At the age of 22, she was hanged in Hamlan prison. Her name became linked to whips, dogs, and selections for the gas chamber. In the concentration camps, she wasn’t a spectator. She wielded direct power over thousands of prisoners. Beatings, physical punishment, summary executions. Every act was part of a system that rewarded violence.

 It didn’t take her decades to rise through the ranks. In less than 2 years, she rose from apprentice to the highest authority in barracks overcrowded with women condemned to die. How did a young peasant girl become a symbol of Nazi sadism? What environment could turn someone so young into a remorseless executioner? Why is her name still remembered as the hyena of Avitz? From Recken to Reich, the origins of Irma Gresa.

 Irma Ilsa Grace was born on the 7th of October 1923 [music] in Reken, a farming village in Meckllinburgg, 50 mi north of Berlin. Her father, Alfred, worked as a local estate manager and dairy supervisor. Her mother, Berta Winter, ran the home and maintained a vegetable garden with some animals. The family had five children, Alfred and Leon, older than Irma, and Helen and Otto, younger.

 The economic situation was stable within the parameters of the rural working class. Irma’s early years were ordinary. She attended the village primary school, helped with chores and played with her siblings. According to her sister Helen’s later testimony, Irma was a shy child who avoided conflict and withdrew when disputes arose between other children.

 In January 1933, Adolf Hitler assumed the German chancellorship. Two months later, when Irma was 9 years old, the German education system implemented curricular changes. School programs incorporated principles of national socialism, concepts of Aryan racial purity and anti-semitism as required content. Classrooms displayed portraits of Hitler, and teachers began teaching the ideology of the new regime alongside traditional subjects.

 The political context divided the Grazy family. Some accounts describe Alfred as a conservative and religious man who distrusted Nazi politics. Other accounts present him as someone willing to adapt to the new order if [music] it benefited the family’s prospects. What is documented is that Alfred did not join the Nazi party until 1937 when he later became a local group leader in Recken.

In December 1935, Bura discovered that her husband was having an extrammarital affair with the daughter of a local tavern owner. After meticulously cleaning the house, Berta sent her children to find Alfred at the tavern. During her absence, he ingested hydrochloric acid, a household cleaning product.

 Upon returning, the family found her unconscious and took her to the hospital. Berta remained hospitalized for several weeks before dying in January 1936. Irma was 12 years old. Her mother’s death disrupted the family dynamic. Neighbors accounts indicate that Irma became more withdrawn [music] and reclusive.

 While other children her age were developing friendships and first romantic interests, Irma often isolated herself in the hills near the village where she spent time softly whistling. Both Irma and her sister Helen expressed interest in joining the League of German Girls, the women’s branch of the Hitler Youth.

 This organization was designed to train future party comrades, whether for marriage and motherhood, training as nurses, or auxiliary roles in the SS. The League offered community activities, ideological training, and opportunities for upward mobility within the Nazi system. National Socialist rhetoric glorified both Germans considered Aryan and rural communities, presenting them as the moral foundation of German society.

 For young women who were isolated or had limited prospects in their villages, the league provided identity, recognition, and camaraderie, as well as better job opportunities and contact with others of their own age. Although membership would become mandatory for all girls of Aryan descent, Alfred initially prohibited his daughters from joining.

 The reasons for this refusal remain unclear. One version suggests that the local chapter was too far away for Irma to reach safely by bicycle. Her father’s opposition, especially considering that he himself would join the party in 1937, created tensions with Irma. In 1938, at the age of 14, Irma dropped out of school to participate in a government-run youth labor program.

 She worked for 6 months in a dairy factory in Fenburg and then another 6 months in a shop in Lechon. These jobs provided basic training and minimal economic contributions according to the regime’s youth labor policies. In 1939, Alfred remarried. His new wife brought four children from a previous marriage and the couple later had another son.

 The reckon household became crowded with children and the family dynamic became complicated. Irma, who had lived away during her year in the work program, did not return permanently. At the age of 15, she left home for good. With the support of the local branch of the League of German Girls, Irma secured a position as an apprentice nurse at the Hoen Leechen Sanatorium.

 This institution had evolved from a tuberculosis treatment center under the International Red Cross into a military research center. The director was Carl Ghart, a surgeon and member of Hinrich Himmler’s inner circle. Hen Lien had become a site where medical experiments were performed on Jewish women transported from the nearby Ravensbrook concentration camp.

 For 2 years, Irma worked as an assistant and apprentice at this hospital. Her duties included basic patient care, cleaning, and assisting in operating rooms. The environment was not neutral. High-ranking SS officers walked the halls and experimental procedures were performed on human victims in the laboratories.

