In an attempt to make the world aware that Auschwitz was not just a men’s prison, we have published the horrifying biographies of more than 200 SS female prisoners at Auschwitz.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau state museum’s project titled “Women working with the SS” documents the lives of the women from their birth to how they served Adolf Hitler in World War II.
Maria Mandl (a senior SS guard at Auschwitz between October 1942 and October 1944) was one of these women. Her nickname was “The Beast” by prisoner.
Her mother was a shoemaker’s daughter. She was born 1912 and began her work in the Nazi concentration camps in Lichtenburg Germany.
1942 saw her sent to Auschwitz, where she quickly became famous for her sadness and the fact that she had sent “an estimated half million women and children to death in the gas chambers.”
SS women arrive at an SS holiday camp in the town of Porąbka in what was then German-occupied Poland
Maria Mandl (a senior SS guard at Auschwitz between October 1942 and October 1944) was one of them. Maria was also nicknamed “The Beast” by prisoner.
Auschwitz Museum’s education section reports that Mandl organized an event for camp senior staff in May 1944.
One of the guests was Walter Dejaco (Austrian architect), head of Central Construction Management of Waffen SS and Police Auschwitz.
He drew the plans for Birkenau’s crematorium, gas chambers, and other facilities. He left a note in Maria Mandl’s guestbook as a token of gratitude and appreciation for Maria Mandl’s invitation to his party.
Other pictures published on the website show SS women arriving at an SS holiday camp in the town of Porąbka in what was then German-occupied Poland.
Female guards at the SS holiday camp in the town of Porąbka
SS women arriving at an SS holiday camp in the town of Porąbka in what was then German occupied Poland
Dr Sylwia Wysińska from the Auschwitz Museum’s education department said: ‘Some female SS guards working in the camp spent their free time meeting SS men after work.
SS officers were known to have made nighttime visits, which must have been loud since the Commandant in March 1943 forbid them from entering female quarters.
‘It didn’t stop female SS guards engaging in intimate relations with SS males.
“As such, Auschwitz saw dozens of marriages and some were even formed.”
Luise Vicktoria Rust was one. Born on January 14, 1915 in Varel in Lower Saxony in November 1940 she started to work as a female SS guard in Ravensbrück concentration camp for women.
According to the website, “She was in Auschwitz between April 1942 and January 1945.”
‘In this period, she met SS Rottenführer Heinz Schulz, whom she married in July 1943.
“During her preparations for the wedding, she requested that her wedding gown be made in the tailor shop of the camp.
Born on January 14, 1915 in Varel in Lower Saxony in November 1940 Luise Viktoria Rust started to work as a female SS guard in Ravensbrück concentration camp for women
Herta Martha, a Brandenburg native, was another.
From May 1941 to October 1942, Tack worked in Ravensbrück concentration camp for women, where she guarded the prisoners working in road construction.
The website states that she was taken to Auschwitz in 1942, where she met Friedrich Stiwitz (SS officer), who was a leader of the report section for the men.
“In May 1944 during a brief holiday, the couple were married.”
Herta Martha (left) and Friedrich Stiwitz, SS Officer (right), got married on a very short vacation in May 1944.
Among the women featured in the project is Emma Zimmer, who worked as a female SS guard at three concentration camps and was later awarded the War Merit Cross Second Class without Swords for her long-time service for the SS.
Born on August 14, 1888, in Haßmersheim, she started work as a guard from December 1937, initially in Lichtenberg concentration camp and from May 1939 in Ravensbrück concentration camp for women.
She was sent to Auschwitz at the start of October 1942. There she remained until December 1943.
For her service in the SS for so many years, the War Merit Cross Second Class with no Swords was presented to her in September 1943.
Later that year however, Due to her health issues, age and abuse of alcohol at work, she ended her career as a female SS Guard in Concentration Camps.
She was later detained by US military forced in the spring of 1945 and deported to internment camp number 77 in Ludwigsburg.
She was then handed to British authorities. She was sentenced to death by hanging by the British military tribunal in the 6th Ravensbrück Trial. It was executed in September 1948.
