This article recounts the trial and execution of three female SS guards at Bergen-Belsen – Irma Grese, Elisabeth Volkenrath, and Juana Bormann – who were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and executed by hanging on December 13, 1945. The content is for educational and historical documentation only, based on court records, survivor testimonies, and archival materials. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
The Belsen Trial 1945: Conviction of SS Guards Irma Grese, Elisabeth Volkenrath, and Juana Bormann
At the end of World War II, British forces liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and they witnessed a scene of death, disease, and depravity unlike anything they had ever imagined. Belsen became synonymous with Nazi war crimes, but what shocked the liberators most was that many SS guards still remained inside the camp. Tens of thousands of prisoners had been left behind, dying from disease and starvation, with an estimated 13,000 unburied corpses scattered throughout the camp. The British took immediate action to halt the typhus epidemic that was killing so many and then forced the Nazi guards to help bury the dead. What followed was one of the most infamous war crimes trials in history – the Belsen Trial – in which three young female guards were sentenced to death and executed.
1. The Liberation of Bergen-Belsen: A Horror Beyond Imagination
When British soldiers of the 11th Armoured Division entered Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945, they were not prepared for what they found. The camp, originally established as a prisoner-of-war exchange camp, had become a dumping ground for prisoners evacuated from other camps as the Allies advanced. By April 1945, Belsen held nearly 60,000 prisoners in conditions of unimaginable overcrowding, starvation, and disease.
The liberators discovered thousands of corpses lying unburied across the camp. The dead were piled in heaps, their skeletal bodies barely recognizable as human. The living were not much better – emaciated, covered in filth, and dying at a rate of hundreds per day from typhus, dysentery, and starvation. The stench of death was overwhelming.
Among the horrors, the British soldiers found that many SS guards had not fled. They were still present – some were even still armed – and they appeared to be living in relative comfort while prisoners died around them. The British immediately arrested the remaining SS personnel, including the camp commandant Josef Kramer (known as the “Beast of Belsen”) and his female guards.
2. Forcing Guards to Bury the Dead: A Lesson in Accountability
The British command made a deliberate decision: the SS guards would be forced to confront the consequences of their actions. They ordered the captured guards, both male and female, to bury the thousands of corpses that littered the camp. The guards were made to handle the rotting bodies with their bare hands, to toss them into mass graves, and to witness firsthand the horror they had helped create.
British soldiers and journalists documented this process. Photographs and newsreels showed female SS guards – young women in stylish coats and boots – carrying the emaciated bodies of prisoners to burial pits. For many, this was the first time they had been forced to truly see the victims of their cruelty. The images circulated around the world, shocking the public and cementing Bergen-Belsen’s place in history as a symbol of Nazi barbarism.
3. The Belsen Trial: Justice for the Perpetrators
The Belsen Trial (officially known as the Trial of Josef Kramer and 44 Others) was held at the Gymnasium in Lüneburg, Germany, from September 17 to November 17, 1945. It was one of the first major war crimes trials of the post-war era, conducted by a British military tribunal. The trial was unique for several reasons: it was held in a German public building, it was open to the German press, and it was conducted in both English and German.
The prosecution called over 200 witnesses – many of them survivors of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Their testimonies painted a horrifying picture of the daily brutality inflicted by the camp guards. The defendants, many of whom were young women, were described as sadistic, cold-blooded, and utterly devoid of human compassion.
Among the 45 defendants, three women stood out for the particular cruelty of their actions. They were Irma Grese, Elisabeth Volkenrath, and Juana Bormann. All three had served at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and all three were convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
4. Irma Grese: “The Hyena of Auschwitz”
Irma Grese was born on October 7, 1923, in Wrechen, Germany. At just 19 years old, she volunteered for service as an SS Aufseherin (female guard) and was assigned to Ravensbrück before being transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943. At Auschwitz, she quickly rose to the position of Oberaufseherin (Senior Supervisor), one of the highest ranks for female guards.
Survivors testified that Grese was one of the most sadistic guards at Auschwitz. She carried a whip and used it constantly on prisoners, often beating them across the face and breasts for no reason. She set her trained dogs on prisoners who moved too slowly. She participated in selections for the gas chambers, pointing her finger to the left – toward death – with a cold, unfeeling expression.
Most shockingly, Grese was known to take particular pleasure in tormenting pregnant women and children. Survivors testified that she would beat pregnant women until they miscarried and throw starving children against walls or onto electrified fences. Her blonde hair, blue eyes, and youthful appearance only made her cruelty more grotesque. Prisoners nicknamed her “The Hyena of Auschwitz” and “The Beautiful Beast.”