 Although no specific details exist regarding Irma’s direct involvement in these experiments, she worked under Ghart’s direct supervision during her training period. Ghart had been an early Nazi party activist and had participated in brown shirt marches in Berlin during the 1,920s. As Irma’s supervisor, he represented an intense source of ideological influence.

The hospital also functioned as a convolescent home for wounded or sick SS officers which exposed Irma to members of the Nazi high command including figures such as Albert Shpear Hinrich Hydrich and Rudolph Hess during the late 1, 932s and early war. After 2 years, Irma failed to complete her training to become a professional nurse.

 She hadn’t demonstrated sufficient academic or practical competence to qualify. According to her own later statements, she had sincerely desired to enter the nursing profession and was considerably disappointed. Ghart suggested she apply for a position as a prison guard at the nearby Ravensbrook concentration camp and referred her to an acquaintance in the camp administration.

 At 17, Irma was too young to be recruited into the SS and was instructed to reapply after her 18th birthday. Consequently, between the autumn of 1,941 and the summer of 1,942, she returned to her previous job at the Fenberg Dairy Factory. In July 1942, she joined the female branch of the SS and began training as a prison guard at the Ravensbrook women’s concentration camp.

 Ravensbrook, the school of absolute violence. Ravensbrook established in May 1,939 in the Fenberg district was the largest women’s concentration camp in the Third Reich. During the war, approximately 130,000 women passed through its facilities, of whom more than 90,000 did not survive. Its functions included forced labor, punishment, extermination by exhaustion, and training of female SS personnel.

 Gres joined the SS as an alser during her training period. Women were not allowed to formally join the SS, but her auxiliary rank gave her authority over prisoners and a higher salary than that available in civilian positions. The regime needed more female personnel to staff the women’s sections of the expanded network of concentration camps.

 Initial training lasted 3 weeks and was designed to create an environment of strict discipline and normalized violence. New guards received instruction in security regulations, prisoner control, and work organization. The fundamental rule prohibited establishing any personal connection with the inmates. It was instructed that any display of compassion or closeness would be considered weakness.

 Human contact was prohibited. Unnecessary words, helpful gestures, or casual conversation were not permitted. Practical training was based on observation and repetition. The trainees accompanied veteran wardens in everyday tasks. Surveillance during headcounts, leading work parties, supervising barracks, and administering punishments.

The use of violence was presented as a necessary tool of control. >> [music] >> The trainees observed experienced officers using battens, whips, or rifle butts to beat prisoners who failed to obey orders or seemed too weak for the required pace. Dorothia Bins was one of the most influential figures in the camp and served as an instructor.

 Bins was responsible for teaching the new guards the methods of discipline and punishment. Under her direction, the trainees witnessed summary executions and prolonged punishments. Bins demonstrated how to maintain an authoritative posture, react to signs of resistance, and inspire fear without explanation.

 Her example served as a role model for the young recruits who learned that promotion depended on how quickly they adopted this attitude. Irma quickly assimilated the training. Within a few weeks, she became accustomed to dealing with the prisoners. The dynamics of the camp demanded quick decisions and blind obedience to the hierarchy.

 The training included exercises in which the candidates had to actively participate in collective beatings. Occasionally, a prisoner accused of non-compliance was selected to be punished by several guards in front of the others as an example. The system required that no young woman be left out. All were to be directly involved.

 Ravensbrook functioned as a place where suffering was part of daily routine. The prisoners were subjected to forced labor in extreme conditions, malnutrition, and overcrowding. The system was designed to accustom the guards to witnessing physical and moral degradation without reacting emotionally. Daily deaths from illness or exhaustion were common.

 The apprentices were required to record deaths, organize bodies, and maintain discipline amidst the constant devastation. [music] Testimonies from prisoners collected after the war described Gresie as initially clumsy in her role during her first days at Ravensbrook. One survivor recounted seeing her apologize as she passed by an inmate, a gesture considered improper, but immediately corrected by the veterans.

 A few days later, her behavior had completely changed. The adaptation process was complete. Her initial mistakes disappeared and her attitude aligned with that of the other guards. The training wasn’t limited to physical violence. It also instilled a mentality of absolute hierarchy. The prisoners were classified into categories and treated according to their origin and perceived danger.

 The guards had to learn to recognize the colored triangles on the uniforms that identified the inmates. Jewish, political prisoners, antisocial, gypsy, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and other categories. Each group had different rules of treatment, always within a framework of humiliation and subordination. The presence of trained dogs was a constant feature in the camp.

