Video: The blond devil from Auschwitz: How a young beauty who tortured thousands of people in a concentration camp became a symbol of sophisticated cruelty
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
During the trial of Nazi criminals in 1945, one girl stood out among the accused. She was pretty pretty, but sat with an unreadable face. It was Irma Grese - a sadist, what else to look for. She strangely combined beauty and extraordinary cruelty. Bringing torment to people gave her special pleasure, for which the overseer of the concentration camp received the nickname "blond devil."
Irma Grese was born in 1923. She was one of five children in the family. When Irma was 13 years old, her mother committed suicide by drinking acid. She could not bear the beating of her husband.
Two years after the death of her mother, Irma dropped out of school. She began to be active in the Union of German Girls, tried several professions, and at the age of 19, despite the protests of her father, she enrolled in the auxiliary units of the SS.
Irma Grese began her career in the Ravensbrück camp, then, of her own free will, she was transferred to Auschwitz. Grese fulfilled her duties so zealously that six months later she became the senior warden, the second person after the camp commandant. Today it sounds pretty funny, but Irma Grese said that she was not going to remain a warden all her life, and then she wanted to play in a movie.
For her beauty and terrible cruelty, Grese received the nicknames "Blonde Devil", "Angel of Death", "Beautiful Monster". A warden with a beautiful hairdo, the scent of expensive perfume that emanated from her, fully justified her nicknames. She dealt with prisoners with particular sadism.
In addition to weapons, Irma always had a whip with her. She personally beat female prisoners to death, arranged shooting during the formation, and selected those who would go to the gas chamber. But most of all she enjoyed the "fun" with the dogs. Grese deliberately starved them and then set them on prisoners. She even had a lampshade made from the skin of murdered women.
In March 1945, at the personal request of Irma Grese, she was transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. A month later, she was captured by British troops. The former warden, along with other workers of the concentration camp, appeared before the court, which was called the "Belsen trial". She was sentenced to death by hanging. The verdict was carried out on December 13, 1945.
According to eyewitnesses, on the night before the execution, Irma Grese, together with another sentenced Elisabeth Volkenrath, sang songs and laughed. The next day, when a noose was thrown around her neck, Irma, with an impenetrable face, threw the executioner: "Schneller" (German for "faster"). The "Angel of Death" at that time was only 22 years old. During its short existence, it took the lives of thousands of people.
When British troops occupied the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the spring of 1945, they were unprepared for what they saw. LIFE photographer George Rodger took shocking pictures in the first days after the release of prisoners.
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