Irma Grese Nazi camp matron Date of Birth: 07.10.1923 Country: Germany

Biography of Irma Grese

Irma Grese was a Nazi concentration camp guard who was notorious for her extreme cruelty and sadistic treatment of prisoners. She was born on October 7, 1923, near Pasewalk, Mecklenburg. Her father, Alfred Grese, was a peasant who joined the Nazi Party in 1937. Irma was one of five children in the Grese family. Unfortunately, her mother, Berta Grese, took her own life in 1936.

Irma Grese did not receive a proper education and left school at the age of 15. However, she became involved in the League of German Girls, the female branch of the Hitler Youth, and showed potential within the organization. Over the years, Grese held various jobs, including working as an assistant nurse in an SS sanatorium (Hoehnlihen). However, her career in medicine did not thrive.

In 1942, at the age of 19, Irma joined the auxiliary units of the SS, despite her father's disapproval. She began working at the specialized Ravensbrück women's concentration camp. In March 1943, she was transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of its sub-camps. By the end of 1943, she was appointed as the senior female supervisor, making her the second-in-command after the camp commandant.

Grese did not plan to remain a camp guard for life. She dreamed of a post-war career as a movie star. However, her time at the camps was marked by extreme brutality. Survivors' testimonies attest to her involvement in torturing prisoners using both emotional and physical methods. She would beat women to death and took pleasure in randomly shooting inmates. Grese would starve her dogs to incite them to attack victims, and personally selected hundreds for the gas chambers. She always wore heavy boots and carried a whip, in addition to a pistol.

In the post-war Western press, there were constant discussions of Irma Grese's alleged sexual deviancy and her numerous relationships with SS guards, including the commandant of Bergen-Belsen, Josef Kramer, and even Josef Mengele. However, there is no concrete evidence to support these claims.

In March 1945, at Grese's request, she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There, on April 17, 1945, she was captured by the British. The Belsen Trial, initiated by the British military tribunal, took place from September 17 to November 17, 1945. Alongside Irma Grese, the cases of other camp personnel, such as commandant Josef Kramer, guard Juana Bormann, and nurse Elisabeth Volkenrath, were examined. Irma Grese was found guilty and sentenced to be hanged.

On the last night before her execution, Grese laughed and sang songs with her colleague Elisabeth Volkenrath. Even when the noose was placed around her neck, her face remained calm. Her final words, directed at the English hangman Albert Pierrepoint, were "Faster."