The Female Camp Guards of the Third Reich – Who Were They?

Female Nazi concentration camp guards, known as Aufseherinnen, played a brutal role in the camps. While the SS primarily recruited men, thousands of women served as guards, especially in camps like Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen. Many were former nurses, secretaries, or factory workers who answered job advertisements promising good pay and benefits.
These women were often as cruel as their male counterparts, committing brutal beatings and executions. Notorious figures included Irma Grese and Ilse Koch, infamous for their cruel behaviors. After the war, several female guards were tried and executed for war crimes, but many escaped justice.
History Hustle presents: The Female Nazi Concentration Camp Guards – Who Were They?


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SOURCES
– Meeuwenoord, A. M. B. (2011). Mensen, macht en mentaliteiten achter prikkeldraad: een historisch-sociologische studie van concentratiekamp Vught (1943-1944).
– Hitler's Furies (Wendy Lower).
– Inside concentration camps. Social life at the extremes (Maja Suderland, Jessica Spengler).
– https://www.historytoday.com/archive/... (08-03-2025).
https://theconversation.com/female-na... (08-03-2025).
– https://historiek.net/irma-grese-blon... (08-03-2025).



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