Trigger Warning: human torture, Nazis torture of the Jews and other concentration camp inmates
She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her body was perfect in every line, her face clear and angelic and her blue eyes the gayest, the most innocent eyes one can imagine. And yet Irma Grese was the most depraved, cruel imaginative pervert I ever came across.
Dr. Gisella Perl, an inmate doctor in Auschwitz camp.
This is a true account of Irma Grese. My review may contain spoilers.
Book : The Blonde Beast of Birkenau and Belsen: The Life and Crimes of Irma Grese
Author : Cynthia Southern
Genre : True Story, non fiction, holocaust literature
for research and presentation
I’m not sure what to call it. I’m not sure how to feel it about it as well. It’s like a well researched article documenting the life of one the most terrifying SS guards/supervisor to have ever existed. Meet Irma Grese, a twenty something German, who was the SS women supervisor, i.e. she “looked after” the female blocks in three of the most terrifying concentration camps – Auschwitz and Birkenau, Bergen and Belsen and Ravensbrück from 1943 to 45, and was thankful arrested, tried and executed in December 1945 for her crimes but to be honest, the execution was kinder outcome for her compared to the crimes she had committed. The author, a graduate of the University of Colorado, has painted the real picture of The Beast of Belsen, allegedly more accurate than the media representation, collating all the articles, records and testimonials available to her including Grese’s statement during her trial. The story is disturbing, the records are precise and informative and I learnt a lot.
The more I read books and accounts like these, the more clearer and horrifying the image of Nazi Germany becomes to me. In her own words, Grese says that she saw nothing wrong in her actions that she followed orders and the inmates of the camps were regarded as subhuman rubbish whose extermination was necessary for Germany to regain its greatness. These terrifying views that leaders like Hitler were able to, and still are, inspire in the masses normalising this sheer cruelty and hatred, just blows my mind. Reading 1984 and Sapiens alongside this is steadily eroding my trust in humanity.
Anyway, to put it in a nutshell, I would not recommend this book to you if you’re a soft hearted person, just know that this woman was a vile and despicable human and my review pretty much summarises the content of the book. If you are strong enough to take it and are curious about Irma Grese then by all means go for the book. It’s only 33 pages long and is available for free to those who have Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Annie 