“The Br*tal Ex*cutions of the Female Guards at Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp “

April 1945: The Allied forces break through the gates of Bergen-Belsen, a Nazi concentration camp located in Lower Saxony, Germany. What they discover is beyond what they expected: thousands of unburied corpses, bodies piled up in the mud amidst the stench of death, while men, women, and children agonize in full view of a world that had until then ignored their suffering.

But what is particularly chilling is the presence of a group of women armed with whips and rifles—female guards trained under the ideology of the Third Reich who turned their role into a brutal display of power and cruelty. Far from offering relief to the victims, these prison guards became key pieces in the machinery of horror.

Among them stands Irma Grese, nicknamed the “Angel of Death,” a figure whose ferocity wiped out any trace of compassion. This chapter of history reveals that cruelty had no gender, and that after the fall of the Reich, justice sought to balance the scales.

The last shadows over the gallows: the end of the female guards in Hamelin.

Between September and December of 1945, the so-called Belsen trials took place, just a few months after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the Allied forces. These trials were held even before the more famous Nuremberg trials began. The presentation of visual evidence of the conditions in the camps marked a milestone, as film recordings were used for the first time as evidence in a military court. These proceedings were closely followed by the international press and provided a detailed perspective on what had occurred behind the barbed wire.

Between 1945 and 1949, British military courts in the occupied zone of Germany judged hundreds of accused war criminals. Of the 937 prosecuted, 677 were convicted. Among the sentences handed down, 230 included the death penalty, and 174 executions were carried out before the end of 1945. Most of these executions took place at Hamelin Prison, a facility located in Lower Saxony adapted for the enforcement of capital punishment according to British guidelines.

Albert Pierrepoint, appointed by the British Army, was in charge of carrying out the executions at Hamelin. The executions were conducted in a separate area from the main building, in a section adapted with a gallows inspired by the one used at Pentonville Prison in London. This structure had wide trapdoors prepared for double executions if necessary.

In total, 191 men and 10 women were executed. Among these women were three guards associated with Bergen-Belsen: Irma Grese, Johanna Bormann, and Elisabeth Volkenrath. For these cases, regulations required the presence of at least one appropriately ranked female prison officer. Sub-Governor Wilson from Strangeways Prison was present at the first female executions on December 13th, 1945. However, Pierrepoint personally handled all the technical aspects of the procedure.

Irma Grese, the youngest woman sentenced to death under British law, was hanged at the age of twenty-two. Some reports mentioned that she attempted to resist having the hood placed over her head. According to testimonies, the word

“Schnell!”

could be heard at the last moment.

Bormann and Volkenrath followed. One of them, who was short in stature, had been nicknamed “Wiesel” in some documents, while the other had made statements about the conditions in the camp. However, the sentences were carried out as ordered, with no alterations to the planned order. Thus ended the fate of the female guards in Hamelin—a chapter recorded in the trial records and in the memory of those who witnessed the executions.

Albert Pierrepoint: the unrelenting executioner of the British Army.

Albert Pierrepoint was a central figure in British justice after World War II, serving as the executioner in war crimes trials in Germany. His twenty-five-year career made him one of the most prolific executioners in history, with more than 600 executions to his name, including some of the most notorious Nazi war criminals.

Pierrepoint was no ordinary man. He came from a family of executioners, following in the footsteps of his father Henry and his uncle Thomas, who had also worked in this profession in Britain. From a young age, Pierrepoint showed an interest in his family’s work. At the age of twenty-seven, in 1932, he was hired as an assistant executioner and carried out his first execution in December of that year under the supervision of his uncle.

In 1941, he assumed the role of chief executioner and began to build his reputation. Before the Belsen trials, he was already known for carrying out high-profile executions in Britain, such as those of Gordon Cummins, known as the “Blackout Ripper,” and John Haigh, the “Acid Bath Murderer.”

His method was meticulous. Pierrepoint calculated the exact length of the rope based on the height and weight of the prisoner, ensuring the fall would be precise enough to cause an instant death by neck fracture. He tested each gallows with weight sacks to ensure everything functioned correctly. This professional approach allowed him to carry out multiple executions in a single day, often with clinical precision.

