Ilse Koch
In April 1945, after the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp by the US forces,
1000 civilians of the nearby city of Weimar were compelled to come and see atrocities which their
own government had committed during World War 2. Many of them were crying and some of them even
fainted as they witnessed terrible evidence of horror brutality and human indecency. They had to
see not only the camp’s living quarters but also various exhibits of Nazi origin such as lampshades
made of human skin made at the request of the camp commandant’s wife. Her name was Ilse Koch.
Ilse Koch was born on 22 September, 1906 in Dresden, Germany. Her father was a former
military commander and Ilse joined the Nazi Party in 1932. In 1934 she met Karl Koch.
They got married in 1936 and the same year she began to work as a guard and secretary
at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp where her husband was the Commandant.
Her infamous career is mostly connected with Buchenwald concentration camp
where Ilse’s husband Karl became the commander in 1937.
The crimes that Ilse Koch committed in the Buchenwald concentration camp are so heinous
that they catch up with the atrocities of the Nazi "angel of death", the infamous Josef Mengele.
She was obsessed with tattoos and used to ride her horse around the concentration camp looking
for tattooed prisoners. When she found one, she sent them to their death but before they
was killed and burned, she had carved out the part of their skin where the tattoo was located.
She used to call these pieces of skin her “ trophies”.
She would go on to collect lampshades; book covers as well as a handbags – all made of human skin.
She shared her obsession with tattoos with Dr. Erich Wagner,
allegedly her lover, who wanted to find connection between tattoos and criminal tendencies.
Despite having her own children, she hated pregnant women
and she used to beat them with whip fitted with razor blades at the end.
Koch also found pleasure in beating children inmates
and she would laugh as they were being sent to gas chambers.
She loved luxury and did not hesitate to flaunt it. This would ultimately bring about their
downfall as Ilse and Karl Koch were charged with private enrichment due to capital, they had stolen
for themselves from the inmates; along with murder of prisoners. An SS court sentenced her husband
to death by firing squad. While Karl Koch was executed in Buchenwald concentration camp just a
few days before the allied troops came to liberate the camp, Ilse was acquitted for lack of evidence.
After the war, her son committed suicide because he couldn't live with the shame
of the crimes of his parents and Ilse Koch had to face justice in the end.
She was captured by the allies and tried twice. On the 15 January 1951 the court of the second
trial sentenced Ilse Koch to life imprisonment. While spending the reminder of her life in prison,
Koch became delusional and convinced that those who she had tortured in concentration camps,
would want their revenge. On 1 September 1967, at the age of 60, Koch hang herself in the cell.
There were no tears shed for Ilse Koch.