Ulla Erna Frieda Jürß (born 2 August 1923) was a

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 ...

and

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 ...

guard. It is unclear in her file when Jürß became a camp guard (estimated between 1942 and 1944). Jürß was born in Rabenhorst, Germany. She went to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi 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 of 1 ...

where she was trained as an '' Aufseherin'' and served in several capacities. She was later promoted to the rank of ''Blockführerin'', and had over 600 women under her control. She was reportedly a brutal block overseer in the camp. In October 1944 she was relieved from duty and went back home. She was not tracked down until 1966, and until then, lived quietly in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. That year, she was charged with crimes against humanity. An East German court found her and two other former guards, Ilse Göritz and Frida Wötzel, and sentenced them to life imprisonment. After the

reunification of Germany German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic and the integration of i ...

, Jürß was released on health grounds in May 1991. After her release, she has also filed a petition for rehabilitation and compensation for the time she spent in prison. This petition was denied, however. It is not known whether Jürß is still alive.

References

1923 births Female guards in Nazi concentration camps People from Poznań County Possibly living people Ravensbrück concentration camp personnel {{nazi-stub German people convicted of crimes against humanity German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by East Germany Nazis convicted of war crimes People convicted of murder by East Germany