The guards were frequently accompanied by German shepherds trained to attack [music] prisoners. Their proximity produced immediate fear and they were frequently used in collective punishment. The trainees learned to command the animals and use them as a tool for psychological and physical control.

 At Ravensbrook, Greza also witnessed medical experiments conducted by doctors associated with Ghart, her former supervisor. The women selected as test subjects were subjected to operations without anesthesia, intentionally induced infections, and forced sterilizations. Although there is no direct evidence of her active participation in these procedures during this period, her exposure to this reality was inevitable as camp administration required the transfer and safekeeping of the prisoners used in the experiments. The training methods

produced rapid results for most new recruits. Within weeks, they went from initial insecurity to routinely practicing violence. Group pressure and the demands of superiors prevented any resistance. Anyone who showed doubt could be disciplined or ridiculed by their peers. Learning occurred through imitation of figures like Bins and the need to integrate into an environment where brutality was the accepted norm.

 A Ravensbrook survivor recalled decades later the transformation process she witnessed in the new warders. The noviceses usually seemed frightened on their first contact with the camp. It took time to reach the level of cruelty and depravity of their superiors. Some of us played a rather grim little game of timing.

 how long it took a new alferin to earn her stripes. One little alsarin of 20 was initially so ignorant of proper camp manners that she said, “Excuse me,” when walking in front of a prisoner. It took her exactly 4 days to adopt the required manner, even though it was totally new to her. Gres quickly stood out among the recruits.

 Although there is no comprehensive record of specific incidents she committed at Ravensbrook, her subsequent promotion indicates that she was considered efficient and disciplined. In less than a year, she rose from apprentice to full-fledged warden, passing the probationary period. This type of rapid promotion was only granted to those who demonstrated strict discipline and a willingness to take on the most demanding tasks.

 The conditions at the camp in 1942 and 1943 as the war intensified on the Eastern front meant that the number of prisoners constantly increased. Ravensbrook received regular transports of Polish and Soviet women as well as Jewish women deported from various European countries. The overcrowding placed increased demands on the guards who had to maintain order in overcrowded barracks, organize transfers to outside jobs, and ensure that the prisoners met established production quotas.

 The training was specifically designed to create personnel capable of operating in larger and more complex camps. Ravensbrook served as the main breeding ground for female guards who would later be transferred to Avitz, Madanic or Bergen Bellson. Their experience there served as a filter. Those who resisted and fully adapted to the system were transferred to more important posts, while those who could not withstand the pressure were dismissed from service.

 During her stay in Ravensbrook, Gracie solidified her final break with her family. In 1943, she made a temporary visit to Recken, and her uniform as a guard sparked another confrontation with her father. An altercation ensued, culminating in her final expulsion from the family home. From then on, she would not return to live with her relatives.

 This separation from his family coincided with the end of his training period at Ravensbrook and the receipt of transfer orders to a new, more strategically important post in occupied Poland. Avitz Burkanauismo. In March 1943, Irma Grace was transferred to the Avitz Burkanau complex in occupied Poland. The complex had become one of the Nazi regime’s primary extermination centers.

 Burkanau, also known as Avitz 2, was divided into sections separated by electrified barbed wire fences where forced labor, extreme overcrowding, and systematic elimination in gas chambers were combined. The Burkanau women’s camp was expanding and required additional personnel to oversee tens of thousands of prisoners.

 Upon arriving at the age of 19, Grace was initially assigned to basic duties, barracks control, supervising cleaning duties, and assisting with daily headcounts. From the outset, her behavior caught the attention of her superiors, who noted her discipline and lack of hesitation in following orders. In less than 7 months, she was promoted to Oberav Saharin, the highest rank a woman could aspire to in the camp system.

 Under her authority came approximately 30,000 prisoners. distributed throughout the various sections of the women’s camp. Her promotion responded to the systems internal logic. They sought young women capable of exercising absolute control, willing to impose punishments and maintain discipline in extreme conditions with large populations.

 Her position as Oberaharin placed her at the center of the extermination process. She regularly participated in selections for the gas chambers. These selections took place on the ramp where the deport transports arrived or within the camp itself when it was necessary to decide who remained fit for work and who would be eliminated.

 The procedure was routine. The prisoners were lined up, given a cursory examination, and divided into two groups. Those deemed unfit for physical labor were sent to the crerematoria. Gres participated in these decisions alongside SS doctors such as Ysef Mangal. Her role in the selections was to maintain order among the prisoners during the process, direct the movements of the groups and ensure that decisions were carried out without resistance.

