Ilse Koch, known as the 'Bitch of Buchenwald', terrorized the prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp with her psychotic and sadist behavior.
Ilse Koch, wife of the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp, led a life of luxury whilst all around her brutality thrived - but this was just a small crime compared to what happened when she showed her more gruesome side.
Ilse Koch Shows Her Sadistic Side
Ilse Koch ran a campaign of terror that led to the trial prosecutor at her trial for war crimes in 1951 to say that, “she was one of the most sadistic in the whole group of Nazi offenders.” The reason for this being that not only did Koch enjoy torturing the inmates of Buchenwald but she also enjoyed having sick trophies around her home.
These trophies came in the form of shrunken heads of prisoners, which she displayed in her dining room. But it did not stop there. Koch had a great admiration for the bodies of the young prisoners and had attractive men brought before her to parade up and down but she soon tired of just looking and began to covet their smooth skin.
Gloves and Lampshades Fashioned from Human Remains
Koch hit upon a novel idea; she would have their skins removed and have a seamstress make them into book covers, wallets, gloves and lampshades. At a time when most German wives and mothers were knitting woollen scarves and socks Ilse Koch was producing handicrafts from human remains.
The chosen victims were skinned and then the skin tanned by the SS in the notorious Block 2, which became known as the ‘Pathological Block.’
The lampshades were particularly sought after as a symbol of the superiority of the German Race. Presents made from skin would be admired at dinner parties and exchanged as gifts between husbands and wives. To Koch and her circle these items were made out of the finest leather and were rare and valuable.
SS Wives Choose Their Skins
One inmate of Buchenwald recalls that, ”During roll calls, the wives of the SS selected their victims and they so with more cynicism than their husbands. They sought beautiful human skins artistically tattooed. In order to please them a special roll call was often held with the prisoners completely naked. Then these ladies passed in review through the ranks making their selections.”
Ilse Koch had a preference for gypsies and Russian prisoners of war and she would order their death by lethal injection so as not to damage the skin. The tattooed skins she would have made into gloves and wear them as she paraded around the camp looking for prisoners to torment.
Those who deny what happened in concentration camps during the Holocaust have since cast doubt on the origins of these skins but sophisticated forensic tests have left no doubt they are human.
Source - The Most Evil Men and Women in History by Miranda Twiss, published by Barnes and Noble 2002
