Alice Orlowski

Confirmed findings

• Alice Orlowski was born on 30 September 1903 in Berlin. She served as an SS guard at Majdanek, Płaszów and Auschwitz-Birkenau. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”)
• Sworn accounts by former women prisoners individualise her as a guard who used violence against prisoners. (Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, IPN GK 196/141, p. 206; sworn testimony of a former prisoner naming Alice Orlowski; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 314–315; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 328–329)
• The Supreme National Tribunal at Kraków sentenced her to fifteen years’ imprisonment on 22 December 1947 and rejected her attempt to minimise her role. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”)

Place in the chain of responsibility

Orlowski’s profile combines witness accounts with the court’s assessment rather than relying on staff membership alone. Her conviction concerned her own conduct and participation in camp violence. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, IPN GK 196/141, p. 206; sworn testimony of a former prisoner naming Alice Orlowski; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 314–315; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 328–329)

Key events and mechanisms

• 1941–1945 – guard service in the camp system, including Majdanek, Płaszów and Auschwitz (Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, IPN GK 196/141, p. 206; sworn testimony of a former prisoner naming Alice Orlowski; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 314–315; Source: Institute of National Remembrance — Chronicles of Terror, Sworn testimony of a former prisoner, pp. 328–329)
• 22 December 1947 – fifteen-year sentence in the Kraków Auschwitz trial (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”)
• 1957 – released after serving part of the sentence (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”)

Postwar accountability

The Supreme National Tribunal sentenced Orlowski to fifteen years in the Kraków Auschwitz trial. She was released in 1957 and later stood trial in the Majdanek proceedings, but died before that trial ended. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Sections “Among forty defendants…” and “The Tribunal gave no credence…”)

Limits of the evidence

Sources

The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.

• lekcja.auschwitz.org
• zapisyterroru.pl
• zapisyterroru.pl
• zapisyterroru.pl