EXTREMELY SENSITIVE CONTENT – 18+ ONLY
This post describes the crimes, trial, and execution of a Nazi concentration camp guard, including details of atrocities against prisoners. Shared solely for historical education and remembrance of her victims.
The Execution of Dorothea Binz – The Beautiful Beast of Ravensbrück
Dorothea “Theodora” Binz remains one of the most chilling figures from World War II’s Nazi concentration camps. Born on 16 March 1920 in Karlshorst near Berlin, she grew up in a modest family and trained as a maid. Influenced by the rising Nazi ideology, she joined Ravensbrück – the only major camp exclusively for women – in September 1939 as a kitchen worker at age 19. Ravensbrück, built in 1938 near Fürstenberg, held over 130,000 women and children from 1941 to 1945, with 30,000–90,000 deaths from starvation, medical experiments, and gas chambers.
Binz quickly rose through the ranks due to her zeal and cruelty. By 1940, she was an Aufseherin (guard), and by 1943, at 23, she became Oberaufseherin (chief wardress), overseeing 1,000 female guards. Known as the “Beautiful Beast” for her attractive appearance contrasted with sadism, she patrolled on bicycle with a German shepherd, whipping prisoners randomly. Witnesses at her trial described her beating women to death, selecting for gas chambers, and enjoying “sport” – forcing inmates to stand for hours in freezing weather or perform exhausting exercises until collapse.
Her atrocities included:
Kicking a woman to death in the bunker.
Shooting prisoners during roll calls.
Participating in medical experiments on Polish “rabbits” (women subjected to bone/muscle surgeries).
Overseeing the “standing cells” – tiny rooms where prisoners stood for days without food.
Ravensbrück was liberated by the Red Army on 30 April 1945. Binz fled but was captured by the British in Hamburg. At the first Ravensbrück Trial (Hamburg, December 1946–February 1947), 16 defendants (7 women) were tried for war crimes. Survivors testified to her brutality; she showed no remorse, smiling during proceedings. Convicted on multiple counts, she was sentenced to death.
On 2 May 1947, at age 27, Binz was hanged in Hamelin prison by British executioner Albert Pierrepoint. She reportedly walked calmly to the gallows, her last words: “I hope you don’t think we were all evil.” Her execution symbolised justice for Ravensbrück’s victims – mostly women political prisoners, Jews, Roma, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
We remember Dorothea Binz’s victims today not to sensationalise evil, but to honour the 30,000–90,000 women who perished at Ravensbrück; to recognise that ordinary people can become monsters under ideology; and to ensure history teaches us vigilance against hatred, so such “beautiful beasts” never rise again.
She whipped and killed with a smile. Justice came on the gallows – but the scars remain.
Official & reputable sources
Wikipedia – Dorothea Binz (detailed biography and trial)
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – Ravensbrück guards entry
Jewish Virtual Library – Ravensbrück Trial (1946-1947)
Vice – “The Forgotten Horror of Ravensbrück” (2017, survivor accounts)
YouTube: “Ravensbruck Trial Ends” (British Pathé, 1947 footage)