Therese brandl, a female SS guard sentenced to death for her work at three concentration camps in 1940 and 1945 was also a SS guard.
Emma Zimmer (left), a former female SS guard in three concentration camps, is among the women included in this project. Later, she was sentenced by the British military tribunal to be hanged. Therese Brandl, a female guard in the SS who served at three concentration camps from 1940 to 1945 was also sentenced.
Brandl, born on February 1, 1909 in the Bavarian town Staudach, worked at Ravensbrück concentration camp for women from September 1940 to March 1942.
Later, she was assigned to Auschwitz concentration camp where she remained until the end 1944. She served as SS report leader and supervised Rajsko prisoners.
In December 1944, she was delegated at her own request to work in the subcamp Mühldorf.
In the case against forty former Auschwitz staff members, she was sentenced by hanging to death. Jan 1948 saw the execution of her sentence.
Elisabeth Lupka, a senior female SS officer was also sentenced. She had worked for Auschwitz between 1943-1945 and was a supervisor of prisoners. There, she was responsible for the supervision of Birkenau prisoner workers.
After the evacuation of the camp, she was appointed to work in Ravensbrück.
Her arrest by the British Army, Schwerin, occurred June 1945. In December 1946, her Auschwitz activities led to her being extradited to Poland. Her execution by hanging was carried out on July 6, 1948.
Luise Helene Elisabeth Danz (left) worked in Auschwitz from September 1944, where she was a report leader in section BIIb in Birkenau. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Lupka (right) was sentenced to death after she worked at Auschwitz for two years between 1943 and 1945
Meanwhile, Luise Helene Elisabeth Danz, born on December 11, 1917 in the small town of Walldorf near Meiningen in Thuringia, also worked at Ravensbrück concentration camp.
In February 1943, she trained there at a female SS guard before being sent to Lublin concentration camp.
She was evacuated from the camp by spring 1944 and was sent to Plaszow, then to Auschwitz in September 1944. In Auschwitz she served as a leader of section BIIb, Birkenau.
Danz moved once more after the evacuation of camp in January 1945. delegated to Malchow subcamp, which was under the command of Ravensbrück concentration camp.
She was sentenced in 1947 to life imprisonment. Ten years later, she received amnesty.
SS Women arrive at a SS Holiday Camp in German-occupied Poland
Dr Wysińska said: ‘Although the number of women compared to men was small, it does not change the fact that not just men, but also women actively supported the functioning of the concentration camps and had their share in the crimes committed there.
It was found that most Auschwitz-based women had just completed elementary school and were single. Although a few guards did complete secondary school, most had no academic backgrounds.
Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka was the director of E-learning at museum.
Elle continued, “Under the influence peer pressures, the behavior of many of them became ever more violent.”
“Serving as a prisoner in a concentration camp helped to develop exultant feelings that were unattainable under normal circumstances.”
According to the website, it continued that historians had focused on men for many years and not women’s concentration camp work.
“Scientific research on war crimes in relation to military actions and concentration camp operations revealed that SS soldiers, SS doctors, and Gestapo functionaries were the most likely perpetrators.
Monika Miklas worked as a female SS watch guard at Auschwitz starting in April 1943.
“This was mainly due to the fact women in camp were only a fraction of all the staff.
“The 200 SS women auxiliaries who worked in Auschwitz were stenography specialists, nurses or guards. This is a very small amount compared to the thousands of SS men that served at camp from 1940 through 1945.
“Nevertheless, this does not alter the fact that men and women supported concentration camps’ operation, as well as their participation in crimes committed at them.
Monika Miklas was one of them. She worked as a female SS Guard at Auschwitz from April 1943.
One of her functions included being a block leader and monitoring the camp’s packaging station.
After the evacuation of Auschwitz, she was delegated to work in Ravensbrück, where she remained until spring 1945. Eight years was the sentence she received.
Other female SS guards who were sentenced to imprisonment included Emilia Macha, Gertrud Weniger and Gertrud Anna Zlotos.