In the Belsen trials, Pierrepoint was selected to carry out the executions of the condemned, both men and women. On December 13th, 1945, at Hamelin Prison, he oversaw the execution of thirteen war criminals, including members of the SS responsible for crimes at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Among them were three women: Irma Grese, Johanna Bormann, and Elisabeth Volkenrath. Pierrepoint began with the women, executing them one by one, before proceeding with the men in pairs using the specially designed double gallows for the purpose.

Pierrepoint also played a role in the execution of German spies during the war, including Karel Richter, who had been captured after parachuting into England. However, his most intensive work occurred after the war, when he repeatedly traveled to Germany and Austria to carry out mass executions, sometimes hanging as many as seventeen people in two days.

Despite his prolific career, Pierrepoint retired in 1956 after a dispute with the British government over the payment for a last-minute canceled execution. He later ran a pub with his wife and led a quiet life until his death in 1992 at the age of eighty-seven. His legacy, though controversial, positions him as a key figure in the implementation of justice after the war crimes of the Third Reich.

The bloody liberation of Bergen-Belsen.

On April 15th, 1945, soldiers of the 63rd Anti-Tank Regiment of the British 11th Armoured Division entered Bergen-Belsen, a concentration camp located in Northern Germany. The operation was not a planned assault, but a tactical decision made after a German emissary alerted the Allies about a typhus outbreak in the camp. The situation, however, was far more critical than they had anticipated.

Upon entering, the soldiers found a scene that defied any notion of victory: 13,000 unburied bodies and 60,000 prisoners on the brink of death. Liberation did not bring an immediate end to the suffering. Severe malnutrition and disease caused the death of hundreds of people per day for weeks. Many survivors, weakened by months of starvation and abuse, succumbed even after receiving medical care. The initial rations provided by the soldiers, meant to restore strength, proved too heavy for the prisoners’ weakened bodies, further aggravating the crisis.

Bergen-Belsen, although lacking gas chambers, had been transformed into a place of mass death under the command of SS Captain Josef Kramer, known as the “Beast of Belsen.” Originally intended as a transit camp and prisoner-of-war facility, it became a receiving point for detainees evacuated from other camps in the east, resulting in extreme overcrowding and a total collapse of sanitary conditions. The spread of diseases such as typhus, combined with a lack of food and medical care, had caused the deaths of tens of thousands before the arrival of the Allies.

The liberation operation faced monumental challenges. British soldiers, initially trained for combat, were forced to take on humanitarian tasks under extreme conditions. Mass disinfection of the camp, the burial of bodies in mass graves, and medical assistance to survivors were carried out under constant risk of contagion. The typhus outbreak, which had already devastated the camp population, continued to claim lives even after the rescuers’ arrival.

The figures speak to the scale of the tragedy: of the 50,000 people who died at Bergen-Belsen, 35,000 had died in the months before liberation, and thousands more in the weeks that followed. For the prisoners, liberation was just the beginning of a struggle for survival that many would not overcome.

The liberation of Bergen-Belsen, although a turning point in the Allied campaign, highlighted the devastation caused by the camp’s conditions. The images captured by British soldiers became a graphic testimony to the crimes committed and one of the first direct pieces of evidence of the atrocities of the Holocaust.

Revenge and chaos: the first executions after the fall of Bergen-Belsen.

In the final days of World War II, Bergen-Belsen became a site of vengeance and chaos after the British forces arrived on April 15th, 1945. Before the liberation, many SS members had abandoned the camp, leaving a small group headed by Captain Josef Kramer in charge of internal control. However, Hungarian and regular German troops remained in the vicinity, maintaining surveillance around the camp.

The situation became critical when the British, with insufficient personnel, allowed the Hungarian guards to continue performing security duties. The confusion for the prisoners was immediate, as the same supervisors who had exercised control under the Nazi regime were now acting under Allied command. This scenario led to acts of violence, such as when the guards shot at starving prisoners attempting to access food storage. These incidents marked a chaotic beginning to the British administration of the camp.

