Irma Grese

Irma Grese
Grese in August 1945, while awaiting trial
Born
Irmgard Ilse Ida Grese

(1923-10-07)7 October 1923
Wrechen, Germany
Died13 December 1945(1945-12-13) (aged 22)
Hamelin, Germany
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
OrganizationSS-Gefolge (Women's SS Division)
Criminal statusExecuted
MotiveNazism
Sadism
Conviction(s)War crimes
TrialBelsen trial
Criminal penaltyDeath
SS career
AllegianceNazi Germany
Service/branchSchutzstaffel
Years of service1940–1945
RankHelferin
Unit

Irmgard Ilse Ida Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was a Nazi concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and served as warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen.[1] She was a volunteer member of the SS.

Grese was convicted of crimes involving the ill-treatment and murder of Jewish prisoners committed at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, and sentenced to death at the Belsen trial. Executed at 22 years of age, Grese was the youngest woman to die judicially under British law in the 20th century. Auschwitz inmates nicknamed her the "Hyena of Auschwitz" ("die Hyäne von Auschwitz")[2][3][4][5] and she has been described by survivors as “the paragon of evil.”[6]

  1. ^ "The Belsen trial". The Times. 18 September 1945. p. 6.
  2. ^ Hollander-Lafon, Magda (2013). Vier Stückchen Brot: Ein Hymne an das Leben (in German). Verlag. p. 95. ISBN 978-3641127091. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  3. ^ Möller, Barbara (30 August 2014). "Die Hyäne von Auschwitz". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  4. ^ Peteranderl, Sonja (2014). "Der Mann, der Rudolf Höß jagte; KZ-Aufseherin Irma Grese. Die 'Hyäne von Auschwitz'". Spiegel.de (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  5. ^ Heumann, Pierre (2013). "Hitlers Furien". Die Weltwoche Magazin (in German). Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2015. Grese, die «Hyäne von Auschwitz»
  6. ^ "Ravensbrück: training center for SS female guards". Alliance for Human Research Protection. Retrieved 21 September 2024.