The Stutthof concentration camp, located near Danzig (modern-day Gdańsk, Poland), was one of the many sites where Nazis carried out horrific atrocities during World War II. While much of the focus on Nazi war criminals tends to highlight the actions of male officers, female guards were also complicit in the brutalities carried out at these camps, including at Stutthof. Several women who served at Stutthof were directly involved in the abuse, torture, and murder of prisoners, and some were later held accountable for their war crimes.
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One of the most notorious female guards at Stutthof was **Hermine Braunsteiner**, who worked at the camp in various roles, including as a supervisor of women prisoners. Braunsteiner was known for her particularly sadistic behavior, participating in the beatings and executions of prisoners. After the war, she was arrested and convicted of war crimes, being sentenced to life imprisonment in 1973. She was later deported to Germany, where she eventually served a prison sentence before her death.
Another infamous figure was **Irma Grese**, although she was more closely associated with the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen camps, she epitomized the cruelty exhibited by female guards during the war. Grese, known as the "Beautiful Beast," oversaw horrific treatment of prisoners, including mass executions, and was convicted of war crimes after the war. She was executed in 1945 at the age of 22, a stark reminder of the brutal actions she had overseen.
The execution of female guards like Braunsteiner and Grese was part of the post-war justice efforts, as the Allies sought to hold Nazi perpetrators accountable for the widespread horrors of the Holocaust. These executions, often carried out by hanging, were intended to send a clear message that no one—regardless of gender—would escape justice for their involvement in the Nazi regime's atrocities.