Hermine Braunsteiner, known as the "Stamping Mare of Majdanek," was a notorious Nazi concentration camp guard who committed heinous crimes during World War II at the Majdanek extermination camp in Poland. She earned the nickname due to her brutal and sadistic treatment of prisoners, particularly her infamous practice of kicking and stamping on their faces, which became a symbol of her cruelty.
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Braunsteiner was born in Austria in 1919 and joined the Nazi Party in 1938. In 1942, she was assigned to work at the Majdanek concentration camp, which was located near Lublin, Poland. Majdanek was one of the largest death camps, where thousands of Jews, Romani people, and Soviet prisoners of war were murdered. Braunsteiner was assigned to work as a guard, and her duties included supervising prisoners, carrying out executions, and overseeing the transportation of victims to the gas chambers.
One of the most disturbing aspects of her time at Majdanek was her use of physical violence against the prisoners. She was known for dragging victims from their barracks, kicking them, and stamping on their bodies with her boots, often as a form of punishment or simply for her own sadistic enjoyment. Her violent behavior was not limited to prisoners who had "misbehaved" or resisted; she inflicted harm indiscriminately, contributing to the terror that dominated the camp.
After the war, Braunsteiner managed to evade capture for several years, living in the United States under a false identity. However, in 1973, she was finally arrested and later tried for her role in the atrocities at Majdanek. In 1981, Braunsteiner was sentenced to life in prison in West Germany for crimes against humanity, including her participation in the murders of thousands of innocents. Her conviction served as a reminder of the horrific acts perpetrated by Nazi guards during the Holocaust and the importance of holding war criminals accountable.