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Elisabeth Volkenrath
Elisabeth Volkenrath served as head overseer at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in occupied Poland · Germany through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Elisabeth Volkenrath was born on 5 September 1919 in Schönau. She served as an overseer at Auschwitz from March 1942 and became Oberaufseherin in autumn 1944. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum — “Chain of command”, biographical profile of Elisabeth Volkenrath)
- In 1945 she was transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where as Oberaufseherin she assigned duties to subordinate overseers. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum — “Chain of command”, biographical profile of Elisabeth Volkenrath)
- The trial report records former prisoners’ testimony that Volkenrath beat prisoners and participated in selections at Auschwitz; Volkenrath denied making selections and admitted only slapping prisoners. (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151))
- A British military tribunal sentenced her to death by hanging; the sentence was carried out at Hameln on 13 December 1945. (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151); Source: Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen — chronology and section “The Prosecution of the Perpetrators”)
Place in the chain of responsibility
Volkenrath’s responsibility is presented through her posts in the camp hierarchy, individualising testimony recorded in the trial report and the judicial outcome. The profile distinguishes allegations and testimony from what the judgment alone establishes. (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum — “Chain of command”, biographical profile of Elisabeth Volkenrath; Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151))
Key events and mechanisms
- March 1942 – began service at Auschwitz (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum — “Chain of command”, biographical profile of Elisabeth Volkenrath)
- autumn 1944 – became Oberaufseherin (Source: Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum — “Chain of command”, biographical profile of Elisabeth Volkenrath)
- 17 November 1945 – sentenced to death in the first Belsen trial (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151))
- 13 December 1945 – sentence carried out at Hameln (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151); Source: Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen — chronology and section “The Prosecution of the Perpetrators”)
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
A British military tribunal convicted Volkenrath in the first Bergen-Belsen staff trial and sentenced her to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out at Hameln on 13 December 1945. (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151); Source: Gedenkstätte Bergen-Belsen — chronology and section “The Prosecution of the Perpetrators”)
Limits of the evidence
The UNWCC report summarises witness testimony, the defence case and the prosecution’s address. Individual allegations must not be recast as separate judicial findings or used to attribute every crime of both camps to Volkenrath. (Source: United Nations War Crimes Commission / Law Library of Congress — Law Reports, vol. II, printed pp. 38–39, 47–50, 57, 126 and 138 (PDF pp. 51–52, 60–63, 70, 139 and 151))
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.