Things You Didn't Know About Hitler That Will Blow Your Mind

Greta Bosel

 A nurse by training, Bösel became a camp guard at Ravensbrück in August 1944. As an arbeitseinsatzführerin (work input overseer) Bösel was among those who chose which prisoners, upon arrival to the camp, would be immediately gassed. An ardent Nazi, Bösel is quoted as saying “If they cannot work, let them rot.” She fled with her husband following the Red Army’s impending liberation of Ravensbrück but was caught and arrested by British troops. Bösel stood accused at the first Ravensbrück trial and was executed for her crimes on May 3, 1947.

Maria Mandl

Mandl, infamous for her key role in the Holocaust, is believed to have been directly involved in over 500,000 deaths of women and children prisoners–most deaths occurring during her post at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Known as “The Beast” at Auschwitz, Mandl created the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz to tauntingly perform at roll calls, executions, selections and transport. The U.S. Army arrested Mandl on August 10, 1945, who was later tried in the Auschwitz trial and sentenced to death. Mandl was hung on January 24, 1948.

Dorothea Binz

Volunteering to work for the kitchen at Ravensbrück in August 1939, within a month Binz was quickly promoted to the position of aufseherin (female overseer). Known to be particularly sadistic, Binz reportedly slapped, kicked, shot, whipped, stomped, and abused prisoners without compunction. At the close of the war, Binz fled during the death march from Ravensbrück but was captured by the British in Hamburg and stood trial at the Ravensbrück proceedings. Sentenced to death for her part in the Holocaust, Binz was hung on May 2, 1947.

Juana Bormann

Short in stature and known for her cruelty, Bormann’s victims called her “Wiesel” and “the woman with the dogs.” A guard at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Budy (a nearby subcamp), and Bergen-Belsen, Bormann frequently unleashed her German Shepherd on helpless prisoners. Incarcerated by the British Army, Bormann was prosecuted at the Belsen trial. Found guilty of murder, she was hung on December 13, 1945.