In the nearby satellite camp of Hannoversche-Münden, the arrival of prisoners transferred from Mittelbau-Dora triggered an unprecedented act of reprisal. The kapos, former prisoners who had served as supervisors under the Nazi regime, became the target of a massive attack. Defenseless, the prisoners organized in shifts to beat and stomp on the kapos until they were unrecognizable. When British authorities inspected the barracks, they found a scene that testified to the intensity of the unleashed violence: pools of blood and mutilated bodies were the only remnants of the supervisors.

The confusion at the camp did not end there. On April 20th, four German planes attacked Bergen-Belsen, possibly alerted by soldiers authorized to return to the German lines after the liberation. This attack damaged the facilities, including the water supply, worsening the public health crisis at the camp. Three members of the British medical staff were killed in the bombing, further complicating efforts to stabilize the situation.

The British attempted to restore order through symbolic and practical actions. They ordered the remaining SS personnel in the camp to bury the corpses in mass graves without gloves or protective clothing, and under strict supervision. The SS guards carried out this task under extreme conditions; some contracted typhus, and at least seventeen died due to exposure. Others tried to escape, but were captured and executed by British forces in the following weeks.

The surviving prisoners were transferred to a displaced persons’ camp, and Bergen-Belsen became marked as a place where liberation brought with it a wave of retribution and disorder that prolonged suffering and chaos after the collapse of the Nazi regime.

Elisabeth Volkenrath: the architect of fates in the concentration camps.

Elisabeth Volkenrath, one of the key figures among the female guards of the Nazi concentration camps, played a decisive role in managing and selecting prisoners during her career at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Born in 1919, her trajectory within the Nazi structure began in October 1941, when she was assigned as a guard at Ravensbrück. There, she became familiar with the system of repression and supervision, coinciding with Irma Grese, who would later hold higher ranks at Auschwitz.

In 1942, Volkenrath was transferred to Auschwitz, where her role gained greater importance. Along with her husband, Heinz Volkenrath, a block leader of the SS, she actively participated in the selections that determined who would be sent to work and who would go to the gas chambers. During her time at Auschwitz, she rose to become the chief supervisor of the women’s sections of the camp, solidifying her role as a central figure in the daily operation of this control machinery.

Subsequent testimonies revealed that in addition to supervising, she participated in acts of physical violence against prisoners. Although she was not known for the extreme sadism of other guards, Volkenrath imposed physical punishments on prisoners who disobeyed or failed to comply with orders. She carried a pistol as a symbol of authority, using it to enforce order within the barracks and during marches.

In February 1945, she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she assumed the role of chief supervisor. Despite her brief period at this camp, her leadership was marked by harsh treatment of the prisoners. According to witnesses, during mandatory baths she physically punished those who did not comply quickly with orders, even knocking them unconscious by beating them. It was also reported that she threw prisoners down the stairs and smashed them against walls, contributing to the extreme conditions that characterized Bergen-Belsen during its final months of operation.

After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British forces in April 1945, Volkenrath was arrested and later tried in the Belsen trials. During the trial, she admitted to having inflicted physical punishments on prisoners, but claimed she was acting under higher orders and had no other choice. She also attempted to justify her actions by stating that she had made efforts to improve conditions in the camp—a claim that was refuted by multiple witnesses who described her involvement in acts of violence and mistreatment.

On December 13th, 1945, Volkenrath was executed at Hamelin Prison after being found guilty of war crimes. Her role in the concentration camps positioned her as one of the key figures among the Nazi guards whose actions and decisions were documented as part of the testimonies of the system that defined the fates of thousands of people.

Irma Grese: from the Hyena of Auschwitz to the Angel of Death.

Irma Grese, known by a series of nicknames that reflected both her appearance and her brutality, left an indelible mark on the history of the Nazi concentration camps. From the “Hyena of Auschwitz” to the “Bitch of Belsen,” Grese was feared by both prisoners and fellow guards alike. Although she was only nineteen years old when she began her career as a concentration camp guard, her cruelty and sadism set her apart from the approximately 2,500 women who worked as guards in the Nazi system. Upon her death in 1945, the newspapers dubbed her the “Angel of Death,” a title she shared with the notorious Josef Mengele.