 Selections were carried out with varying frequency depending on the needs of the camp and the orders received from the central administration. Her daily conduct in the camp established specific patterns of control. The morning and evening headcounts known as appel provided her with opportunities to exercise her authority over the prisoners.

 assigned to her section. The punishments he applied included direct beatings and being forced to remain in awkward positions for extended periods. One surviving prisoner recounted how a Hungarian woman was executed for delaying her return to her barracks. Another recalled being beaten in the face for failing to keep her eyes lowered during a headcount.

 His use of disciplinary tools intensified over time. He later stated that he used a light whip that he said caused considerable pain upon impact. His use of this tool became so frequent that the camp commander ordered him to moderate its use, an instruction he consistently ignored. The intimidation practices extended to psychological manipulation.

Grace organized what the prisoners called sport machining, physical exercises imposed as punishment, jumping, running or forced positions until total exhaustion. These methods led to frequent fainting and in the case of prisoners weakened by hunger, death. The objective was to demonstrate the inmates absolute vulnerability to the authority of the guards.

 During the headcounts, which could last from 3:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Grace forced the prisoners to remain motionless. When she detected movement, she applied punishments that included beatings or forcing them to kneel for hours. One of her specialties was ordering the prisoners to hold large stones over their heads with both hands for extended periods, hitting them if they faltered in their position.

 On one documented occasion, prisoners cut up their blankets to make makeshift shoes and jackets. Grezi ordered the immediate return of all items made from these blankets. When nothing was returned, she ordered extensive searches of the barracks and brutally beat prisoners who had these items in their possession. In addition to the whip, Grace used a cane to beat prisoners.

 Her usual practice was to beat women until they bled and fell to the ground, then kick them with her heavy boots. In one incident recorded by witnesses, she observed a woman talking to her daughter through the wire fence that separated two sections of the camp. Gracie punched and kicked the woman so violently that she lay unconscious on the ground.

 Their involvement in gas chamber selections intensified during the mass deportations of Hungarian Jews in May 1944. In 8 weeks from May 15 to July 9, approximately 424,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Ashvitz Burkanau. Most were murdered in the gas chambers immediately upon arrival. Greza participated in these selections alongside Mangal and other SS doctors.

The deported women were forced to parade naked for inspection like cattle to determine whether they were fit enough for work in Germany or only fit to die. Gre maintained order during these processes, [music] and if any women tried to flee, she sent them back to be beaten. When she observed relatives trying to join her during the forced labor selections, she beat them unconscious.

 Female prisoners who attempted to escape from the selection process and were captured were beaten until they bled profusely before being returned to the ranks. During one selection process, when two young women attempted to escape by jumping out of a window and were left lying on the ground, Gresier executed them without hesitation with his loaded pistol.

 His behavior was characterized by the arbitrary use of violence. Testimonies document that he forced women outside the wire fence during work to make it appear they were trying to escape. when a guard refused to shoot women crossing the fence, claiming they had been deliberately sent there. Grace testified in an investigation against this guard for failing to fulfill his duties.

Records show that Graz maintained personal relationships that blended sexuality and power. He established ties with SS officers including Joseph Mangala and France Wolfgang Hutzinger, head of construction at Avitz One. Relationships with female prisoners were also documented whom he selected for private encounters.

 When he lost interest in these women, he sent them to the gas chambers, thus eliminating any possible testimony about these activities that violated the regime’s racial regulations. Mangal ended his relationship with Gracie when he discovered she was having sexual relations with Jewish prisoners, considered racially inferior under Nazi law.

 These activities constituted serious violations of the Race and Resettlement Act and represented one of the few crimes other than refusing to mistreat prisoners that could bring real punishment for a guard. On one occasion, believing she might be pregnant, Grace discreetly requested a medical examination from prisoner Dr. Jizella Pearl.

 When the pregnancy was confirmed, Grace instructed the doctor to return the next day ready for surgery. She promised to obtain a coat in exchange for terminating her pregnancy, a procedure she could not access through the SS clinic, as both contraception and abortion were illegal for Aryan women in Nazi Germany. After the procedure was completed, Gresier threatened Dr.

 Pearl, promising to kill her if she informed anyone about the operation. She never delivered the promised coat. Records from the SS medical clinic at the camp show that Gresier was tested for syphilis in January 1944 and the test proved negative. Her physical appearance in the camp was vividly remembered by the survivors.

 She used the finest products available obtained through confiscation of the belongings of murdered prisoners. Her uniforms were made by the best Jewish seamstresses who had been deported to the camp. She maintained an impeccable appearance, a perfectly fitted uniform, shiny boots, styled hair, and carefully applied makeup.

