Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was known for both her beauty and cruelty during her time at Stutthof concentration camp before she was hanged for her crimes in 1946.
PAP / Alamy Stock PhotoNazi guard Jenny - Wanda Barkmann in front of a stilt of shoes at the Stutthof concentration camp .
The horrors of Nazi immersion camp have been well - documented throughout chronicle , as the vile and tragic persecution of European Jews and other marginalized groups has served as a painful moral in the years since World War II . But while much attention has been pay to the men responsible for for these horrific crimes , it was often distaff camp guard like Jenny - Wanda Barkmann who were the cruelest .
adult female like Barkmann , Irma Grese , and Elisabeth Volkenrath all became notorious at the camps for their brutality . Twenty - one would finally face the gallows , let in Barkmann , who was call the “ Beautiful Spectre . ”
PAP / Alamy Stock PhotoNazi guard Jenny-Wanda Barkmann in front of a pile of shoes at the Stutthof concentration camp.
Known in equal parts for her beauty and cruelty , the new would - be example was a guard at the Stutthof concentration camp . Though she arrived at Stutthof in 1944 — and the war ended only a year later — Jenny Barkmann quickly earned her shoes among the Nazis ’ most puckish .
How Jenny-Wanda Barkmann Became The “Beautiful Spectre”
Jenny - Wanda Barkmann was born on May 30 , 1922 in Hamburg , Germany . Though she had a normal childhood , she also came of eld with the ascent of Naziism . Just before Barkmann turned 11 , Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany . When she was 16 , Jewish homes , business , and synagogues were attack during Kristallnacht , including in Hamburg . Shortly thereafter , Hitler invade Poland — and World War II began .
AsMémoires de Guerrereports , Barkmann had initially hope to use her beauty to become a way theoretical account . But as the war dragged on , she deepen her psyche . In 1944 , the 21 - year - old became anAufseherin , or a distaff precaution , at the Stutthof concentration camp in Gdańsk , Poland .
Over the course of the war , theUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museumreports that as many as 100,000 people were exile to Stutthof and some 60,000 multitude died there . Many perished of diseases like typhus fever . But many more were send out to the flatulency chambers by the inner circle guards .
Public DomainThe prison barracks at Stutthof after it was liberated in May 1945.
Public DomainThe prison house barrack at Stutthof after it was liberated in May 1945 .
In 1944 , Barkmann became one of these guards . She was one of just 3,700 women to take on such a place — of 55,000 entire safety equipment in the Nazi concentration camps — and quickly made a name for herself as one of Stutthof camp ’s most brutalAufseherin .
She show no hesitation when it came to beating prisoners — sometimes to death — and regularly sent women and small fry to the gas bedchamber who she and other guards establish too unaccented or sick to exercise . Beautiful and vicious , Jenny - Wanda Barkmann was call the “ Beautiful Spectre . ”
Public DomainFemale SS guards on trial. Jenny-Wanda Barkmann is in the back row on the right side.
The Fall Of The ‘Beautiful Spectre’
By the clock time Jenny - Wanda Barkmann secured her a repute at Stutthof , World War II had started to come to an end . In April 1945 , Adolf Hitler conk by suicide in Berlin . A month later , Germany give up . And Barkmann , the ‘ Beautiful Spectre ’ fled Stutthof and went into hiding .
AccordingMémoires de Guerre , Barkmann — dub “ unrestrained Jenny ” — became one of the most wanted Nazi criminals . Barkmann managed to stay hidden for four months , but was entrance at the Gdansk train station .
Public DomainFemale SS guard on test . Jenny - Wanda Barkmann is in the back course on the right side .
Public DomainThe public hanging of Jenny Barkmann and other Stutthof war criminals.
During her interrogation , Barkmann claimed that she had always handle Jewish prisoners well , and even said that she ’d save some of them from end . But her interrogators finally saw through her act .
Indeed , dozens of survivors of Stutthof take the stand against Barkmann in lawcourt , trace the beastly atrocity she committed as anAufseherin . Even her lawyer admitted that Barkmann was guilty of the crime , but argued that it was because she was mentally sick — no reasonable person , he suggested , could have done what she did at the concentration cantonment .
Meanwhile , Barkmann did n’t help her own pillow slip . confront with accusations of brutality and murder , Barkmann respond with disdainful laughter . She did n’t ask for forgiveness . She never shed a snag or showed any remorse .
After she was sentenced to die by hang , Jenny - Wanda Barkmann said : “ lifetime is really a great delight , and pleasure , as a rule , does not last long . ”
Jenny Barkmann’s Execution In Gdańsk
On July 4 , 1946 , Jenny Barkmann and 10 other war criminals were take to Biskup Hill near Gdańsk to be hang for their criminal offence . As many as 200,000 hoi polloi were in attendance , anxiously awaiting the moment of execution .
The public executioner did n’t rag with formality . The criminals were not give the honor of being put to demise by a professional executioner . They were placed on the bed of a truck with a noose tied around their necks . Then , the truck drive off . Gravity did the work .
Public DomainThe public wall hanging of Jenny Barkmann and other Stutthof war criminals .
After the noose had been connect around Barkmann ’s neck , however , the truck she abide on would n’t commence . The crowd let out a murmuring of thwarting as Barkmann stood before them , still alive . Then , a former Stutthof prisoner ran up and crowd Barkmann off the truck bed .
Jenny - Wanda Barkmann croak instantly . She was 24 age honest-to-goodness .
As her organic structure swayed in the duck soup , scores of people in the crowd flocked to her consistency , trying to rip off a man of textile or a button to keep as a relic . finally , her corpse was send to the Anatomical Theater in Gdansk , along with the bodies of other criminals , to be used as a visual aid for medical students . It was later disposed of as biological waste product .
But the hatred for Jenny - Wanda Barkmann was great , and at one dot , a rumor cattle ranch that her body had actually been cremated and the ash tree taken to Barkmann ’s hometown of Hamburg . The rumor arrogate that her ashes were then floor into a toilet and flushed aside .
Of course , it was just a rumor .
After reading about the brutal crimes of Jenny - Wanda Barkmann , get a line the on-key tale of another Nazi outlaw , Amon Goeth . Or , hear the story of the101 - year - old Nazi guardwho was convicted in 2022 of over 3,000 murders .