Grese was born in 1923 into a German farming family. At the age of fifteen, she left school after her mother’s suicide, and with a deep affinity for Nazi ideology, she joined the SS. In 1941, she volunteered to receive training at the Ravensbrück camp, a center dedicated to training future concentration camp guards. Her rise through the ranks was swift, and by 1943, she was transferred to Auschwitz, where she was assigned to supervise 18,000 female prisoners.

Grese stood out for her sadistic behavior, regularly using a whip, a pistol, and trained dogs to terrorize the female prisoners. According to testimonies from survivors, Grese punished women severely for minor infractions. Her attacks with a reinforced cellophane whip caused wounds that often became infected, leading to prolonged suffering for many prisoners. Additionally, it was reported that Grese forced a medical prisoner to perform surgical procedures without anesthesia on women with severe infections, intensifying their suffering.

In Auschwitz, Grese also became notorious for her forced marches. Often riding a bicycle and accompanied by trained dogs, she supervised the prisoners as they marched for miles to work sites. Those who could not keep up with the pace were attacked by her dogs under her orders. This behavior, though extreme even by Nazi concentration camp standards, was part of the reputation that cemented her name in history.

In 1945, Grese was transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she assumed a similar leadership role. There, her behavior did not soften, and she continued to use intimidation tactics and violence to assert her authority. She was captured after the liberation of the camp by British troops and tried during the Belsen trials. During the trial, numerous survivors provided detailed testimonies of her crimes.

On December 13th, 1945, Irma Grese was executed at Hamelin Prison by Albert Pierrepoint, becoming the youngest woman to be hanged under British law in the twentieth century. Her life and actions remain a disturbing reminder of the capacity for cruelty within a system that stripped people of their humanity.

Johanna Bormann: the terror of the camps with teeth and chains.

Johanna Bormann, born on September 10th, 1893 in Birkenfelde, East Prussia, played a brutal role in the Nazi concentration camps. Her career as a guard was marked by her constant use of violence and the control she exerted through her dog—an instrument she repeatedly used to punish the prisoners under her supervision. Despite her denials during the trial, multiple survivor testimonies confirmed her involvement in acts of torture.

Before joining the SS, Bormann worked in a mental asylum, where she earned only twenty marks a month. Her entry into the Nazi system in 1938 as a civilian employee represented not only a significant economic improvement, with a salary of 150 marks per month, but also a shift in her social position. Initially assigned to Ravensbrück as a kitchen assistant, she steadily rose to positions of greater responsibility. In this camp, she became notorious for her severity and cruelty towards the prisoners.

In 1943, Bormann was transferred to Auschwitz, where she is suspected of participating in selections carried out by Josef Mengele, although she denied this accusation at her trial. She was later sent to the subcamp of Birkenau, and eventually to Bergen-Belsen.

In Bergen-Belsen, her role included overseeing the area designated for caring for pigs, a task she used to severely punish prisoners who attempted to access food meant for the animals. The use of her dog as a tool for control and torture was one of the most notable characteristics of her behavior. Survivor testimonies described how Bormann would release the dog to attack prisoners, causing serious injuries and, in some cases, death.

During her trial, Bormann attempted to justify her relationship with the dog, claiming it was just a pet and that she never used it as a weapon. However, witness accounts indicated otherwise. In one specific case, she was accused of ordering her dog to attack a prisoner while she was menstruating, an action that resulted in severe injuries.

Bormann also resorted to traditional methods of physical punishment, such as whipping and beatings. Female prisoners recounted how she would often strike the inmates with clubs and subject them to torture for minor offenses, solidifying her reputation as a feared figure within the camps.

After the liberation of Belsen, Bormann was captured and put on trial at the Belsen trials. Although she tried to minimize her involvement, statements from numerous witnesses and survivors presented a clear picture of her role in the crimes committed. On December 13th, 1945, she was executed at the Hamelin Prison. Johanna Bormann went down in history as an example of the active role women played in the Nazi repression system, using both physical force and psychological control to maintain order in the concentration camps.