 This contrast with the prisoner’s misery was part of the psychological impact she exerted. Multiple accounts agree that her behavior surpassed that of other guards in sadism. A prisoner doctor who survived the [music] camp described her as the most beautiful woman she had ever seen with a perfect body, angelic face, and innocent blue eyes, but also as the most depraved, cruel, and imaginatively perverse person she had ever met.

 The Avitz Burkanau system gave her absolute authority over the prisoners under her control. Her rank as Oberof Sarin allowed her to make decisions about punishments, participate in selections, and manage the living conditions in her section of the camp. This position made her a central figure in the extermination apparatus with direct responsibility for the lives and deaths of thousands of women.

 In January 1945, the advance of the Red Army towards Avitz forced the Nazi authorities to evacuate the complex. Bergen Bellson, the final hell of the Reich. In January 1945, Soviet troops were rapidly approaching the Achvitz complex. Nazi authorities ordered the mass evacuation of prisoners into the interior of Germany.

 These forced evacuations were organized as foot marches under extreme weather conditions with limited food and armed guards. Grace was assigned to escort one of the convoys leaving Burkanau. The march included a stop at Ravensbrook before reaching its final destination of Bergen Bellson located in lower Saxony. Bergen Bellson was originally established in 1940 as a prisoner of war camp.

 From 1,943 onwards, it was transformed into a concentration camp and from 1,944 onwards it received deportes from eastern camps who were evacuated in anticipation of the Allied advance. When Grace arrived at Bergen Bellson in March 1945, the camp’s infrastructure was completely overwhelmed. The number of prisoners had exceeded 60,000 in facilities designed for just a few thousand.

 Constant evacuations from other camps had overwhelmed the accommodation capacity and the supply system had collapsed. The food supply was minimal. The prisoners received a daily ration of 3 and 1/2 cm of bread and watery soup made from turnips boiled in water. Drinking water was scarce, barely enough for drinking and cooking with no use for personal hygiene.

Sanitary conditions had completely deteriorated. The latrines had ceased to function and the prisoners used any available space as a toilet. Epidemic spread unchecked through the camp. Typhus, dissentry, and tuberculosis affected thousands of prisoners simultaneously. There was no medicine available, nor was there sufficient medical capacity to care for the sick.

During the winter of 1,944 1,945 when temperatures dropped below zero, prisoners were forced to sleep sitting up on the dirt floor, sharing 200 blankets among tens of thousands of others. The barracks were overcrowded to inhuman limits. Buildings designed to house 100 people contained 1,000 prisoners.

 Most of the barracks had no beds or bunks, only bare floors where inmates huddled to conserve body heat. The bodies of the deceased remained inside the barracks for [music] days before being removed, accelerating the spread of disease. In March 1945, due to starvation, thirst, and epidemic outbreaks.

 The average daily mortality rate ranged between 250 and 300 people. The bodies were piled up around the camp as there was no organizational capacity to bury them at the rate of deaths. In this collapsed environment, Grezer assumed similar roles to those he had performed at Achvitz, supervising barracks, controlling headcounts, and overseeing work groups.

 Despite the collapse of the administrative system, the guards continued to apply punishments and disciplinary measures. Gre maintained the same pattern of behavior documented at previous camps. According to survivors accounts, he continued beating prisoners with a rubber batn and forcing them to perform physical exercises as a form of punishment.

 Even when the camp’s infrastructure had ceased to function and death was ubiquitous, the disciplinary apparatus remained operational. Prisoners were forced to stand for hours holding stones over their heads as punishment for minor or imagined infractions. Testimonies agree that Grace maintained her characteristic behavior throughout her stay at Bergen Bellson.

 She forced weakened women to stand during prolonged headcounts and to carry heavy objects as punishment. She continued to use dogs as a tool of intimidation, although the frequency decreased due to the general confusion and lack of coordination in the final weeks of the camp’s operation. Approximately 2 weeks before the arrival of British troops, when the war had effectively ended, witnesses saw her beating a young woman with a riding crop.

 On the eve of liberation, Gare was seen bashing two sisters heads together when she caught them trying to eat potato peelings from the camp’s cooking area. The deterioration of the camp was visible in every sector. In the first months of 1,945, approximately 500 people died daily, a figure that progressively increased. The bodies were piled up in ditches or left abandoned around the barracks.

 The camp administration ordered prisoners to bury the bodies in mass graves, but the death rate was beyond any organizational capacity. Gracie remained at his post until the arrival of British forces. He did not attempt to escape or camouflage himself among the prisoners as other staff members did. Commandant Ysef Kramer also did not hide and maintained his administrative position.

