Johanna Bormann (misspelled: Juana Bormann); 10 September 1893 – 13 December 1945) was a German prison guard at several

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

s from 1938. She was executed as a

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 ...

Hamelin Hameln ( ; ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hameln-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. History Hameln ...

after a court trial in 1945.

Early life

Bormann was born on 10 September 1893 in ,

East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...

. Not much in known about her early life, but she was raised in the Catholic faith. She had briefly pursued a career as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

for ''Deutsche Mission''.

Career, trial and execution

At her trial, Bormann said she had joined the Auxiliary SS, on 1 March 1938, as a civilian employee "to earn more money". She first served at the Lichtenburg concentration camp in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

under SS '' Oberaufseherin'' Jane Bernigau with 49 other SS women. She worked in the camp kitchens. In 1939, she was assigned to oversee a work crew at the new Ravensbrück women's camp near

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In March 1942, Bormann was one of a handful of women selected for guard duty at Auschwitz in occupied Poland. Short in stature, she was known for her cruelty. Victims called her "Wiesel" (weasel) and "the woman with the dogs". In October 1942, Bormann went to Auschwitz-Birkenau as an '' Aufseherin''. Her supervisors included Maria Mandel, Margot Dreschel and Irma Grese. Bormann was eventually moved to Budy, a nearby subcamp where she continued her abuse of prisoners. In 1944, as German losses mounted, Bormann was transferred to the auxiliary camp at Hindenburg (present-day Zabrze, Poland) in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

. In January 1945 she returned to Ravensbrück. In March she arrived at her last post Bergen-Belsen, near Celle, where she served under Josef Kramer, Irma Grese and Elisabeth Volkenrath (all of whom had served with her in Birkenau). On 15 April 1945 the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

took Bergen-Belsen, finding over 10,000 corpses and 60,000 survivors. The liberators forced all SS personnel to carry the dead. Bormann was later incarcerated and interrogated by the British, then prosecuted at the Belsen Trial, which lasted from 17 September 1945 to 17 November 1945. The court heard testimony relating to murders she had committed at Auschwitz and Belsen sometimes unleashing her "big bad wolfhound" German shepherd on helpless prisoners. She denied all of the charges, only admitting to slapping prisoners with her hands to discipline them. She was found guilty and hanged (along with Grese and Volkenrath) on 13 December 1945. Her executioner was Albert Pierrepoint.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bormann, Juana 1893 births 1945 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Belsen trial executions German people convicted of torture Executed German women Lichtenburg concentration camp personnel Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel Female guards in Nazi concentration camps People from East Prussia