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Lagerfuhrerin?

Article about: Would a camp Lagerfuhrerin always have been German or did they include other nationalities ie. would the Lagerfuhrerin of a so-called Polenlager have always been German or could a Pole be he

  1. #1

    Default Lagerfuhrerin?

    Would a camp Lagerfuhrerin always have been German or did they include other nationalities ie. would the Lagerfuhrerin of a so-called Polenlager have always been German or could a Pole be head of such a camp.

    The context of my question is related to two albums of 247 photos of a Polenlager in Hanover which includes the German annotation:

    "ZUM ANDENKEN AM UNSER LAGERLEBEN HERTA STRZELECKI LAGERFUHRERIN 1944" or "IN MEMORY OF OUR CAMP LIFE, HERTA STRZELECKI. LAGERFUHRERIN 1944"

    Herta Strzelecki....maybe Volksdeutsche? Thoughts greatly appreciated
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  2. #2

    Default Re: Lagerfuhrerin?

    This is Lagerfuhrerin Herta Strzelecki:

    Lagerfuhrerin?

    Below: Outside barrack no.3.

    Lagerfuhrerin?
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Lagerfuhrerin?

    Many Germans have names that sound Polish.

  4. #4

    Default Re: Lagerfuhrerin?

    Quote by Frundsberg View Post
    Many Germans have names that sound Polish.
    I agree.

    "Herta" is of German origin and "Strzelecki" is of Polish origin I guess reflecting the chequered history of this part of Europe... forever changing hands
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  5. #5

    Default Re: Lagerfuhrerin?

    There's always the possibility that she was Volksdeutsch...
    cheers, Glenn

  6. #6

    Default Re: Lagerfuhrerin?

    Lagerfuhrerin Herta Strzelecki looks a more benign character than the female functionary in uniform on the right in the photo below, who looks to be holding a baton or truncheon in her left hand...unless i am mistaken?

    Lagerfuhrerin?

    Is the woman in uniform wearing a rank patch on her left sleeve?
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  7. #7
    ?

    Default

    Interestingly, some non-German and non-Austrian women did serve as Aufseherinnen within the Konzentrationslager system. Several Poles among those who were officially admitted to the ranks of the camp staff, later serving in the role of Aufseherin, include Stanislawa Belza and Martha Grabowski. Belza's SS records state her position as Kommandoführerin - she served at KL-Flossenbürg. Born in Lublin in 1918, she received special permission to serve as an "employee of the Reich". Grabowski trained at f.KL-Ravensbrück, later serving at KL-Sachsenhausen.

    Regards,

    Carl

  8. #8

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    Quote by TIGER88 View Post
    Interestingly, some non-German and non-Austrian women did serve as Aufseherinnen within the Konzentrationslager system. Several Poles among those who were officially admitted to the ranks of the camp staff, later serving in the role of Aufseherin, include Stanislawa Belza and Martha Grabowski. Belza's SS records state her position as Kommandoführerin - she served at KL-Flossenbürg. Born in Lublin in 1918, she received special permission to serve as an "employee of the Reich". Grabowski trained at f.KL-Ravensbrück, later serving at KL-Sachsenhausen.

    Regards,

    Carl
    Thank you Carl.

    Pilecki also mentions one or two Poles as being functionaries at Auschwitz I :-

    "The first one’s real name was Bronisław Brodniewicz
    [also written Brodniewitsch], the other’s—Leon Wieczorek
    [also written Wietschorek]; both ex-Poles working for the
    Germans. . ."

    and again...

    "Silesians—people whom I had once taken to be Poles, but
    who for the most part had recently turned their back on their
    Polish heritage—now began scrambling up to be block chiefs.
    Having formerly had a very good opinion of them, I now
    could not believe my own eyes. They killed off Poles, no longer
    seeing them as some of their own, while taking themselves to
    be some kind of German tribe.
    I once asked a vorarbeiter [foreman] from Silesia:
    “Why are you beating him, he’s a Pole?”
    “But I’m no Pole; I’m from Silesia. My parents wanted
    to make a Pole out of me, but a Silesian—that’s a German.
    Poles live in Warsaw and not in Silesia.”
    and...

    "And he went on beating the other fellow with his club.
    There were two block chiefs, Silesians—Skrzypek [Alfred
    Skrzypek] and Bednarek [Emil Bednarek]—who were perhaps
    worse than the worst German.
    They clubbed to death such a large number of inmates that
    even Bloody Aloiz, who in any event had slackened off a bit,
    could not keep up with these thugs."
    I collect, therefore I am.

    Nothing in science can explain how consciousness arose from matter.

  9. #9

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    Many Poles were classified as "Volksdeutsche" even though they didnt speak German and the fact that their German ancestors were many generations back.

    Cheers, Mads

    Edit:

    Found this info on a Swedish site dont know the original source though, maybe you can use it:

    Total number of women serving as SS-Aufsehererinnen 3.622

    Ravensbrück 958
    Floßenbürg 561
    Großen-Rosen 541
    Neuengamme 158
    Sachsenhausen 89
    Auschwitz (Birkenau and Buna monowitz incl.) 56
    Stutthof (combined with Danzig) 31
    Buchenwald 24
    Kommando Heimbrechts 22
    Danzig (combined with Stutthof) 20
    Sömmerda 19
    Mauthausen 19
    Dachau 19
    Bergen-Belsen 14
    Majdanek-Lublin 11
    Total 2542

    There is also a list of know non-German SS-Aufsehererinnen

    Helene Alfering/Holland
    Anna Bendnorz /Kroatien
    Stanislawa Belza /Polen
    Ida Blaschka /Slovakien
    Apolinia Ciarzinski /Polen
    Crista Danneboom /Holland
    Henriette Dominiki /Frankrike
    Marcella Gombert /Italien
    Martha Grabowski /Polen
    Elfriede Gryska /Tjeckien
    Hilliena Heikens /Holland
    Aracelli Heinen /Frankrike
    Jacoba Heykop /Slovakien
    Anna Hrdy /Ungern
    Gisberta Koorn /Holland
    Johanna Mol /Holland
    Johanna Oterdoom /Holland
    Sophie Pajonk/Tjeckien
    Eva Pollmann/Ungern
    Scot Catarina/Holländare
    Hanne Snurova/Polen
    Else Sollich/Kroatien
    Hanna Wyndelts/Holländare

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the additional lists. I know this source well, it is reliable and although incomplete - it is almost impossible to produce a 100% accurate listing related to the entire Aufseherinnen ranks, it is a very commendable work and uses primary sources.

    Regards,

    Carl

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