Irma Grese
Irma Grese | |
---|---|
Belsen trial | |
Criminal penalty | Death |
SS career | |
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service/ | Schutzstaffel |
Years of service | 1940–1945 |
Rank | Helferin |
Unit |
Irmgard Ilse Ida Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was a
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
Early life
Irmgard Ilse Ida Grese[6] was born to Berta Grese and Alfred Grese, both dairy workers, on 7 October 1923. Irma was the third eldest (three sisters and two brothers).[7] In 1936, her mother committed suicide by drinking hydrochloric acid following the discovery of Alfred’s affair with a local pub owner's daughter.[8] Historian Peter Vronsky speculated that Alfred Grese joined the Nazi Party in 1937[9][10] and remarried in 1939.[8]
Irma's sister Helene said at Irma's trial that in primary school, when "girls were quarreling and fighting, [Irma] never had the courage to fight, but ... ran away."[11] In 1938, at the age of 14, Grese left school. She worked on a farm for six months, then in a shop, then at a hospital run by the SS for two years.[12]
Concentration camp guard
By her teenage years, Grese, like her sisters, wanted to join the
In 1940, she became an
Grese participated in prisoner selections for the gas chambers at Auschwitz.[14]: 219
In early 1945, Grese accompanied a prisoner evacuation transport from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück. In March, she went to Bergen-Belsen, along with a large number of prisoners from Ravensbrück.[14]: 219 Grese was captured by the British Army on 17 April 1945, with other SS personnel who did not flee.[15]
War crimes trial
Grese was among the 45 people accused of war crimes at the
Survivors provided detailed testimony of cruelties; they also claimed that she beat some women using a plaited whip.[7] Under direct examination, Irma Grese testified about her background:
I was born on 7 October 1923. In 1938 I left the elementary school and worked for six months on agricultural jobs at a farm, after which I worked in a shop in Lychen for six months. When I was 15 I went to a hospital in Hohenlychen, where I stayed for two years. I tried to become a nurse but the Labor Exchange would not allow that and sent me to work in a dairy in Fürstenberg. In July 1942, I tried again to become a nurse, but the Labour Exchange sent me to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, although I protested against it. I stayed there until March 1943, when I went to Birkenau Camp in Auschwitz. I remained in Auschwitz until January 1945.[7]
During the trial, the press labelled Grese as "the Beautiful Beast" alongside former
Grese and two other concentration camp workers, Johanna Bormann and Elisabeth Volkenrath, were convicted, along with eight men, for crimes committed at Auschwitz and Belsen, and sentenced to death. As the verdicts were read, Grese was the only prisoner to remain defiant.[17] Her subsequent appeal was rejected.[citation needed]
Execution
According to Wendy Adele-Marie Sarti, the night before her execution, Grese sang
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'].[20]
The original warrants of execution authorized by Montgomery, when returned after sentence was carried out, and witnessed by two British Army officers record a time of 09:34 for Elisabeth Volkenrath;[22] and a time of 10:03 for Irma Grese, indicating that Grese was the second to be hanged.[23] The third to be hanged was Johanna Bormann at 10:38.[24]
Pierrepoint's own Execution Diary, which was sold at auction in 2019, also records Grese as being the second to be hanged.[citation needed]
Dramatizations
Grese has been portrayed as a minor character in two films:
See also
References
- ^ "The Belsen trial". The Times. 18 September 1945. p. 6.
- ISBN 978-3641127091. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ Barbara Möller (30 August 2014). "Die Hyäne von Auschwitz". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ Sonja Peteranderl (2014). "Der Mann, der Rudolf Höß jagte; KZ-Aufseherin Irma Grese. Die 'Hyäne von Auschwitz'". Spiegel.de (in German). Hamburg. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
- ^ Pierre Heumann (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»
- ^ Speit, Andreas (3 January 2019). "Andreas Speit der rechte rand: Wie eine junge Frau als KZ-Aufseherin Karriere machte". Die Tageszeitung (in German). pp. 42 ePaper 22 Nord. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Excerpts from The Belsen Trial (5/5)". Nizkor.org. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
- ^ a b "First Belsen Trial Oberaufseherin Irma Ilse Ida Grese". bergenbelsen.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- ISBN 9781101205693– via Google Books.
- ^ "Biographie de Irma Grese Gardienne SS à Auschwitz" [Biography of Irma Grese, Guardian SS at Auschwitz]. BlogBoyerHistory.Bloguez.com. 18 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
- ^ a b Michael H. Kater (2006). Hitler Youth. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 70.
- ^ "Irma Grese". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-7519-9549-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-8353-0794-0.
- ISBN 9781442615700.
- ^ "Belsen Beast, Irma Grese hanged with nine other horror camp aides". UPI.com. Hamburg: UPI. 14 December 1945. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
- ^ "Verdicts in the Belsen Trial", The Times, 17 November 1945, pg. 4.
- ISBN 978-1936320127.
- ^ "Belsen Gang Hanged". The Times. 15 December 1945.
- ^ "Nazi She-Devils". The Mirror. 21 November 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-245-52070-9.
- ^ "Death Warrant - Elizabeth Volkenrath". www.bergenbelsen.co.uk/.
- ^ "Death Warrant - Irma Grese". www.bergenbelsen.co.uk.
- ^ "Death Warrant - Juana Bormann". www.bergenbelsen.co.uk.
External links
- The Justified Execution of Irma Grese or The Beast of Belsen, video at YouTube
- The Belsen Trial, Law-Reports of Trials of War Criminals, The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Volume II, London, HMSO, 1947; retrieved 22 December 2006.
- SS-Frauen am Galgen, max.mmvi.de; retrieved 22 December 2006.(in German)
- Irma Grese, Capital Punishment U.K., retrieved on 6 December 2009.
- Irma Grese, Auschwitz.dk, retrieved on 22 December 2006.
- Auschwitz: Inside The Nazi State; Corruption: Episode 4, PBS.org; retrieved 22 December 2006.
- Excerpts from The Belsen Trial - Part 5 of 5: Testimony of and concerning Irma Grese Archived 4 June 2011 at the The Nizkor Project; retrieved 22 December 2006.