 On the 15th of April 1945, units of the British 11th Armored Division entered Bergen Bellson after establishing a previously agreed upon truce zone with the camp authorities. British troops found approximately 13,000 unburied corpses scattered throughout the camp and nearly 60,000 survivors in critical condition from malnutrition and disease.

 Major Dick Williams, supply and transportation officer with the 8th Army Corps, was one of the first British soldiers to enter to assess the camp’s conditions. Grace was found with the rest of the SS personnel present at Bergen Bellson. She told the British authorities that she remained at the camp to maintain law and order.

 Brigadier Glenn Hughes ordered the captured guards to participate in the camp cleanup. Hungarian and German SS personnel along with other German prisoners of war were used as labor to bury the accumulated bodies. British authorities established a quarantine to prevent further spread of disease among the weakened population. Civilians including the local council of the city of Cellah were forced to visit the camp to witness the conditions firsthand.

Given her youth and appearance, British soldiers initially did not identify her as a highranking officer. She was not immediately arrested but was forced to work alongside other warders in burying the 13 to 15,000 corpses lying decomposed throughout the camp. During this process, a survivor identified her and reported her to the British authorities.

 On the 17th of April 1945, Irma Gracie was officially arrested by British forces. Belson trials testimonies and death sentence. Following her arrest on the 17th of April 1945, Irma Grace was transferred to the town of Cel where the British authorities established an internment center for SS members captured at Bergen Bellson.

 She remained in custody along with other camp guards and officials. While a judicial process was prepared to examine the activities carried out at the concentration camps, British investigators immediately began collecting survivor testimony. Statements were taken both at Bergen Bellson and in hospitals where the liberated prisoners were taken for medical care.

 These testimonies would form the evidentiary basis for the trial that would follow. During initial interrogations, Greg provided basic information about her background. She confirmed her previous work at Ravensbrook and Ashvitz Burkanau as well as her rank as Oberin in the women’s camp. When an English journalist asked her why she had committed the acts of which she was accused, she replied that it was her duty to exterminate antisocial elements to ensure the future of Germany.

 In September 1945, a British military tribunal was held in Lunberg, Lower Saxony to try 45 personnel from Bergen Bellson and Ashvitz. The proceedings became officially known as the Bellson trial. The tribunal included five British officers, four military officers, and one civilian judge acting as presiding judge. The defendants were represented by lawyers appointed by the British administration.

 Irma Grace was among the 16 female staff members charged along with guards such as Elizabeth Vulcanrath and Hana Borman. Commandant Ysef Kramer was the main defendant. The general indictment charged war crimes for mistreatment of prisoners at Ashvitz and Bergen Bellson, including murder, torture, physical abuse, and participation in extermination selections.

 The trial began on the 17th of September 1945 in a converted room of a former gymnasium. Over 9 weeks, more than 120 witnesses, mainly camp survivors, appeared. The hearings were held amid considerable public interest with British and international journalists present who documented every session. During the initial hearings, Gresie maintained a seemingly calm demeanor.

 She wore a simple prisoner’s outfit and appeared serene in the dock. Observers noted that she frequently smiled or laughed during testimony presented against her. This attitude was perceived as defiance toward the victims and the judicial process. She occasionally conversed with other defendants, exchanging gestures during the hearings.

 The prosecution presented testimony from survivors who had been under Grace’s direct authority at all three camps. The statements established a pattern of behavior spanning from her first months as a guard to the final weeks before liberation. A Hungarian prisoner testified about her experience at Avitz, describing how Gra deliberately selected the most attractive women to be sent to the gas chambers out of personal jealousy.

 The witness recounted witnessing these selections on multiple occasions and that Gracie displayed visible satisfaction during the process. Magda Helinger, a former Avitz prisoner in waiting, testified about her direct interactions with [music] Gracie. Helinger described how Grace frequently forgot her status as a Jewish prisoner and spoke to her as if she were an older sister, revealing details about her family and her disappointment over failing to train as a nurse.

 Helinger also testified about an incident in which she directly confronted Gracer about her mistreatment of four women and how Gracer subsequently apologized. Lilica Salza, a seamstress at Ashvitz, testified about her working relationship with Gracer. Salza had regularly made uniforms and civilian clothes for Graie in exchange for regular visits with her younger twin sisters, who were detained in another section of the camp.

 Salsa testified about Grace’s obsession with her physical appearance and her claim that after the war she would become a movie star. An Awitz prisoner doctor testified about the incident in which Grace asked him to perform a pregnancy termination procedure. The doctor described how Grezi had provided the necessary instruments and threatened to kill her if she revealed the operation to any camp officials.

