The Nazi concentration camps during World War II were a place of unimaginable horror and suffering for millions of innocent people.
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While much attention has been paid to the role of male guards in perpetrating these atrocities, the role of female guards in these camps has often been overlooked.
These women were tasked with enforcing the strict rules and regulations of the concentration camps, but they also played a crucial role in the torture, abuse, and murder of countless prisoners.
The psychology of these female guards is a complex and troubling subject. Some researchers believe that they were driven by a desire for power and control, as well as a sense of loyalty to the Nazi cause.
Others suggest that they may have been suffering from a variety of mental health issues, such as sadism or sociopathy, which made them more prone to committing acts of violence and cruelty.
Despite their apparent disregard for human life and the immense suffering they inflicted on others, many of these female guards were able to escape punishment after the war ended.
Some went into hiding, while others were able to blend in with the general population. However, a small number were tried and convicted of war crimes, with some receiving life sentences or even the death penalty. Of the 50,000 guards who served in the concentration camps, approximately 5,000 were women. In 1942, the first female guards arrived at Auschwitz and Majdanek from Ravensbrück.
The year after, the Nazis began conscripting women because of a shortage of male guards. In the context of these camps, the German position title of Aufseherin translates to (female) “overseer” or “attendant”.
Female guards were generally from the lower to middle class and had no relevant work experience; their occupational background varied: one source mentions former matrons, hairdressers, tramcar-conductresses, opera singers or retired teachers.
Volunteers were recruited via advertisements in German newspapers asking for women to show their love for the Reich and join the SS-Gefolge (“SS-Retinue”, a Schutzstaffel (SS) support and service organization for women). Additionally, some were conscripted based on data in their SS files.
Adolescent enrollment in the League of German Girls acted as a vehicle of indoctrination for many of the women. At one of the post-war hearings, Oberaufseherin Herta Haase-Breitmann-Schmidt, head female overseer, claimed that her female guards were not full-fledged SS women.
Consequently, at some tribunals it was disputed whether SS-Helferinnen employed at the camps were official members of the SS, thus leading to conflicting court decisions. Many of them belonged to the Waffen-SS and to the SS-Helferinnen Corps.