An Aufseherin (pronounced/ Owf-say-u-reen/) was a female guard, who often came from a broken or poor home, but often they were simply selected because they believed in Nazi ideology, would blindly obey orders, or were cruel.

Getting hired at Ravensbrück was considered an excellent opportunity; the Aufseherinnen often had fun going on walks, picnics, and outings on the lake together. For many, this camaraderie was the only “family”-type of togetherness they knew.

When arriving at Ravensbrück, the women who came from Camp Vught notice how the large German Shepherd dogs have clean, warm coats on while the prisoners themselves are freezing.

The cruel Aufseherin Dorothea Bintz was sentenced to hanging by death at the Nurenberg Trials. Her sentence was carried out early May of 1947.

Head nurse Elizabeth Marshall had always been a zealous Nazi, whereas so-called “Sister Vera” Salvequart had been an inmate initially. While the latter had initially helped Jewish men, she soon became a Blockova (or leader of a barrack) and then nurse in Ravensbrück. Like many Nazis, she had an insane streak and was rumored to kill fellow prisoners with a white powder she pretended was medicine. For their crimes, Marshall was hanged in May and Salvequart in June of 1947.

Due to her exceptional cruelty, Ruth Neudeck was selected by Schwartzhuber to be head Aufseherin of the Uckermark subcamp were over 5,000 women and children were gassed. She paid for her crimes with the death penalty on July 29, 1948.

The only female doctor, Herta Oberhauser was not known to associate much with others. While completely lacking in empathy, she did not seem to enjoy cruelty. Sentenced to only 20 years, she was released after a mere five years, allowing her to practice as a doctor again until a Ravensbrück survivor recognized her, and her license to practice was revoked. Incredibly, this participant in cruel medical experiments on the “Rabbits” (the Polish girls who could only hop around after their legs were infected and cut up) was allowed live out her days in freedom.

Hitler wanted a “Re-education Camp” for women when the German prisons for women were full, so Heinrich Himmler created one; it was called “Ravensbrück.”

Himmler often came to “inspect” the camp, but most likely only came to see his school chum Karl Gebhart and the “show barrack” where everything was clean and organized.

Dr. Karl Gebhart was seen by fellow-Nazis as a “fun” guy, so when Himmler set up Ravensbrück, he hired his childhood chum, Gebhardt as one of the main doctors in the camp hospital.

SS Dr. Karl Gebhardt was as twisted as his childhood friend Himmler; he led the medical experiments performed on completely healthy Polish girls (the “Rabbits)” to kill them or maim them for life. He was hanged on 2 June 1948 for his war crimes.

Towards the end of the war when the Russians advanced, SS-Obersturmführer Johann Schwarzhuber and his Sonderkommando came from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück. He was an alcoholic who had not only murdered the Jewish and Gypsy inmates he befriended, but he had also accidentally gassed his own son when he was wandering around at his dad’s job in Auschwitz. After that, his wife despised him as much as he despised himself, and the only way to keep going was by stoking the ovens of Ravensbrück ever faster and by downing ever-more liquor…