Ruth Neudeck

Ruth Neudeck , née Hartmann and married Closius (* July 5, 1920 in Breslau , † July 29, 1948 in Hameln ) was a German SS guard in the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp .

Life

Ruth Closius, who took the surname Neudeck after their wedding, was a professional payroll clerk . From the beginning of July 1944 to the end of April 1945 she worked in various functions in the concentration camp. In July 1944 she began her training as a camp overseer in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. She impressed her superiors with her brutality towards imprisoned women. In July 1944, Neudeck was promoted to the rank of block leader. From July 3rd to the end of October 1944, she worked there in her trained profession, as a payroll clerk. Until the beginning of December 1944, she was the head of prisoner block 27 with about 700 female prisoners. Afterwards she was briefly on sick leave and then acted as block leader of the punishment block for 10 days.

In mid-January 1945, she moved at the instigation of Johann Schwarzhuber in the concentration camp Uckermark , where she worked as supervisors Erstaufseherin had five guards. There she took part in the selection and murder of around 3,000 women and children; numerous inmates were mistreated by her.

From mid-February 1945 Neudeck was head of the Barth subcamp. After the camp was closed on April 28, 1945, Neudeck fled and was later arrested by the British Army.

In the third Ravensbrück trial , Neudeck and other women members of the SS entourage were indicted under British military jurisdiction. The 28-year-old confessed to all charges - murder and mistreatment of prisoners under her responsibility. In court, she admitted to whipping inmates with a whip. She also defended herself with the argument that she had not selected the killed prisoners for execution, but merely accompanied them on the transports to the gas chamber .

Despite a clemency it was because of the mistreatment and killing of Allied Lagerinsassinnen to death by the strand convicted. On July 29, 1948 at 9:00 a.m., she was hanged by the British executioner Albert Pierrepoint in Hameln prison.

literature

• Ernst Klee : Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich , Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, updated 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 . (Entry: Ruth Closius)
• Silke Schäfer: On the self-image of women in the concentration camp. The Ravensbrück camp. Berlin 2002 (Dissertation TU Berlin), urn : nbn: de: kobv: 83-opus-4303 , doi : 10.14279 / depositonce-528 .