During the Second World War, many guards and staff members inside concentration camps committed horrific acts. After the war ended, a number of war crimes trials took place, but only a small number of war criminals were brought to justice. Some were executed for their crimes against humanity, while others received prison sentences. Even today, trials involving former guards in their late 90s are still taking place.
One woman who stood out for her cruelty was Ilse Koch, the wife of the commandant of Buchenwald. She is remembered as the Witch of Buchenwald for her brutal treatment of prisoners. Her husband oversaw the camp, and she was regarded as a concentration camp murderess.
Ilse Koch joined the Nazi Party in 1932 and was considered a long-standing member. She attended rallies with friends and built connections with others who shared Nazi ideology. In 1934, through her friends in the SS, she met her future husband, Karl Otto Koch. Like many in post-World War One Germany, she was attracted to Hitler’s politics, and her husband was well-liked within the SS.
In 1936, Ilse began working as a guard and secretary at Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. Karl had been assigned as commandant of the camp, responsible for its rules, laws, and discipline. He had previously served as an officer at Esterwegen and Lichtenburg camps before becoming commandant of the Columbia concentration camp in Berlin, a notorious Gestapo prison.
Karl Koch was later transferred to oversee Sachsenhausen, and he took Ilse, his fiancée, with him. At Sachsenhausen, Ilse was involved in record keeping and also worked as a guard responsible for prisoner discipline. Conditions there were very tough. When Karl Koch worked as commandant, the camp was one of the first to perfect efficient execution methods. Prisoners were huddled into a small room and executed by being shot in the back of the neck.
Ilse married Karl during his time at Sachsenhausen, and both were complicit in the killings and the violent regime instilled in the camp. Karl Koch was well respected by Heinrich Himmler and other SS members, and he was transferred to Buchenwald to serve as commandant.
Buchenwald was established in July 1937 and became one of the largest concentration camps in Germany. During its operation, 280,000 prisoners passed through its barbed wire fences, and more than 55,000 prisoners were killed there. Prisoners came from all over Europe, and as the war spread, many more arrived from areas such as the Soviet Union. All were forced to work in armaments factories and other industries.
Karl Koch served as commandant of Buchenwald from the camp’s opening on August 1, 1937, until July 1941. Ilse Koch regularly contributed to the brutality and horror of the camp. After marrying her husband, she was involved in a number of despicable actions.
One thing she ordered to be built inside Buchenwald was an indoor sports arena, funded by money stolen from prisoners. The cost was around one million dollars in today’s value. Ilse Koch was also stealing from the Nazis and Hitler, and this would eventually catch up with her. She would ride her horses in the arena and taunt prisoners until they looked at her, then beat them with a horse whip.
She also took part in selections, when doctors and other staff chose prisoners to be sent to their deaths in the gas chambers. Ilse Koch allegedly took great enjoyment in sending children to their deaths, making her complicit in the mass murder of the camp.
One of the most sadistic crimes she was involved in was creating trophies from the skin of prisoners. She would parade around Buchenwald on horseback and look for prisoners with distinct tattoos. Once found, these prisoners were ordered to be killed and sent to the gas chambers. Afterward, doctors would remove the tattooed skin, which was then crafted into lampshades and other objects. Ilse Koch also collected internal organs of patients and prisoners.
She was also known for having affairs at Buchenwald and was accused of murdering prisoners. Eventually, she and her husband were arrested by the SS and accused of private enrichment, embezzlement, and murder of prisoners to prevent them from testifying. Much of this revolved around the couple’s theft of money taken from prisoners.
Ilse was arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis but was acquitted when evidence of embezzlement was not found. Her husband, however, was sentenced to death and executed inside the camp he once oversaw, shot by a firing squad.
After the war, Ilse was arrested by the Americans and brought to trial as a war criminal. She was charged with participating in a criminal plan and aiding in the murders at Buchenwald. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, but her sentence was later reduced to just four years. This was based on the fact that there was no convincing evidence that she had selected inmates for extermination to secure tattooed skin or that she had possessed any article of human skin.
The US Army had seized such items, but the link to Ilse was not as concrete as it could have been. It was said her crimes were primarily against the German people, not war crimes against American or Allied prisoners. With this, her sentence was reduced.
Public pressure led to Ilse being arrested again and tried again in 1950. Two hundred and fifty witnesses testified at her trial, and at one point she collapsed in the gallery. Many witnesses came forward and said that Koch had chosen tattooed prisoners to be killed. Further witnesses spoke of her murderous behavior, violence, and selections. With this, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. She tried to appeal again, but the appeal was dismissed.
She remained in prison until September 1, 1967, when at the age of 60 she took her own life inside her cell. In her final months, she experienced delusions and became convinced that concentration camp prisoners would kill and attack her.
Ilse Koch is remembered today as one of the worst war criminals of the Second World War. Her legacy is that of the evil wife of a concentration camp commandant who inflicted immense pain and suffering. Although she was not in control herself, she took power into her own hands and helped instigate a violent regime. She is remembered as the Witch of Buchenwald who enjoyed causing suffering.