Irma Grese went down in history as a beautiful beast from the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. With her sadistic tendencies, she led countless female prisoners to death in agony, whose suffering was water to the mill for her sick desire. And she did all of this before she was 22 years old.
Irma was born in October 1923 to a poor rural family in the town of Wrechen. She had four siblings. In the memories of her relatives, she wrote down as a not very bright and cowardly girl, which contributed to her persecution at school.
Anyway, the childhood of all five was not easy. When Irma was 12, her mother killed herself by drinking hydrochloric acid . She took this desperate step probably because of suspicions of her husband's infidelity. The girl had a hard time when her mother died, which, combined with poor treatment by her peers, encouraged her to drop out of school at the age of 14.
Irma Grese went down in history as a beautiful beast from the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.
She started her independent life in Fürstenberg, where she first worked in a dairy, then in a shop, and finally worked as a nursing assistant for SS soldiers in Hohenlychen. She liked this profession very much and she planned to continue her education towards him. Unfortunately, despite several attempts to pass the nurse exam, she failed it, and eventually had to abandon her dream.
So she decided to look for a new job, but this time it was far from the idea of helping people ...
The Beautiful Beast of Auschwitz
The search for a new career for Irma coincided with the need for new members who could join the ranks of the SS. The girl saw this as an opportunity for herself. Her fascination with Nazi ideology appeared in her teens, when she joined the League of German Girls (BDM, Bund Deutscher Madel), and it fully flourished when, at the age of 19, she volunteered for training at the SS-Aufseherin, the supervisor in concentration camps. .
She completed her apprenticeship in Ravensbrück, from where she was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943, where she quickly acquired her infamous nickname of the "beautiful beast". In her new workplace, the 20-year-old was rapidly climbing the career ladder. At the end of 1943, she was already the senior overseer of Maria Mandel.
Irma was distinguished by an amazing sexual appetite and sadistic tendencies.
Irma was distinguished by an amazing sexual appetite and sadistic tendencies. With her almost angelic beauty, a shapely blonde with a fashionable hairstyle and blue eyes, she attracted the attention of both men and women. She walked around the camp in polished shoes and a custom-made uniform that emphasized her qualities. Thanks to them, she developed several passionate romances, including with Josef Mengele, Josef Kramer, and her supervisor, Maria Mandel.
Sick lust
She took particular pleasure in chewing women with dogs and tormenting them with a steel-reinforced whip. Most often she beat the female prisoners in the breast. The resulting wounds often appeared to be contaminated by the dirt of the camp.
She beat, forced to exhausting exercises and sentences, including, for example, holding a heavy stone over the head by the victim until the victim lost his strength. Her sadism was widespread fear, and she often targeted the weakest links - young girls or tired and sick people.
Irma loved to observe the effects of her actions during medical examinations and treatments, and enjoyed watching the victims suffer and die in agony . These were the moments when she cranked up her sick desire, and then gave it an outlet in numerous sexual contacts with the camp staff and women subordinate to her.
The article was inspired by the novel "The Beautiful Beast" by Alberto Vazquez-Figueroi, which has just been released by Bellona.
Despite the general prohibition against intercourse with female prisoners of the camp, breaking the breach with severe consequences (including death), Irma regularly forced her subordinates to have sex with her, and ordered many young girls to watch these rape scenes . The sexually abused prisoners she used to face death, which they suffered either during intercourse as a result of torture or soon after - in the gas chamber.
In Auschwitz-Birkenau she was considered a real monster. It is estimated that every day she could kill up to 30 prisoners with her actions.
Kill the beast
In January 1945, Irma escaped from Auschwitz from the approaching Red Army, joining the SS members overseeing the death march. He led her first back to Ravensbrück and then to the Bergen-Belsen camp, where she was finally arrested by the British.
All the Nazis arrested there were taken to Lugenburg, where they were tried. Irma denied all the accusations against her without hesitation , and her beauty surprised officials and journalists who wondered how such a beauty could be responsible for such monstrous crimes. According to the testimonies of former prisoners, Irma was already very aware of her strengths in the camps and had further plans with them. After the war, she wanted to become one of the movie stars. However, fate prepared a different scenario for her.
In Auschwitz-Birkenau she was considered a real monster. It is estimated that every day she could kill up to 30 prisoners with her actions.
The beauty did not save her from the conviction, which was handed down on November 17, 1945. She was sentenced to death by hanging. After the court ruling, the 22-year-old was shocked. During the hearings, she was very careful to maintain her impeccable appearance, but after the end of the hearings, she deteriorated and stopped taking care of herself.
The sentence was carried out on December 13, 1945. Apparently, while standing on the trapdoor on the day of the execution, she said to the executioner:"Hurry up!" It was her last word.