The pornographic fantasies and cruelty of a Nazi wife. How the so-called “Buckenwald Dog” displayed itself to the prisoners
One of the most sadistic women in history lived in the middle of the 20th century and had a bizarre passion for objects made of human skin. She was nicknamed the “Witch” or “Bitch” of Buckenwald. She took advantage of her status to order the mutilation and killing of innocent people.
Ilse Koch PHOTO Reddit
Among the most terrible atrocities in the history of humanity took place in the 20th century, especially during the Second World War, but also in the temporary intervals that preceded or succeeded it. It was an era of ideologies, revivalism, sometimes dehumanization and the desire for power. Among the most well-known and documented crimes against humanity occurred in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. If, in the case of the Soviets, many aspects were covered up or passed over in silence by the communist regime, the atrocities of the Nazis, on the other hand, were revealed in great detail, especially following the trials directed against former SS officers, commanders, officials. Added to all this are the many shocking testimonies of the survivors of extermination camps, ghettos or territories occupied by Nazi Germany.
Most of the evil characters exposed in trials and testimonies are men. Whether we are talking about Mengele, Himmler, Goring, Eichman or even Hitler. However, there were also women partisans of the Nazi ideology who were accused of abominable crimes or simply of sadism and inhumane behavior towards the innocents put in the extermination camps. One of the most famous was Ilse Koch, also called the “Witch of Buchenwald” or “Buchenwald Dog”, the young wife of Karl Koch, the commandant of the Buchenwald extermination camp. Her case has become extremely controversial, especially in light of new research. Ilse was accused of an unusual sadism and a type of erotic torture applied to prisoners, unique in the history of Nazi crimes.
Ilse, the red-blonde doll from Dresden, attracted to Nazi propaganda
Ilse Koch's story began on December 22, 1906 in the German city of Dresden. He came from a bourgeois family and was a beautiful, angelic child. She was a German in the true sense of the word, with reddish-blonde hair, green eyes, and a pouty face. Her maiden name was Margarete Ilse Köhler, and few who knew her as a child would have imagined that she would end up on trial for crimes against humanity. Ilse was a hardworking, respectful and happy student. Some said that as a child she was as beautiful as a doll. No oddities or excesses were recorded in her biography. On the contrary, including during adolescence, he impressed with an appropriate, respectful behavior. A young woman as normal as can be. The family could afford to put her in a top accounting school and her first job was as a librarian. Like any young German, Ilse lived through the difficult period of the Weimar Republic, with unemployment, inflation and material shortages. Perhaps that is precisely why she was attracted to the Nazi propaganda that was increasingly felt in interwar Germany. When Hitler came to power, Ilse was 27 years old. At that time, she was already a politically regimented young Nazi. He was a member of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), i.e. the Nazi Party, from the age of 26. In other words, he shared Hitler's anti-Semitic ideas and desire to get rid of the “inferior races.” Within the party, she met her future husband, Karl Koch, with whom she was even put in touch by Heinrich Himmler, the dreaded head of the SS.
The first lady of the camp
Ilse married Karl Koch in 1936. Later, in 1937, Karl Koch was appointed commandant of Germany's first concentration camp, Buchenwald, so named because it was surrounded by a beech forest (Buchenwald means beech forest in German). It was one of the largest camps of Nazi Germany and was originally intended to purge political opponents. Later, it became a place of “racial cleansing” and a death camp, where more than 65,000 people ended up between 1937 and April 1945. Both Jews, members of religious cults such as Jehovah's Witnesses, ethnic Roma, Soviet prisoners and German deserters or political opponents found their deaths at Buchenwald. On the entrance gate of the camp was written “Jedem das Seine”, which in interpreted language means “Everyone gets what he deserves”. The Koch family lived in a specially built house near the camp.
It was a luxurious abode in stark contrast to the world of pain and death within the barbed-wired perimeter. Despite the atrocities taking place within walking distance of her domestic paradise, Ilse Koch was in love with luxury and considered herself a true lady. Her husband did not look for money to please her. He set up a zoo with bears, wolves and monkeys and a spectacular stable full of mirrors for Ilse to look into during her riding sessions. “Koch arrived at Buchenwald in 1937, when her husband was appointed Kommandant of the camp. They lived in the largest villa near the camp – which became known as “Villa Koch” – where some prisoners “worked” as servants. The Koch family hosted guests luxuriously and extravagantly. Koch's lifestyle at Buchenwald was privileged compared to that of her youth. She enjoyed an 'aristocratic' wartime demeanor and fancied herself as an 'eine gnädige Frau' (a gracious lady), an appellation she insisted the prisoners call her'stated Mark A. Drumbl and Solange Mouthaan, in “A Hussy Who Rode on Horseback in Sexy Underwear in Front of the Prisoners”: The Trials of Buchenwald's Ilse Koch”. 30 camp prisoners are said to have died in order to set up all the extravagances Ilse Koch demanded. It will later be seen that all this luxury was obtained by looting the possessions of the prisoners brought by trains to the camp.