Herta Bothe: the guard who evaded full justice.

Herta Bothe, born on January 8th, 1921 in Teterow, Mecklenburg, was one of the many women who actively participated in the structure of the Nazi concentration camps. Known for her time at Bergen-Belsen, Bothe became an example of how some individuals managed to evade harsher sentences despite being involved in crimes committed in the final years of the war.

Before joining the concentration camps, she worked as a domestic servant and briefly trained as a nurse. In 1942, she was recruited by the SS and sent to Ravensbrück, where she received training as a supervisor. However, she stayed there for only a week before being transferred to Stutthof near Danzig. During her two years at this camp, she supervised prisoners and learned the dynamics of control within the Nazi system.

In 1944, she was transferred to Bromberg, where she worked until January 1945, when she began an evacuation with other staff members to Bergen-Belsen.

At Bergen-Belsen, Bothe assumed different roles. She initially worked in the camp’s bathhouse, but was later assigned to the wood commando, where she oversaw about sixty prisoners, both men and women, tasked with collecting and distributing wood within the camp. Survivor testimonies recounted how Bothe resorted to beatings with wooden sticks and used her fists to punish prisoners for minor infractions, such as stealing food or firewood.

There were also reports of cases where she allegedly shot prisoners for fun, though during her trial she denied carrying a weapon. One of the most shocking accounts attributed to Bothe was of a beating that led to the death of a prisoner who had been caught stealing turnip peels. According to witnesses, Bothe later ordered other prisoners to dispose of the body. Despite these accusations, Bothe claimed that she only imposed light punishments, such as slapping prisoners caught in acts of theft.

During the Belsen trial, her defense focused on minimizing her role in the camp and arguing that she was merely following orders. She claimed that the conditions at Bergen-Belsen in the final months of the war were completely out of her control. Additionally, her lawyer emphasized her age of twenty-four at the time of her capture, and argued that she had arrived at the camp when the Nazi infrastructure was already collapsing.

The court determined that Bothe was guilty of war crimes and sentenced her to ten years in prison. However, her sentence was reduced, and she was released on December 21st, 1951, having served less than half of her sentence. Despite numerous testimonies pointing to her involvement in violent acts, her defense strategy and the political circumstances after the war allowed her to live as a free woman for the rest of her life.

Herta Bothe remains a prominent case in history as an example of how some individuals involved in Nazi crimes managed to avoid harsher sentences, leaving a legacy of questions regarding responsibility and justice after the collapse of the regime.

Irene Haschke: the cook of Bergen-Belsen who spread terror.

Irene Haschke, born in 1921, was a young textile factory worker before her life took a radical turn in 1944. At just twenty-three years old, she was recruited by the SS to work as a guard in the Nazi concentration camps. Although her time at Bergen-Belsen was brief, her name repeatedly appeared in survivor testimonies, marking her as a violent and feared figure within the camp.

Unlike many other guards, Haschke did not have a formal role related to the direct supervision of prisoners. Her primary position was in Kitchens 2 and 3 of the camp, where she oversaw the preparation and distribution of food. However, reports indicate that she used this position to subject the prisoners to acts of cruelty that appeared to be arbitrary. She was accused of deliberately spilling prisoners’ soup, denying them a second serving, and forcing them to wait until the next meal.

Her violence was not limited to the kitchens. It is known that she would often walk around the camp with a rubber club, beating girls and women for no apparent reason. One of the most disturbing testimonies recounts how, just days before the liberation, she pushed a prisoner into a water system, causing her death by drowning. Haschke then ordered two other prisoners to retrieve the body and bury it near the camp.

At her trial, Haschke tried to minimize her responsibility, claiming that her actions were provoked by minor incidents, such as prisoners spilling soup or dirtying the kitchen floor. She also attempted to shift the blame onto her male supervisors, Karl Francioh and Nicholas Jenner, who had primary roles in the kitchens. However, multiple testimonies indicated that her acts of violence were carried out on her own initiative, and her behavior was feared due to its unpredictability.

