Luise Danz
Encyclopedia
Luise Danz is a former concentration camp guard. She was born in Walldorf (Werra), Thuringia
.
concentration camp system. She served as guard in several camps, such as Kraków-Płaszów, Majdanek
, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Malchow
. In 1943 she received an award from the Nazis for her camp service. She became Oberaufseherin in Malchow in January 1945 when she arrived.
by Poland for crimes that she had committed while on duty in the vast camp system. At her trial she was sentenced to life imprisonment
, but was then released early in 1956.
court for allegedly stomping a young girl to death at the Malchow concentration camp. The doctor overseeing the trial told the court that the proceedings were too much for the elderly woman and all charges were dropped. As of 2010 Danz is still alive at the age of 92.
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
.
Camp work
On January 24, 1943 at the age of 26, Luise Danz was conscripted as an Aufseherin within the NaziNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
concentration camp system. She served as guard in several camps, such as Kraków-Płaszów, Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
, Auschwitz-Birkenau and Malchow
Malchow concentration camp
Malchow concentration camp was one of the numerous sub-camps of Nazi concentration camp: Ravensbrück, located in Germany, which is believed to be first opened in the winter of 1943...
. In 1943 she received an award from the Nazis for her camp service. She became Oberaufseherin in Malchow in January 1945 when she arrived.
Capture and first trial
At the end of the war in 1945, Luise tried to quietly slip into obscurity, but was later discovered and put on trial in the 1946 Auschwitz TrialAuschwitz trial
The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Polish authorities tried 41 former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947....
by Poland for crimes that she had committed while on duty in the vast camp system. At her trial she was sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, but was then released early in 1956.
Second trial
In 1996, Luise Danz was tried in a GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
court for allegedly stomping a young girl to death at the Malchow concentration camp. The doctor overseeing the trial told the court that the proceedings were too much for the elderly woman and all charges were dropped. As of 2010 Danz is still alive at the age of 92.