to become a concentration camp guard,
being school in horrific brutality and barbaric treatment. She was taught by some of the most
infamous female guards and Irma Grese would join the ranks of those when she became involved
in the concentration camp system. Following her training, she worked at Ravensbruck, and
her sister its claimed worked there too. She claimed whilst at Ravensbruck she was paid
54 marks a month, and she noted that the conditions there were very severe. But at Ravensbruck
she was working as a volunteer initially, and she made the conscious choice to treat
people terribly from her own mind, she was not conscripted into the concentration camp
system, but instead voluntarily chose to go and treat people in that manner.
She was promoted to a supervisor at Ravensbruck, by by June 1942 the persecution against the
Jews had increased significantly, and the policies against them was inflicting large
scale suffering, and huge deportations to concentration camps were occurring. As more
were being deported, there was a need for more workers, and in March 1943 after impressing
at Ravensbruck, Irma Grese was transferred across to Auschwitz. Whilst at Auschwitz she
was promoted where she acted as a guard inside of Auschwitz II Birkenau. This was the main
extermination element of the camp, and it was whilst here that she was incredibly brutal.
She was involved in the sadistic selections where she would walk in between prisoners
selecting those who were deemed not fit enough to work. Those prisoners would then be sent
to their deaths inside of the gas chambers at the camp. She eventually rose to the second
highest rank for female concentration camp guards, but whilst at Asuchwitz, Grese developed
a reputation for being a despicable and violent guard.
Many different survivors of the camp, and also Bergen Belsen where she was later transported
to at the end of the Conflict would testify of her brutality. Grese was known for being
incredibly violent, striking women with such force that they would be knocked to the floor,
and would have their teeth knocked out. She was known also for assaulting inmates, and
also she walked and patrolled Auschwitz with a dog. This dog had been trained to kill,
and Grese would let it feast upon the prisoners, and on a number of occasions prisoners were
maimed to death by her dog. She would carry her whip, and would constantly whip and beat
prisoners causing much bloodshed, and she would also kick prisoners with her jackboots
until blood was drawn. She also was known for emotionally torturing prisoners, whilst
they were working in pits or in different parts of the camp, Grese who was on patrol
would draw her pistol, and would shoot the prisoners dead for no reason. She randomly
shot prisoners and laughed once she had taken a life, and took great pleasure from this.
Whilst during the selections it was said how she would select prisoners to die who she
thought were better looking than her, out of nothing but pure jealousy. She would sent
these women to their deaths straight away, and would drive the women into the gas chambers
armed with her whip.
It was claimed also in her quarters and hut where she lived, that there were lampshades
found made from human skin, but this has been disputed. She would without any need beat
prisoners to death, and for all of this she gained the nickname the hyena of Auschwitz
and the beautiful beast. When questioned at trial about her violent tendencies, she claimed
that all of the evidence against her was nothing but a lie, and she did admit that her dog
did bite someone on the shoulder, and claimed she never purposely set her dog on prisoners.
She claimed she did not beat prisoners, and she said she saw other guards beating prisoners
but claimed she did not do this. Evidence was put forward that claimed she was seen
at Auschwitz with the Angel of Death, Doctor Josef Mengele selecting prisoners for the
gas chambers, and she claimed this may have happened, and that when some prisoners ran
away she may have beaten them. During this one incident it was said that she beat a prisoner
unconscious. Another witness claimed that she did attend selections, and forced prisoners
to stand at roll call for up to three to four hours, and one account even stated that to
escape two young girls jumped out of a window at Auschwitz, and whilst they lay on the ground
Grese shot them dead. The reports of Grese crimes shocked the courtroom, and many were
shocked how a young girl could take the lives so willingly of other people, despite being
in her early 20s.
As mentioned, she was captured at Bergen-Belsen, and at trial was sentenced to death for her
crimes. She was hanged at Hamelin Prison by British executioner Albert Pierrepoint, and
it was said of her execution, ‘We climbed the stairs to the cells where the condemned
were waiting. A German officer at the door leading to the corridor flung open the door
and we filed past the row of faces and into the execution chamber. The officers stood
at attention. Brigadier Paton-Walsh stood with his wristwatch raised. He gave me the
signal, and a sigh of released breath was audible in the chamber, I walked into the
corridor. 'Irma Grese', I called. The German guards quickly closed all grilles on twelve
of the inspection holes and opened one door. Irma Grese stepped out. The cell was far too
small for me to go inside, and I had to pinion her in the corridor. 'Follow me,' I said in
English, and O'Neil [sic] repeated the order in German. At 9.34 a.m. she walked into the
execution chamber, gazed for a moment at the officials standing round it, then walked on
to the centre of the trap, where I had made a chalk mark. She stood on this mark very
firmly, and as I placed the white cap over her head she said in her languid voice, 'Schnell'.
[English translation: 'Quickly'].[19] The drop crashed down, and the doctor followed
me into the pit and pronounced her dead. After twenty minutes the body was taken down and
placed in a coffin ready for burial.’
The crimes of Irma Grese were incredibly shocking. When she was executed, she was just 22, which
meant that her crimes were committed when she was around the age of 20. She had a very
different life to those of that age in the modern world, but remember that it was the
life she greatly wanted. Grese wanted to become a concentration camp guard, and took great
pleasure in the execution of prisoners and their ill treatment. This shows us the despicable
person that she really was. The crimes of Irma Grese are endless, and today many of
them remain untold.
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