Else Lieschen Frida "Elsa" Ehrich (8 March 1914 – 26 October 1948) was a German convicted

war criminal A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

who acted as a female camp guard in Nazi concentration camps, including at Kraków-Płaszów and the

Majdanek concentration camp Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had three gas chambers, two wooden gallows, ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She was tried in Lublin, Poland at the

Majdanek Trials The Majdanek trials were a series of consecutive war-crime trials held in Poland and in Germany during and after World War II, constituting the overall longest Nazi war crimes trial in history spanning over 30 years. The first judicial trial of ...

and sentenced to death for war crimes. Ehrich was hanged on 26 October 1948. She was an ''

Oberaufseherin (pl. ; ; ) was the position title for a female guard in Nazi concentration camps. Female camp personnel were members of the auxiliary organization, which served the (SS-TV) in a limited capacity as women were not formally recognized as membe ...

'' of the women's section at Majdanek, and took active part in all the major selections to the gas chambers and executions. She maltreated prisoners, including children. Her assistant was

Hermine Braunsteiner Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan (July 16, 1919 – April 19, 1999) was an Austrian SS ''Helferin'' and female camp guard at Ravensbrück and Majdanek concentration camps. She was the first Nazi war criminal to be extradited from the United States ...

, who was later

denaturalized Denaturalization is the loss of citizenship against the will of the person concerned. Denaturalization is often applied to ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Denaturalization can be a penalty for actions considered criminal by the state ...

and deported from the United States back to Germany.

Early life

Ehrich was born in Bredereiche to an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

family. After her baptism at St.-Martin-Church Bredereiche, her name was misspelled as "Elsa" in the church registry. She finished ''

Volksschule The German term ''Volksschule'' () generally refers to compulsory education, denoting an educational institution every person (i.e. the people, ''Volk'') is required to attend. In Germany and Switzerland it is equivalent to a combined primar ...

'' and worked in a slaughterhouse as a teenager.

World War II

On 15 August 1940, Elrich volunteered for service in

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 ...

as a SS-Gefolge guard. In summer 1942, she was promoted to SS-''Rapportführerin'' (Rapport Leader). In October 1942, she was transferred to Majdanek near

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, where after some time she was promoted to SS-

. She was under the ''SS'' command in the camp. During the 34 months of camp operation, more than 79,000 prisoners were murdered at the main camp alone (59,000 of them

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

) and between 95,000 and 130,000 people in the entire Majdanek system of subcamps. On 3 November 1943, around 18,000 Jews were killed at Majdanek during the largest single-day, single-camp massacre of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, named Operation Harvest Festival (totaling 43,000 with 2 subcamps). Ehrich is believed responsible for the death of thousands of prisoners (including in gas chambers), from the women's section of the camp with children. One survivor has described how when sick prisoners were loaded into a cart in just their underwear, she threw a blanket over them. Elrich pulled the blanket off, lashed her with a whip and told her not to waste hospital property. In February 1943, Ehrich became ill due to

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

. On 5 April 1944, she was the ''Oberaufseherin'' in the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp, and from June 1944 to April 1945, she was assigned to Neuengamme.

Trial and execution

After the war, in May 1945, she was arrested by British occupation authorities in Hamburg, who transferred her to U.S. custody in the camp for war criminals PWE29 in

Dachau Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, where she shared the cell with

Maria Mandl Maria Mandl (sometimes erroneously spelled Mandel; 10 January 1912 – 24 January 1948) was an Austrian-born Holocaust perpetrator who was the (camp leader) of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp from 1942 until her arrest in 1945. ...

. She was transferred to the Polish authorities. In 1948, she stood before the District Court of Lublin at the second

, accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Ehrich was found guilty of the allegations and on 10 June 1948, was condemned to death by hanging. After the announcement of the judgment, she asked Polish President

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of History of Poland (1945–1989), communist-ruled Poland from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 ...

for clemency, on the grounds that she had a small son and wanted to atone for her guilt. President Bierut rejected the request. Ehrich was executed on 26 October 1948 in

Prison.

References

External links

Frauenkonzetrationslager
KL Lublin/Majdanek homepage; accessed 13 November 2014. *Silke Schäfer
Zum Selbstverständnis im Konzentrationslager. Das Lager Ravensbrück
Berlin, 2002. Thesis; accessed 13 November 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrich, Elsa 1914 births 1948 deaths Executed German mass murderers Executed German women Female guards in Nazi concentration camps Female mass murderers German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp personnel Majdanek trials executions Neuengamme concentration camp personnel People from Oberhavel People extradited to Poland Prisoners and detainees of the United States military Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel