Elisabeth Volkenrath (née Mühlau; 5 September 1919 – 13 December 1945) was a German supervisor at several

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as con ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Volkenrath, née Mühlau, was an ''ungelernte Hilfskraft'' (unskilled worker) when she volunteered for service in a concentration camp. She began in October 1941 at Ravensbrück concentration camp as a simple '' Aufseherin''. In March 1942, she was sent to

Auschwitz Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

where she worked in the same function as at Ravensbrück. At Auschwitz, she met ''SS-Rottenführer'' Heinz Volkenrath, who had worked there since 1941 as ''SS-Blockführer''. The couple married in 1943. Elisabeth Volkenrath participated in the selection of prisoners for the gas chambers and, in November 1944, was promoted to ''Oberaufseherin'' for all camp sections for female prisoners at Auschwitz. Elisabeth Volkenrath was transferred to

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...

when Auschwitz was closed. From February 1945, she was ''Oberaufseherin'' (supervising wardress) at Bergen-Belsen.

Belsen trial

In April 1945, Volkenrath was arrested by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, and was tried in the Belsen trial, at which she was convicted of war crimes.

Sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

, she was executed by hanging at Hamelin Prison by

Albert Pierrepoint Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him. Pierrepoin ...

on 13 December 1945 she was executed in the same prison that

Irma Grese Irma Ilse Ida Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was a Nazi concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and served as warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen. She was a volunteer member of the SS. Grese was convi ...

( The Hyena of Auschwitz) was in.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkenrath, Elisabeth 1919 births 1945 deaths People from Złotoryja County Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Belsen trial executions Executed German women Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel People from the Province of Silesia Female guards in Nazi concentration camps