Hertha Ehlert ( German Herta Ehlert ; nee Lies, German Liess ; March 26, 1905, Berlin - April 4, 1997) is a warden in many concentration camps of the Third Reich during the Holocaust .
| Hertha Elert | |
|---|---|
| Herta ehlert | |
 Hertha Elert in August 1945 | |
| Birth name | Herta Liess |
| Date of Birth | March 26, 1905 |
| Place of Birth | |
| Date of death | April 4, 1997 (92 years old) |
| Place of death | |
| Citizenship |
 Germany |
| Occupation | concentration camp overseer |
On November 15, 1939, Elert received an appointment at the labor exchange to serve in the SS detachment [1] , after which she began work in the Ravensbrück concentration camp [2] . In her own words, she “had to ensure that civilian workers did not mix with prisoners, and later was appointed overseer of working groups outside the camp” [1] .
In October 1942, she was transferred as a warder to the Majdanek concentration camp on the outskirts of the Polish city of Lublin . Elert herself claimed that her transfer was a punishment for treating prisoners in a good way and that she did not give them cruel punishments and helped prisoners of the concentration camp with food. Nevertheless, it was said at the Belsen trial that she received the transfer as a bonus, and in addition, in Majdanek, her working conditions were improved [1] .
In mid-1944, she was transferred to another Polish city - Krakow [2] . SS officers noticed that she was too soft, polite, and helped the prisoners, and so the SS sent her back to Ravensbrück to take another training course, this time supervised by the prison guard Dorothea Binz . At this time, Elert divorces her husband. After World War II, Hertha described the “training course” at Ravensbrück as extremely “physically and emotionally demanding.” Halina Nelken ( German : Halina Nelken) described Elert in Plashov with the following words: “... she is obese, unhurried, angry in character and has a masterful command of a whip. She was the overseer in charge of the kitchen. Through a small window, she spied on the Jewesses when they were at work, peeling potatoes, onions, washing dishes and performing other duties necessary in the kitchen. Once, Elert even ordered the women who were at work to undress completely. After they undressed, Elert searched each with special care, trying to find, no doubt, rings, money, watches and other valuables. She remained at work until the final elimination of the Plasov camp. She was also on the death march when it was time to retreat with the Germans ” [3] .
Hertha was later transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp , where she oversaw the Kommandos (slave labor groups) women's command teams. Subsequently, Elert served as a security guard in the Auschwitz sub-camp in Rajsko ( Polish Rajsko), Poland , and then was transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp , where she became deputy overseers Elisabeth Volkenrath ( German ) and Irma Grese ( German ). [four]
When the British army liberated Bergen-Belsen , Elert was arrested and tried at the Belsen trial . She was defendant no. 8 during the trial [5] . At the trial, Hertha was asked whether she was involved in thefts, brutal beatings, whether she committed murders and so on, but she denied most of the charges [1] . Elert was one of 45 defendants in the trial and pleaded not guilty to any of the charges. She was found guilty of crimes in Bergen-Belsen and not guilty of crimes in Auschwitz [6] .
Elert was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but was released ahead of schedule on May 7, 1953 [2] . After the war, Hertha lived under a different name - Hertha Naumann ( German : Herta Naumann) [2] . She died on April 4, 1997, at the age of 92. [one]
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Profile , bergenbelsen.co.uk; accessed November 13, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 First Belsen Trial Aufseherin Herta Ehlert / Naumann / Ließ
- ↑ Malvina Graf, I Survived the Krakow Ghetto and Plaszow Camp (Tallahassee: Florida State University Press, 1989) p. 113
- ↑ fold3.com infosite ; accessed November 13, 2014.
- ↑ Women Guard Shot Girls Fleeing Camp Death House, Toronto Star , September 25, 1945.
- ↑ "30 Germans Guilty of Camp Murders." New York Times , 17 November 1945.