Elisabeth Becker (20 July 1923 – 4 July 1946) was a Nazi

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

overseer in

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 ...

Life

Becker was born in Neuteich, Danzig (today Nowy Staw, Poland) to a German family. In 1936, aged 13, she joined the

League of German Girls The League of German Girls or the Band of German Maidens (german: Bund Deutscher Mädel, abbreviated as BDM) was the girls' wing of the Nazi Party youth movement, the Hitler Youth. It was the only legal female youth organization in Nazi Germany. ...

. In 1938, she became a tramway conductor in Danzig. In 1940, she began working for the Dokendorf firm in Neuteich, where she was employed until 1941, when she became an agriculture assistant in Danzig.

Camps

In 1944, the SS needed more guards at the nearby

Stutthof concentration camp Stutthof was a Nazi concentration camp established by Nazi Germany in a secluded, marshy, and wooded area near the village of Stutthof (now Sztutowo) 34 km (21 mi) east of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) in the territory of the German- ...

, and Becker was called up for service. She arrived at Stutthof on 5 September 1944 to begin training as an SS Aufseherin, or overseer. She later worked in the Stutthof SK-III women's camp, personally selecting women and children for the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History ...

Post-war

After working in the camp for four months, Becker fled on 15 January 1945 and returned home to Neuteich. Three months later, on 13 April,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

police arrested her and placed her in prison to await trial. The first Stutthof Trial began in Danzig on 31 May 1946, with five former SS women and several kapos as defendants. Becker, along with ten other defendants, was found guilty and

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 had confessed to selecting at least 30 female prisoners to be gassed, but later retracted her confession. Becker sent several letters to Polish president

Bolesław Bierut Bolesław Bierut (; 18 April 1892 – 12 March 1956) was a Polish communist activist and politician, leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1947 until 1956. He was President of the State National Council from 1944 to 1947, President of Po ...

requesting that her sentence be commuted. The court had recommended that Becker's sentence be commuted to 15 years on the grounds that her actions had not been as severe as those of co-

defendants In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one jurisdi ...

Gerda Steinhoff Gerda Steinhoff (29 January 1922 – 4 July 1946) was a ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) Nazi concentration camps, Nazi concentration camp overseer following the 1939 German invasion of Poland. SS career Steinhoff was born in Wrzeszcz, Danzig-Langfuhr ...

Jenny-Wanda Barkmann Jenny-Wanda Barkmann (30 May 1922 – 4 July 1946) was a German overseer in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. She was tried and executed for crimes against humanity after the war. Biography Barkmann is believed to have spent her c ...

. Becker had been at the camp for the shortest amount of time. No pardon was issued, and she was publicly

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

on 4 July 1946 at Biskupia Górka along with the ten other condemned SS supervisors and

kapo A kapo or prisoner functionary (german: Funktionshäftling) was a prisoner in a Nazi camp who was assigned by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) guards to supervise forced labor or carry out administrative tasks. Also called "prisoner self-administrat ...

In popular culture

* In the play ''Maidens'', written and directed by Kenley Smith, Becker is portrayed by Megan Dianne DeWald.

References

1923 births 1946 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Poland People from Nowy Staw People from the Free City of Danzig Naturalized citizens of Germany Female guards in Nazi concentration camps Stutthof trials executions Executed German women Executed people from Pomeranian Voivodeship Filmed executions Publicly executed people {{World-War-II-bio-stub People executed for crimes against humanity Executed mass murderers

Life

Camps

Post-war

In popular culture

See also

References