This article recounts the story of Jenny-Wanda Barkmann – a German SS guard whose name became synonymous with cruelty at the Stutthof concentration camp – who was convicted of crimes against humanity and publicly executed on July 4, 1946. 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.
Jenny-Wanda Barkmann: Trial and Execution of a Stutthof SS Guard
Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was a German SS guard whose name became synonymous with cruelty at the Stutthof concentration camp during the Second World War. Born on May 30, 1922, in Hamburg, Germany, Barkmann grew up in a working-class family during the instability of the Weimar Republic. Like many young Germans, she was shaped by Nazi propaganda, which glorified obedience, racial hierarchy, and violence while suppressing empathy and independent thought.
As the war progressed and labor shortages grew, the SS increasingly recruited women to serve as guards in concentration camps. In 1944, at just twenty-one years old, Barkmann volunteered for service as an SS Aufseherin (female guard) and was assigned to Stutthof concentration camp, located near Danzig (today Gdańsk, Poland).
The Brutality of Stutthof
Stutthof was one of the most brutal camps in Nazi-occupied Poland, known for starvation, forced labor, disease, executions, and later gas killings. Under Barkmann’s service, survivors testified that she displayed extreme sadism.
She beat female prisoners with whips, sticks, and her bare hands, often for no reason at all, and took part in selections that sent women and children to their deaths in the gas chamber. Prisoners nicknamed her “Mad Jenny” and the “Beautiful Spectre” because of the chilling contrast between her youthful appearance and her violent behavior.
Witnesses recalled that she appeared to enjoy humiliating inmates and showed no remorse for her actions. Even fellow guards considered her exceptionally cruel. Barkmann later admitted that guards deliberately held long roll calls in freezing conditions, knowing many prisoners would die from exposure.
Capture and Trial
As Soviet forces approached in early 1945, Barkmann fled Stutthof and went into hiding. She was arrested by Polish authorities in May 1945. During interrogation, she initially denied wrongdoing, but survivor testimonies exposed her crimes.
Barkmann was tried during the First Stutthof Trial in Gdańsk in 1946 and convicted of crimes against humanity.
The Execution: July 4, 1946
On July 4, 1946, Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was executed by hanging at Biskupia Górka (Bald Mountain) near Gdańsk, following her conviction for crimes against humanity.
The execution was carried out publicly before a large crowd. Contemporary Polish press reports noted that the execution was not immediate and was later described as prolonged. The procedures were criticized by some observers at the time.
She was 24 years old.
The Fate of Other Female Guards
Barkmann was one of several female Stutthof guards executed on the same day. Others included:
Ewa Paradies – executed alongside Barkmann
Elisabeth Becker – executed alongside Barkmann
Gerda Steinhoff – senior female guard, executed on the same day
Wanda Klaff – executed in a later trial
All were convicted of crimes against humanity for their roles in the brutal treatment and murder of prisoners at Stutthof.
Legacy
The case of Jenny-Wanda Barkmann remains one of the most notorious examples of female participation in Nazi camp brutality. Her youth, her beauty, and her extreme cruelty created a lasting image that has haunted Holocaust historians for decades.
The execution of Barkmann and her fellow guards was one of the last public executions in European history. It served as a warning to collaborators and perpetrators: the crimes committed in the camps would not go unpunished.
Primary Sources:
First Stutthof Trial records (1946) – Special Criminal Court in Gdańsk
Stutthof Museum – Archival materials and testimonies (Sztutowo, Poland)
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) – Stutthof camp records
Contemporary newspaper reports – Polish press, July 1946
Witness accounts of the Biskupia Górka executions