 Alice Tenanbalm then 14 years old testified about how Gresa had saved her from the gas chambers 16 times after she had been selected by Mangal. Tenanbal explained that Gres had told her that she resembled her sister Helen and that for that reason she protected her by removing her from the groups targeted for extermination.

 During his formal interrogation, Grace denied having personally killed prisoners. He admitted to carrying a whip and participating in selections, but claimed to be acting under direct orders from his superiors. He insisted that he had no authority to decide the prisoner’s final fate, merely following instructions from SS doctors and camp commonants.

 Regarding the disciplinary methods employed, she stated that they were standard procedures in the camp’s operations and that she did not recall intentionally causing serious injuries. She asserted that the use of physical punishment was necessary to maintain order during headcounts when prisoners disrupted established procedures.

 Her defense attorney, Major LSW Cranfield, attempted to show that Gresier was too young to have fully understood the scope of her actions. He argued that her age, 22 at the time of the trial, should be considered a mitigating factor. He argued that her role, although severe, was not comparable to that of the senior officers who planned and directed the extermination policy.

 Cranfield also suggested that prisoners testimonies could be distorted by hatred built up against the guards over years of captivity. She proposed that victims might exaggerate events or attribute actions committed by other guards to Grezi, given that many survivors had been in multiple camps and might confuse events and perpetrators.

 The British prosecution argued that the defense of due obedience could not justify the systematic brutality documented by numerous independent witnesses. It was argued that Gresie not only obeyed superior orders, but also acted on his own initiative, using excessive violence and demonstrating proactive behavior in the pursuit and punishment of prisoners.

The prosecutor emphasized that the consistency of the testimony against her from victims of different nationalities and with no prior contact with each other confirmed the veracity of the alleged events. The accounts provided by the witnesses established specific methods of violence and direct participation in the extermination process.

 During cross-examination, Greser maintained a firm stance and responded briefly. She showed no signs of regret or remorse for the actions described in the testimonies. When asked specifically why she beat the prisoners, she replied that it was necessary to maintain order in the camp. When questioned about the selections at Avitz, she acknowledged being present, but stated that the final decisions rested exclusively with the SS doctors.

He did not deny using whips or dogs, but justified them as part of his statutory surveillance and control duties. When shown photographs of victims with injuries consistent with whipping, he stated that he did not recall the specific incidents, but that such punishments were standard procedure in the camp.

 The coldness with which she answered questions about deaths or punishments shocked observers of the trial. The presiding judge asked her directly if she understood the seriousness of the charges against her. Grace replied that she was aware of the allegations, but that she had fulfilled her obligations as ordered by the SS Chain of Command.

 Her sister, Helen Grace, was called to testify as a character witness in her defense. Hela stated that she could never imagine Irma hitting or mistreating prisoners because she had always fled conflicts throughout her childhood. She described her sister as a child who shied away from disputes and avoided physical confrontations with other children.

 The prosecutor used this testimony against the defendant, suggesting that someone who had been cowardly in the face of similarly powerful individuals found it easy to unleash violence on defenseless victims once empowered and authorized to do so. During Helen’s testimony, which also described the family incident that led to Irma’s final removal from her parental home, the defendant’s mask of indifference momentarily cracked, and she wept openly in court.

 The trial concluded on the 17th of November 1945. The court found 11 of the defendants guilty, including Joseph Kramer, Elizabeth Vulcanrath, Wana Borman, and Irma Gracie. The sentences for the convicted were death by hanging. In Grace’s case, the court found her responsible for war crimes at Avitz and Bergen Bellson, specifically for active participation in extermination selections and systematic acts of violence against prisoners.

 Upon hearing the sentence, Grazy remained silent. According to official records, she wore a serious expression and made no final statements. She was transferred to Celi prison and later to Hamlin prison where she would await execution along with the other condemned prisoners. Hamlan the execution of the hyena of Awitz.

 After being sentenced to death in November 1945, Irma Grace was transferred from Chelle prison to Hamlin Penitentiary. This 19th century building had been converted by the British authorities as a detention center and execution site for Nazi war criminals. The transfer took place under strict security measures accompanied by the other convicts in the same trial.

 Elizabeth Vulcanrath and Hana Borman Hamlin prison had been modified after the war to house Nazi prisoners sentenced to capital punishment. The gallows that would be used in the following months for multiple executions of war criminals were built on its premises. The design followed standard British specifications for judicial hangings with a raised platform, a mechanically activated trapdo, and a receiving pit designed to produce immediate cervical fracture.

