Greta Bösel (née Mueller) (9 May 1908 – 3 May 1947) was a trained

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

. Born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, she became a camp guard at Ravensbrück in August 1944. Her rank at the camp was ''Arbeitseinsatzführerin'' (Work Input Overseer). In November 1944, Bösel was supposed to have been one of the staff members to select prisoners 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 ...

, or for transfer to

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

. She is known to have told another SS guard "If they risonerscannot work, let them rot." After the death march of prisoners out of Ravensbrück following the impending liberation by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

troops, Bösel fled the camp with her husband. She was later caught and arrested by British troops. Bösel, along with other female guards including

Dorothea Binz Dorothea Binz (16 March 1920 – 2 May 1947) was a Nazi German officer and supervisor at Ravensbrück concentration camp during the Holocaust. She was executed for war crimes. Life Born to a lower middle-class German family in Försterei Dusterl ...

, stood accused at the first Ravensbrück Trial, which took place between December 1946 and February 1947 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. The court found her guilty of maltreatment, murder and taking part in the "selections". She was executed for her crimes at 9:55 am on 3 May 1947, 24 minutes after Elisabeth Marschall, by

Albert Pierrepoint Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him. Pierrepoin ...

in Hamelin Prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bosel, Greta 1908 births 1947 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Germany Hamburg Ravensbrück trials executions Executed people from North Rhine-Westphalia Executed German women Military personnel from Wuppertal People from the Rhine Province Female guards in Nazi concentration camps German women nurses Executed mass murderers