Nazi War Criminal. She is remember for her part as a guard in the cruel treatment of imprisoned Jews, while serving in the Nazi Third Reich during World War II. After leaving school in 1938, she joined the League of German Girls, a group that indoctrinated young women in the thinking of the Nazi Third Reich. She worked in various jobs until being transferred to Auschwitz, a complex of forty Nazi concentration camps in Poland, to be a guard. By the end of 1943, she had been promoted to be senior supervisor, in charge of around 30,000 Jewish female prisoners. In January of 1945, Grese briefly returned to Ravensbruck, the largest concentration camp for women, where she had previously worked, before going to Bergen-Belsen as a warden of the women's section. At the war's end, she was captured by the British forces on April 17, 1945, along with other members of the feared Schutzstaffe or SS personnel who did not try to escape. Later in the year, Grese was among 44 individuals charged with war crimes at the Belsen trial. Details of the brutality and torture she had engaged in during her years at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen came to light during the trial, and at the end, Grese and ten others were convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. On December 13, 1945, she was executed by hanging at Hameln Jail. Grese is considered to be the youngest woman, at the age of 22, to "die judicially under English law" in the 20th Century.
Nazi War Criminal. She is remember for her part as a guard in the cruel treatment of imprisoned Jews, while serving in the Nazi Third Reich during World War II. After leaving school in 1938, she joined the League of German Girls, a group that indoctrinated young women in the thinking of the Nazi Third Reich. She worked in various jobs until being transferred to Auschwitz, a complex of forty Nazi concentration camps in Poland, to be a guard. By the end of 1943, she had been promoted to be senior supervisor, in charge of around 30,000 Jewish female prisoners. In January of 1945, Grese briefly returned to Ravensbruck, the largest concentration camp for women, where she had previously worked, before going to Bergen-Belsen as a warden of the women's section. At the war's end, she was captured by the British forces on April 17, 1945, along with other members of the feared Schutzstaffe or SS personnel who did not try to escape. Later in the year, Grese was among 44 individuals charged with war crimes at the Belsen trial. Details of the brutality and torture she had engaged in during her years at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen came to light during the trial, and at the end, Grese and ten others were convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. On December 13, 1945, she was executed by hanging at Hameln Jail. Grese is considered to be the youngest woman, at the age of 22, to "die judicially under English law" in the 20th Century.
Bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye
Gravesite Details
Irma Grese was reburied in Am Wehl Cemetery, in Hanover, Germany in 1954 As others were reburied with her, their graves are unmarked to prevent a shrine.
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