Upon arrival, Gresie was searched, photographed, and placed in a single cell in the section designated for those sentenced to death. The prison regime was harsh, and movement was strictly controlled. Each prisoner had only basic necessities. An iron bed, standard blankets, a table with paper and ink, and limited access to written correspondence.

 She was allowed to write farewell letters to family members, which would be delivered after the execution. During her weeks in Hamlan, Greg wrote several letters to her father and brothers. In these letters, she expressed loyalty to Germany and asked that her memory not be a source of family shame. She insisted that she should be remembered as a young woman who had fulfilled what she considered her duty to her homeland.

 She urged her family to maintain their dignity and not renounce the gays name. None of these letters contained direct references to the crimes for which she had been convicted, nor did they contain expressions of regret for her actions in the camps. The letters maintained the tone of political loyalty and national pride that had characterized her statements during the trial.

 She signed the letters by urging her family members to be proud Germans even in the most difficult circumstances. On the 12th of December 1945, the day before her scheduled execution, Graier was confined to her cell with the other condemned women. According to British wardens records, she spent part of the afternoon conversing loudly with Vulcan Wrath and Borman, who occupied nearby cells on death row.

 The three women shared Nazi songs that they sang throughout the night, an activity recorded in the Guard book by British jailers. The singing continued until the early hours of the morning, disturbing the rest of other prisoners in the section. The songs included party anthems and military marches they had learned during their service in the SS.

 On the morning of December 13, the execution of 13 condemned men from the Bellson trials was scheduled. 10 men and three women. The person responsible for carrying out the sentences was Albert Pierre Point, a British executioner with experience in capital executions since the 1,00 932s. Pierre Point had been specifically designated to carry out the sentences of Allied military tribunals in Germany and carried out dozens of executions in Hamlin during the months following the end of the war.

 The procedure followed standard British protocol for executions by hanging. The operation took place in a converted room within the prison where a scaffold with a mechanical trapdo had been installed. The condemned men were led in list order from their cells to the execution chamber where Peer Point and his assistant received them for the final procedure.

 The protocol included arm restraints with leather straps, placing a white hood over the head, and tightening a noose around the neck. The executioner, after verifying the correct position on the trapdo marked with a chalk cross, activated the mechanism that opened the floor beneath the condemned man. The fall was mathematically calculated based on body weight to produce an immediate cervical fracture and instant death.

 The first to be led to the gallows was Elizabeth Vulcanrath. The operation began shortly after 9:30 a.m. and was recorded with military precision in the prison’s official records. After the execution was completed, the body was removed to make way for the next name on the condemned list. At approximately 10:00, Irma Grace was led to the execution chamber.

 She entered escorted by two British guards who accompanied her to the scaffold platform. Pierre Point was waiting by the trap door, accompanied by his assistant and a military doctor who would certify her death. According to official records of the execution, Gresi moved forward with a firm step without being forced or dragged.

 She was placed in the position marked with the chalk cross in the center of the scaffold directly above the trapdoor. Protocol required the executioner to utter the phrase, “Pardon me,” in a low voice before placing the hood and noose. Grazie remained upright during these final preparations. As Pierre Point prepared to place the white hood over her head, she uttered a single word which was recorded both in official documents and in the executioner’s later testimony, Schnel, which means quickly in German. This was the last word she

spoke. Immediately after his statement, the trap door was opened by pulling a lever and the body fell into the void of the receiving pit. The sound of the cervical fracture was audible in the room. According to the doctor’s record, death was certified minutes after the fall.

 Irma Grace’s body was removed from the scaffold and placed in a simple wooden coffin for burial. Later, Johanna Borman, the third of the condemned guards, was led to the gallows. Once the three female executions were completed, the 10 condemned men were hanged, including Commander Joseph Kramer. The bodies of those executed were not returned to their families according to British prison regulations.

 They were to be buried in the cemetery attached to the prison in graves with no external markings and only numerical marks in the internal records. Irma Grace was buried in a mass grave alongside the other victims of the Bellson trials. Documents related to his execution include the death certificate signed by the military doctor present, the detailed report from executioner Pierre Point and the burial record in the prison cemetery.

 These records were preserved by the British authorities and later transferred to the National Archives for historical preservation. At 22 years old, Irma Grace became the youngest woman executed by British authorities in the 20th century. Her death marked the end of a career that had begun in the Meckllinburgg camps and ended on the gallows of Hamlan, passing through the major extermination camps of the Third Reich, where she had exercised absolute power over the life and death of thousands of prisoners.