Although she admitted to hitting prisoners on certain occasions, she denied committing the more serious crimes she was accused of. However, the court found enough evidence to convict her of war crimes, sentencing her to ten years in prison. She was released in 1951, having served less than half of her sentence.

Little is known about Irene Haschke’s life after her release. She had no known family and no fixed residence at that time, and no further details about her whereabouts later on were recorded. Her case illustrates how some individuals, initially unconnected to the structures of repression, integrated and actively participated in the Nazi system, committing horrific acts without showing remorse or empathy towards their victims. Haschke remains a minor figure in the machinery of Bergen-Belsen, but her individual actions contributed to the suffering of those under her supervision.

Herta Ehlert: from baker to guard, the common face of horror.

Herta Ehlert, born in 1905, is a clear example of how an apparently ordinary life can become an active part of a system of oppression and death. Before joining the Nazi concentration camp system, she worked as a bakery assistant in Berlin, a job she left in 1939 when she was recruited by the employment office to work as a civil servant in the SS. Although women could not officially be part of the organization, Ehlert began to operate within its structure, receiving a uniform and a salary significantly higher than her previous job.

Her first assignment was in Ravensbrück, a concentration camp dedicated to training female guards. According to her testimony, her initial role was minor, limited to separating civilian workers from prisoners. However, over time her responsibilities grew, and in 1942, she was transferred to Majdanek. In this camp, she began supervising work groups and carrying out orders for punishment, marking the beginning of her direct participation in the dynamics of control and repression.

In 1944, Ehlert was sent back to Ravensbrück to undergo advanced training under the direction of Dorothea Binz, a supervisor known for instructing guards in harsh disciplinary methods. During this period, Ehlert underwent a noticeable transformation, adopting the violent practices that would later define her behavior in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.

At Auschwitz, Ehlert supervised the work of the female commandos, carrying out orders from higher-ups in the camp hierarchy. Later, she was transferred to the subcamp of Rajsko, Poland, where she continued in her role as a supervisor.

Her transfer to Bergen-Belsen in the final months of the war solidified her position within the Nazi structure, assuming the role of deputy chief guard under the direction of Elisabeth Volkenrath and Irma Grese. Unlike Grese, Ehlert was not known for her physical appearance or charisma; she was described as an obese, clumsy woman, but highly cunning and malicious.

In Bergen-Belsen, she used the whip as her primary tool of control, inflicting severe punishments on the prisoners. Testimonies against her indicated that she forced women to strip under the pretext of inspections and subjected them to thorough searches looking for valuables. It was also reported that she constantly spied on the kitchen workers, ensuring they complied with their duties under threats and beatings.

After the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British troops in April 1945, Ehlert was arrested and tried in the Belsen trials. During the trial, she denied all accusations, claiming she had never participated in acts of torture or murder. However, numerous survivor testimonies described physical and psychological violence perpetrated by her.

Ultimately, she was found guilty of crimes at Bergen-Belsen, but acquitted for lack of evidence related to the Kraków camp. Ehlert was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, though her sentence was reduced and she was released in 1953 after serving less than half of her sentence. She lived the rest of her life as a free woman, leaving behind a legacy of complicity in a system that transformed ordinary civilians into key pieces of its machinery of repression and death.

From Irma Grese, known for her brutality in Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, to figures like Elisabeth Volkenrath and Johanna Bormann, all of them participated directly or indirectly in a system that inflicted suffering on tens of thousands of people. Despite their attempts to minimize their responsibility during the Belsen trials, the testimonies of survivors and the evidence presented exposed the extent of their crimes.

The sentences reflected the severity of their actions: prison terms for those with less prominent roles, and the gallows for those who embodied the cruelest aspects of the regime.

On December 13th, 1945, the prison of Hamelin became the final setting for Grese, Volkenrath, Bormann, and other convicts. These executions and sentences not only marked the end of their lives, but also left an imprint on the collective memory, reminding us how individual responsibility can be used within oppressive systems to perpetuate suffering.

Although their names are primarily remembered for their crimes, the lessons drawn from their trials serve as a testament to the importance of seeking justice, even in the darkest shadows of history.