Irma Grese

Irma Ilse Ida Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was a Nazi concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen. She has been widely known as the "Hyena of Auschwitz" and the "Beast of Belsen" for the atrocities she committed during her service. Following the Allied occupation of Nazi Germany in April 1945, Grese was found guilty of war crimes involving the torture and murder of Jewish prisoners at the Belsen trial and sentenced to death by hanging. She was hanged at the age of 22, making her the youngest woman to be judicially executed under British law in the twentieth century.

Infobox

Born

Irma Ilse Ida Grese (1923-10-07)7 October 1923 Wrechen, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Germany

Died

13 December 1945(1945-12-13) (aged 22) Hamelin, Schaumburg-Lippe, Germany

Cause of death

Execution by hanging

Other names

Beast of Belsen Bitch of Belsen Hyena of Auschwitz The Beautiful Beast Angel of Auschwitz

Criminal status

Executed

Motive

Nazism Sadism

Conviction

War crimes

Trial

Belsen trial

Criminal penalty

Death

Allegiance

Nazi Germany

Division

SS-Gefolge

Service years

1942–1945

Rank

Ravensbrück Aufseherin Auschwitz II-Birkenau Oberaufseherin Bergen-Belsen Arbeitsdienstführerin, Rapportführerin

References

The women in SS-Gefolge were not official members of the Schutzstaffel.
Spelt "Greze" or "Griese" in some survivors' memoirs.
Hellinger writes Hatzinger's forename as Fritz in her memoir.
Álvarez 2012, p. 54
Kushner 1996, p. 184
Hellinger & Lee 2021, p. 64
Brown 2004, p. 70
Álvarez 2012, p. 45
Brown 2004, pp. 1–2
Brown 2004, p. 5
Brown 2004, p. 6
Hellinger & Lee 2021, p. 161
Brown 2004, p. 8
Kater 2004, p. 70
Brown 2004, p. 10
Brown 2004, p. 12
Brown 2004, pp. 17–18
Brown 2004, p. 22
Brown 2004, pp. 28–29
Brown 2004, pp. 29–30