|
|
 Ilsa Koch, wife of the German commander of the Buchenwald concentration camp from 1939 to 1942, Colonel Karl Koch, was notorious for her perversion and cruelty. Known as the Witch (or Bitch) of Buchenwald, she acquired the reputation of a sadist and nymphomaniac beating the prisoners with her whip and requiring that they participate in bizarre orgies. Her atrocities were so gruesome, even the Nazis were appalled.
Buchenwald was one of the first and largest German concentration camps, located on a wooden hill near Weimar, Germany. Riding around the Buchenwald concentration camp in scanty attire, prisoners were severely beaten when caught staring at her. A confidential Nazi S.S. report called her “the most hated person at Buchenwald, and a perverted, nymphomaniacal, power-mad demon.” Cruelty aside, she also had an penchant for collecting human skin.
According to official trial transcripts (as explained below, she was eventually tried for her crimes), “In the summer of 1940 all the tattooed prisoners were photographed. Then the majority of them were killed by lethal injection. Their bodies were skinned in the Pathology lab in order to be made into leather and for other uses. The accused showed a passionate interest in beautiful tattoos. She herself possessed objects made of human skin. Very often, she noted down the number of a tattooed prisoner and had those tattoos lifted by her accomplices in the S.S.”
 These accusations were supported by camp medical staff who testified that tanned human skins were routinely given as gifts to visiting officers and other high-level guests. Indeed, when Americans liberated the camp in 1945, thirteen human skins with tattoos were discovered. An invoice for shipmen of 142 tattoos was also found. "The finished products (i.e. tattooed skin detached from corpses) were turned over to Koch's wife, who had them fashioned into lampshades and other ornamental household articles." Indeed, photographs existed of a lampshade fashioned on leg base made of human bone.
Prisoners testified of objects they had seen in Ilsa’s house that were made of human skin including lampshades, “leather” bound books, knife cases, handbags, gloves, and even a pair of shoes. One prisoner noted that at the hanging of a prisoner who had an elaborate tattoo, “Oh, he’s handsome. He’s not going to the oven, he’s all mine.” It was known that her rides around camp on her horse, were specifically used to spot prisoners with distinctive tattoos.
 The prisoner misery stopped in 1942 when Colonel Koch was relieved of his command, and after an eight month investigation, convicted of corruption and financial misdeeds. He was executed three years later by the SS. In 1947, Ilsa was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison by an Allied military tribunal. While in prison, Ilsa gave birth to a child fathered by a prison guard. After 20 years behind bars, Ilsa committed suicide on September 1, 1967 by hanging herself with bed sheets tied to her prison bars.
|
|
|
|
References
|
WikiPedia
|
|
|
|
Related Articles
|
Belle Gunness - First Female Amercian Serial Killer
Jena Six
Human Trafficking
Colton Harris-Moore - modern day catch me if you can
Odessa - hiding Nazi war criminals
|
|
|
|
|
|
discuss
|
email
article
|
print
article
|
|
|
Article rating [Avg: 2 from 4 votes]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Follow AD!
|
Follow us on Facebook!
Get up-to-date paranormal and other strange news by following AD on Twitter!
|
|
AD Mobile!
|
|
The Altered Dimensions Paranormal Mobile application is now available on the Android Market. The AD mobile application is an extension to the Altered Dimensions website giving you quick access to the top paranormal stories and news items of the day. Coming soon: paranormal alerts, GPS tracking, and incident reporting.
|
|
Submit an Article?
|
|
Have an interesting article you would like to publish? Send the full text of the article, including references and your personal
conatact information. We will review the article and post online with full credit given to you.
Please share your knowledge!
|
|
Become a Member!
|
|
Become an Altered Dimensions member and receive exclusive access to our online forums, unique content, and up-to-date paranormal news and event notifications. Registration is free and only requires creation of your member account. Click here to register
|
|
UFOs!
|
|
One of the more popular areas of this site. The
UFO section contains a collection of UFO related articles categorized for
easy selection.
|
|
Athens Mental Health Center - Haunted!
|
|
Beatings, tortures and other atrocities occurred within the walls of the Athens
Mental Hospital. Check out our new report
on this infamous haunted campus...
|
|
Aurora Texas UFO Crash
|
|
Did an alien craft crash in Aurora Texas in the 1800's? Was an alien body
recovered and buried in the local cemetery? Read the
Aurora Texas Airship Crash article for an interesting take on a 100 year
old mystery.
|
|
Zero Point Energy Device Invented?
|
|
New article on the amazing device created
by a 58-year old Irish inventor. Hoax in the making or the greatest discovery
since the invention of the wheel?
|
|
EVP
|
|
EVP, or Electronic Voice Phenomena, is the new rage.
Using equipment you can purchase at your local Radio Shack, you can record voices
from the dead.
|
|
Visit these sites
|
|
Don’t forget to visit Mortal Journey, an interesting excursion into the trends and fads that shaped our
world and Funny Grins, a huge collection of jokes, funny videos, weird Facebook posts, hilarious videos,
crazy billboards, funny graffiti, and blah, blah, blah…
|
|