In my mind when I think of those camp officials that would be the most feared, the ones that if you found yourself a prisoner, you'd hope to whatever Deity you worship wouldn't see you; Gerta Bösel was that person. She was the Arbeitseinsatzführerin (which is a work input oversee) at the Ravensbrück concentration camp. In short, she was one of the staff tasked with the job of choosing who got to be shipped off to work camps and whom were to be immediately gassed to death in the gas chambers. She was quoted as saying "If they can't work then let them rot." After the death march of prisoners out of Ravensbrück following the impending liberation by the Red Army of Soviet troops, Bösel fled the camp with her husband. She was later caught and arrested by British troops.
Bösel, along with other female guards including Dorothea Binz, stood accused at the first Ravensbrück Trial, which took place between December 1946 and February 1947 in Hamburg, Germany. The court found her guilty of maltreatment, murder and taking part in the "selections". She was executed for her crimes at 9:55 am on 3 May 1947, 24 minutes after Elisabeth Marschall, by Albert Pierrepoint in Hamelin Prison. (some of this biography was taken from Wikipedia)
note: this memorial was set up for educational purposes only. Not just to give a face to the history of ww2 but so that the victims and their families can put a face to the stories their Elders tell.
In my mind when I think of those camp officials that would be the most feared, the ones that if you found yourself a prisoner, you'd hope to whatever Deity you worship wouldn't see you; Gerta Bösel was that person. She was the Arbeitseinsatzführerin (which is a work input oversee) at the Ravensbrück concentration camp. In short, she was one of the staff tasked with the job of choosing who got to be shipped off to work camps and whom were to be immediately gassed to death in the gas chambers. She was quoted as saying "If they can't work then let them rot." After the death march of prisoners out of Ravensbrück following the impending liberation by the Red Army of Soviet troops, Bösel fled the camp with her husband. She was later caught and arrested by British troops.
Bösel, along with other female guards including Dorothea Binz, stood accused at the first Ravensbrück Trial, which took place between December 1946 and February 1947 in Hamburg, Germany. The court found her guilty of maltreatment, murder and taking part in the "selections". She was executed for her crimes at 9:55 am on 3 May 1947, 24 minutes after Elisabeth Marschall, by Albert Pierrepoint in Hamelin Prison. (some of this biography was taken from Wikipedia)
note: this memorial was set up for educational purposes only. Not just to give a face to the history of ww2 but so that the victims and their families can put a face to the stories their Elders tell.
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