Luise Brunner (25 August 1908 – 8 December 1977) was a German concentration camp guard in
Auschwitz II (1942 – late 1944) and the chief
oberaufseherin (chief guard) of
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...
from December 1944 to April 1945.
Biography
Brunner was born in Aidhausen in 1908. She trained at the Ravensbruck concentration camp during June 1942, and in October of that year she was assigned to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she rose through the ranks to become a Kommandoführerin. At Birkenau, Brunner was feared for her brutality: "A female German teacher –
Drechsler – was the Lagerführerin
tellvertretende Lagerführerin a German woman named Brunner was the Oberapportführerin and another one called
Grese was the Rapportführerin. If they noticed a shawl, a pullover, or stocking they would beat you half-dead."
During the
Seventh Ravensbrück Trial (2 July 1948 – 21 July 1948), Brunner was tried on charges of
mistreatment of inmates
Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated. Prisoner abuse can include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, torture, or other acts such as refusal of essential medication, and it ...
of
Allied nationality and participation in the selection of inmates for the
gas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
History
Donatie ...
. She was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment.
[The National Archives (TNA), London, UK. Ravensbrück Case no 6, Subseries within WO 235/528- 529B & WO 235/777, The National Archives (TNA), London UK, Case no. 139, UNWCC, Wiener Library, London.]
References
Further reading
* Ebbinghaus, A.: Opfer und Täterinnen. Frauenbiographien des Nationalsozialismus. Nördlingen 1987. Reprinted 1996; (in German)
* Schäfer, S.: Zum Selbstverständnis von Frauen im Konzentrationslager: das Lager Ravensbrück. PhD thesis 2002, TU Berlin. (PDF, 741 kB; in German).
* Taake, C.: Angeklagt: SS-Frauen vor Gericht; Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Univ. Oldenburg, 1998 (in German)
1908 births
1977 deaths
Female guards in Nazi concentration camps
German people convicted of torture
People convicted in the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials
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