Grese was transferred to Bergen-Belsen in early 1945, where she continued her brutal behavior until the camp’s liberation. She was 21 years old at the time of her trial. Despite her youth, the court found her guilty and sentenced her to death by hanging.
5. Elisabeth Volkenrath: The Head Warden of Auschwitz
Elisabeth Volkenrath was born on September 5, 1919, in Poland but grew up in Germany. Before the war, she worked as a hairdresser. In 1941, she joined the SS camp staff at Ravensbrück, and in March 1942, she was transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
At Auschwitz, Volkenrath rose to become head warden of the female guards, overseeing all SS women in the women’s camp. Survivors described her as exceptionally cruel, regularly beating prisoners with rubber truncheons, fists, or sticks – often leaving them unconscious or dead. She also actively participated in selections for the gas chambers.
Like Grese, Volkenrath was transferred to Bergen-Belsen in early 1945 and continued her abuses there. She was arrested by the British at liberation. At the Belsen Trial, numerous witnesses testified to her brutality. She was convicted and sentenced to death.
6. Juana Bormann: The “Woman with the Dogs”
Juana Bormann was born in 1893 in a small village near Hanover. She was one of the older female guards, having served as an Aufseherin at several camps, including Ravensbrück, Auschwitz, and finally Bergen-Belsen.
Bormann was known for her particular obsession with dogs. She owned a large German Shepherd that she trained to attack prisoners on command. Survivors testified that Bormann would unleash her dog on weak or ill prisoners, watching with satisfaction as the animal tore into their flesh. Her cruelty earned her the nickname “The Woman with the Dogs.”
At Auschwitz, Bormann participated in selections for the gas chambers and was known to beat prisoners with a stick. At Bergen-Belsen, she continued her sadistic behavior. Despite her age – she was 52 at the time of her trial – she was convicted and sentenced to death.
7. The Execution: December 13, 1945, at Hamelin Prison
On the morning of December 13, 1945, the three women were led to the gallows at Hamelin Prison in Lower Saxony, Germany. The executioner was Albert Pierrepoint – Britain’s most famous hangman, who would later execute approximately 450 people, including many Nazi war criminals.
All three were sentenced to death and the sentences were carried out on December 13, 1945
8. The Legal Basis of the Belsen Trial Verdicts
The executions of Grese, Volkenrath, and Bormann were not acts of revenge – they were acts of justice. The Belsen Trial was a legitimate legal proceeding conducted by a British military tribunal, adhering to the principles of due process. The defendants were provided with defense counsel, the right to call witnesses, and the right to appeal.
The evidence against them was overwhelming. Dozens of survivors testified about the specific acts of cruelty committed by each defendant. Their crimes were not simply “following orders” – they were acts of personal sadism, committed by individuals who clearly enjoyed inflicting pain on helpless human beings.
The tribunal determined the sentences based on evidence presented during the trial. The death penalty was the maximum sentence available under the law for those who had personally killed prisoners, selected children for the gas chambers, or set dogs on starving women.
9. The Legacy of the Belsen Trial
The Belsen Trial was one of the first major war crimes trials after World War II, and it set an important precedent. It demonstrated that individuals – even low-ranking guards – could be held personally accountable for their actions, regardless of whether they were “following orders.”
The trial also brought the horrors of the concentration camps to public attention. The photographs of Belsen liberators and the testimony of survivors shocked the world and made it impossible to deny the reality of the Holocaust. For many Germans, the Belsen Trial was the first time they had been forced to confront the atrocities committed in their name.
The three female guards executed at Hamelin remain notorious figures in Holocaust history. Their youth, their gender, and the contrast between their ordinary appearance and their extraordinary cruelty continue to fascinate and horrify. But their deaths represent something essential: the triumph of justice over evil, of accountability over impunity, and of law over barbarism.
Irma Grese was 22 years old when the sentence was carried out. Elisabeth Volkenrath was 26. Juana Bormann was 52. They were not monsters from a fairy tale; they were real women who made real choices. They chose to join the SS. They chose to wield their whips, to set their dogs on prisoners, to point their fingers at children and send them to the gas chambers. They chose cruelty.
The sentences were carried out at Hamelin Prison on December 13, 1945. For the survivors of Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz, it was not revenge – it was the only justice that could be offered to those who had suffered so much.
Primary Sources:
Belsen Trial transcripts (Trial of Josef Kramer and 44 Others, 1945)
Imperial War Museum archives – Belsen Trial witness statements
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) – records of Irma Grese, Elisabeth Volkenrath, and Juana Bormann
Wikipedia – Belsen Trial / Irma Grese / Elisabeth Volkenrath / Juana Bormann / Albert Pierrepoint
The National Archives (UK) – WO 235 series (Belsen Trial documents)
Contemporary news reports – The Times, The Guardian, 1945