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Elisabeth Volkenrath

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Elisabeth Volkenrath
Volkenrath in 1945
Born
Elisabeth Mühlau

(1919-09-05)5 September 1919
Schönau an der Katzbach, Silesia, Prussia, German Republic
Died13 December 1945(1945-12-13) (aged 26)
Hamelin Prison, Hamelin, Allied-occupied Germany
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Known forWar crimes
Political partyNazi Party (1941–1945)
Criminal statusExecuted
MotiveNazism
Conviction(s)War crimes
TrialBelsen trial
Criminal penaltyDeath
Military career
AllegianceNazi Germany
Service / branchSS-Gefolge
RankOberaufseherin
SS-Helferin
Unit

Elisabeth Volkenrath (née Mühlau; 5 September 1919 – 13 December 1945) was a German supervisor at several Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

Volkenrath, née Mühlau, was an ungelernte Hilfskraft (unskilled worker) when she volunteered for service in a concentration camp.[1] In October 1941 she began working at Ravensbrück concentration camp as a guard. In March 1942, she was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp where she worked in the same function as at Ravensbrück.[2] At Auschwitz, she met SS-Rottenführer Heinz Volkenrath, who had worked there since 1941 as SS-Blockführer. The couple married in 1943. Elisabeth Volkenrath participated in the selection of prisoners for the gas chambers and, in November 1944, was promoted to Oberaufseherin for all camp sections for female prisoners at Auschwitz.[3]

Elisabeth Volkenrath was transferred to Bergen-Belsen when Auschwitz was closed. From February 1945, she was Oberaufseherin (supervising wardress) at Bergen-Belsen.[3]

Belsen trial

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In April 1945, Volkenrath was arrested by the British Army, and was tried in the Belsen trials, at which she was convicted of war crimes.[4] She claimed during her testimony that "it was really awful in the camps, but it was awful for us too. We were punished just like the prisoners."[5] Sentenced to death, she was executed by hanging at Hamelin Prison by British official executioner Albert Pierrepoint[6] on 13 December 1945.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Willmott, Lauren (2015-06-10). "The Forgotten Brutality of Female Nazi Concentration Camp Guards". TIME. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  2. ^ Bartrop, Paul R. (2019). Perpetrating the Holocaust : leaders, enablers, and collaborators. Eve E. Grimm. Santa Barbara, California. pp. 299–300. ISBN 978-1-4408-5897-0. OCLC 1048015323.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ a b c Knoch, Habbo, ed. (2010). Bergen-Belsen: Wehrmacht POW Camp 1940–1945, Concentration Camp 1943–1945, Displaced Persons Camp 1945–1950. Catalogue of the permanent exhibition. Göttingen: Wallstein. p. 218. ISBN 978-3-8353-0794-0.
  4. ^ "1st Belsen Trial". www.bergenbelsen.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  5. ^ Marcuse, Harold (2001-03-22). Legacies of Dachau: The Uses and Abuses of a Concentration Camp, 1933-2001. Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-0-521-55204-2.
  6. ^ Ramsey, Winston (2022-09-21). The Nazi Death Camps: Then And Now. After the Battle. p. 438. ISBN 978-1-3990-7671-5.
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