CONTENT WARNING: This post discusses war crimes committed at Stutthof concentration camp and the 1946 execution of a female perpetrator. Purpose: historical education and remembrance only.
Gdańsk, 4 July 1946: The Execution of “Mad Jenny” – Stutthof’s Infamous Sadistic Guard
Born 30 May 1922 in Hamburg, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was only 11 when Hitler came to power and 17 when World War II began.
In 1944, at age 22, she volunteered to become an Aufseherinnen (female guard) at Stutthof concentration camp near Gdańsk.
She quickly became one of the most feared and hated figures in the camp.
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“Mad Jenny” – The beautiful blonde with the psychotic smile
Survivors remembered:
She stood at the gate selecting prisoners for the gas chamber while humming and smiling
She beat women and children to death with a leather whip
She took part in executions and torture sessions
She wore a white fur coat and high heels, her blonde hair perfectly styled – a chilling contrast to her cruelty
Prisoners called her “Mad Jenny” or “The Beautiful Beast”.
When the Red Army approached in January 1945, she fled back to Hamburg and tried to disappear into civilian life.
Justice caught up
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In April 1945 she was arrested by British troops at Gdańsk railway station while attempting to escape to Germany.
The First Stutthof Trial (25 April – 31 May 1946) in Gdańsk tried 13 camp staff, including 5 female guards.
Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was the most prominent defendant.
Throughout the trial she remained arrogant: wearing makeup, smirking, denying everything, and claiming “I was just doing my job”.
Dozens of survivors identified her and recounted her atrocities in detail.
On 31 May 1946 she was sentenced to death by hanging.
4 July 1946 – Biskupia Górka, Gdańsk
Public gallows were erected. Tens of thousands of local residents, former prisoners, and soldiers came to witness.
For the first time, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann lost her composure.
She screamed, cried, begged for mercy, and shouted that she was “just a young girl who had been misled”.
No one felt pity.
At age 24, she became one of the youngest female war criminals executed after the war.
That same day, ten other Stutthof defendants were hanged alongside her, including Elisabeth Becker, Wanda Klaff, Ewa Paradies, and Gerda Steinhoff.
The image of the five Stutthof female guards hanging from the gallows remains one of the most powerful symbols of post-war justice.
Today, at the Stutthof Museum, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann’s name stands as a warning that evil can hide behind youth and beauty — and that no one escapes accountability.