Passionate about human skin objects
Ilse became notorious, especially based on the statements that appeared at the trial, that she had a sadistic pleasure in making those imprisoned in the camp suffer. “Witnesses stated that Ilse Koch often reported inmates to the camp authorities for what she considered to be inappropriate behavior, knowing that these inmates would be severely punished. Some witnesses provided specific examples. For example, one witness was reported by Koch for drinking a glass of wine and was then beaten, forced to run over a pile of stones several times, whipped twenty-five times, then taken to the prison of the camp and hanged by his arms for three hours. Two witnesses testified that Koch told her husband that “this dirty pig dared to look at me” and then brutally beat the inmate. One witness said that Ilse Koch told her: “Look at this dirty Jewish pig over there, too lazy to work(..)I don't want to see him again.” And her husband Karl Koch then started kicking him and whipping him brutally with a whip”stated Mark A. Drumbl and Solange Mouthaan in the same paper.
Many other testimonies at the post-war trial exemplified the cruelty of the camp commandant's wife. Perhaps the most horrific aspect of Ilse Koch was her morbid passion for objects made from human skin. He was said to have the guards line up the naked inmates and study their skin. Look for the most interesting tattoos or distinctive marks. Those who had them were taken away, killed, and their skin used to make different objects for Ilsa. It is said to have lampshades, photo albums, a briefcase and a pair of gloves made of human skin. “These prisoners were killed in the hospital, and then the tattooed skin was flayed”testified Dr. Sitte, as Joshua M. Greene's work, “Justice at Dachau” also shows.
The pornographic rituals of the “Bitch of Buchenwald”
An important part of the testimonies is related to another type of deviant behavior of Ilsa, during the time she stayed with her husband near the Buchenwald camp. More precisely, some testimonies show, he would have liked the sadistic-erotic games on behalf of the prisoners. He used to ask the guards to line up the prisoners and Ilse would appear bare-breasted patrolling in front of them. Whoever looked at her was either beaten or killed. In other cases, witnesses, including a Czech chaplain, told how Ilse Koch came to a bank of dirt while the prisoners were digging a trench, wearing only a short skirt and no underwear. When they looked at her, Ilse hit them with the whip. It seems that this habit was repeated several times. Others would have seen her riding naked through the camp. Obviously, whoever looked at her was severely punished. The marriage between Ilse and Karl Koch was not a happy one. That is precisely why, in the camp, the commandant's wife had numerous love affairs, especially with the guards.
A comfortable life on the backs of those mistreated in the camp
In fact, Ilse turned her husband in for allegedly conducting illegal business. He later changed his mind and sent a new letter to his superiors stating that he was innocent. Needless to say, Karl Koch's work had long come to the attention of the Nazi authorities. More precisely, the commander of the Buchenwald camp was accused of embezzlement. More precisely, he appropriated the property of the prisoners without handing them over to the authorities. Later he trafficked with them. It is certain that, initially, Karl Koch was moved to another camp and then sentenced to death. In 1941, Karl-Otto Koch was transferred to Lublin, where he helped establish the Majdanek concentration and extermination camp. Ilse Koch, however, remained at Buchenwald until August 24, 1943, when she and Karl were arrested by order of the SS. News of corruption in the Buchenwald camp led to an investigation into the couple. Both were charged with enrichment from state funds, embezzlement and murder of prisoners. The SS Tribunal convicted Karl-Otto Koch in 1944, and he was later executed at Buchenwald. Ilse Koch was acquitted and released. She moved to live with her family in Ludwigsburg, where American authorities arrested her on June 30, 1945.
He spent his days in prison. A controversial process
The testimonies of prisoners in the camps after their liberation by the Americans led to an investigation and the arrest of Ilse Koch. She was imprisoned in Dachau, a temporary prison, where she awaited trial. Meanwhile, she became pregnant, but refused to reveal who the father of the child was. The trial benefited from a lot of media exposure. Ilse Koch was sentenced to life imprisonment on August 14, 1947. Her sentence was later commuted due to lack of evidence, but after a third trial she was again sentenced to life imprisonment in 1948. She committed suicide in custody on September 1, 1967. However, there is controversy surrounding Ilse Koch. At the trial she denied everything, confessing that she was only the camp commandant's wife and a housewife. More than that, including a number of American officials had found that, in relation to some charges, there was insufficient evidence.
