Alice Orlowski (30 September 1903 – 21 May 1976) was a German concentration camp guard at several of the

German Nazi Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

camps in German-occupied Poland (1939-1945) 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 opposin ...

. After the war, she was convicted of war crimes.

Wartime

Born as Alice Minna Elisabeth Elling in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1903, she began to train as a guard at the

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a German 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 o ...

in Germany in 1941. In October 1942, she was selected as one of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe d ...

'' (SS) '' Aufseherin'' to be posted at the

Majdanek 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 seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...

camp near

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...

, in

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration. The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...

, where, along with

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

, she came to be regarded as two of the most brutal overseers. They regularly loaded trucks of women destined for the gas chambers. When a child was left over, the two would throw him or her on the top of the adults like luggage, and bolt the door shut. Orlowski often awaited the arrivals of new transports of women. She would then whip the prisoners, especially across the eyes. In Majdanek, Orlowski was promoted to the rank of ''Kommandoführerin'' (Work Detail Overseer) in the sorting sheds. As the SS Aufseherin, Orlowski supervised over 100 women, who sorted through items taken from prisoners who had been gassed: watches, furs, coats, gold, jewellery, money, toys, glasses, and so on. When the camp was evacuated, the Germans sent Orlowski to the notorious

Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp , known for = , location = , coordinates = , built by = , operated by = Nazi Germany , commandant = Amon Göth (until September 1944)Arnold Büscher (September 1944 – January 1945) ...

near

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, in German-occupied Poland. In Plaszow-Kraków, Orlowski was in charge of a work detail on the Camp Street (Lager Strasse) and was known for her viciousness. In early January 1945, Orlowski was among the SS women posted on the death march to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and it was during this time that her behaviour, previously observed as being brutal and

sadistic Sadism may refer to: * Sadomasochism, the giving or receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation * Sadistic personality disorder, an obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the s ...

, became more humane. On the death march in mid-January 1945 from Auschwitz to Loslau, Orlowski gave comfort to the inmates, and even slept alongside them on the ground outside. She also brought water to those who were thirsty.The facts about her behaviour on the death march come from Malvina Graf: ''I survived the Kraków Ghetto and Plaszow Camp'' It is unknown why her attitude changed, but some speculate that she sensed the war was almost over and she would soon be tried as a war criminal. Orlowski ended up back at Ravensbrück as a guard.

Post-war

After the war ended in May 1945, Orlowski was captured by

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

forces and

extradited Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

to Poland to stand trial for war crimes. The "picture book SS woman" stood accused at the

Auschwitz Trial The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Poland's Supreme National Tribunal tried forty former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947. The best-known defendants were Arthur Lie ...

in 1947. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released in 1957 after serving 10 years. After her release, Orlowski moved to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. In 1973, Orlowski was working a counter job in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

when she complained that only "half the work" had been finished, referring to the extermination of the Jews. As a result, she was arrested and charged with making anti-Semitic remarks. A West German court found Orlowski guilty of hate speech and sentenced her to 10 months in prison, of which she served 8 months. In 1975, the West German authorities arrested Orlowski a second time, for crimes committed in Majdanek. She was put on trial in the

Third Majdanek Trial 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 ...

. Orlowski died from natural causes during her trial on 21 May 1976.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlowski, Alice 1903 births 1976 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Poland German people who died in prison custody German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp personnel People convicted in the Auschwitz trial Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel Prisoners who died in German detention People from Berlin Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Majdanek concentration camp personnel People extradited from the Soviet Union People extradited to Poland Female guards in Nazi concentration camps German people convicted of crimes against humanity People convicted of racial hatred offences Nazis who died in prison custody

Wartime

Post-war

See also

References