On September 2, 1939, one day after Nazi Germany invaded Poland, the first concentration camp established outside Germany’s prewar borders was created near the city of Danzig—today Gdańsk—in occupied Poland. It was called Stutthof. What began as a detention site for Polish intellectuals, political opponents, teachers, priests, and others deemed threats to German control would grow into one of the most brutal camps of the war.
Initially small, Stutthof expanded rapidly as the conflict intensified. Surrounded by barbed wire and watchtowers, it developed into a complex of wooden barracks and administrative buildings. Over time, 39 subcamps were established throughout the region. Its prisoner population widened to include Jews deported from across Europe, Soviet prisoners of war, Roma, and others classified by the regime as enemies. By 1945, more than 110,000 people had passed through Stutthof. At least 65,000 of them died through starvation, disease, forced labor, beatings, executions, or gassing.
In 1943, a gas chamber was constructed. A crematorium processed the bodies. Overcrowded barracks, insufficient food, and rampant disease created conditions in which survival was rare. Typhus and dysentery spread rapidly. Guards inflicted violence arbitrarily. Prisoners were forced to labor until collapse or marched into freezing conditions to die.
What distinguished Stutthof in the final years of the war was the significant presence of female guards. These women were not limited to clerical or nursing duties. Many were trained to exercise direct control over prisoners. Armed and uniformed, they supervised barracks, enforced discipline, and participated in selections that determined who would live and who would be sent to the gas chamber.
The expansion of the camp system required additional personnel. As deportations increased, the SS turned to women from Germany and occupied territories. Most were young and had no prior military experience. Some came from rural backgrounds; others had worked as secretaries, nurses, factory employees, or in domestic service. Upon joining, they underwent abbreviated but intensive training at facilities such as Ravensbrück or directly within camps. They were taught to control prisoners, to use dogs, and to maintain order through force. Their title, Aufseherin—female overseer—conferred authority over life and death.
At Stutthof, approximately 30 women served in this capacity. Their duties centered primarily on the women’s section, which grew substantially during the final phase of the war. They carried whips and sticks, sometimes pistols. Survivors later described beatings, humiliations, and punishments administered without cause. Those who faltered from weakness were not aided but struck or dragged aside.
Among the most notorious was Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, born in Hamburg in 1922. Before the war, she had worked as a model. Assigned to Stutthof in 1944, she became involved in selections for the gas chamber. Survivors recalled her presence during the identification of women and children deemed unfit for labor. She was described as carrying a whip and enforcing discipline with calculated severity. Witnesses later testified that she displayed composure during executions and showed no visible hesitation in carrying out her duties.
Ewa Paradies, born in 1920 and formerly a schoolteacher, joined the SS Women’s Auxiliary Corps before being assigned to Stutthof. Testimonies described her as volatile and aggressive. Survivors recounted incidents in which she dragged prisoners by the hair, beat them with sticks, and targeted those who were ill or exhausted.
Elisabeth Becker had worked at a cinema prior to the war. She arrived at Stutthof in late 1944, during a period of intensified deportations and killings. Though her tenure lasted only several months, multiple witnesses later identified her in connection with selections and prisoner escorts. She was remembered for her silent presence during moments when individuals were chosen for death.
Gerda Steinhoff, born in 1922, entered the camp system without a record of prior violence. At Stutthof she rose to the position of overseer. Survivors described her as calm during selections and assertive in enforcing authority. Some testified that she carried a riding crop and used it against prisoners who moved slowly or disobeyed orders.
Wanda Klaff, previously employed in a factory and later a housewife, joined the SS auxiliary services and was assigned to Stutthof. Witnesses described her as outspoken and physically abusive, striking prisoners with sticks or other objects. During later legal proceedings, she was reported to have shown little remorse.
These women were not conscripts. They volunteered for service and accepted positions that placed them within the machinery of persecution. They operated within a system designed for systematic dehumanization and extermination.
In May 1945, as Nazi Germany collapsed, Allied forces liberated camps across Europe. At Stutthof, Soviet troops found approximately 100 prisoners still alive, severely weakened by starvation and disease. Tens of thousands had already died or been forced on death marches during the final months of the war. The camp stood as evidence of systematic brutality.
Public outrage followed the revelations. Governments moved to arrest not only senior officials but also those who had administered daily operations within the camps. Former SS personnel attempted to evade capture, altering their appearance or concealing their identities. Survivors, however, recognized faces and voices. By 1946, numerous former guards had been apprehended.
The First Stutthof Trial began on April 25, 1946, in Gdańsk. Thirteen former camp staff members were charged with crimes against humanity. Among them were five female guards: Jenny-Wanda Barkmann, Ewa Paradies, Elisabeth Becker, Gerda Steinhoff, and Wanda Klaff. The proceedings marked one of the earliest instances in which women were prosecuted for direct participation in camp atrocities.
In the courtroom, the defendants appeared in civilian clothing, stripped of the uniforms that had once symbolized their authority. Survivors testified in detail about selections, beatings, and killings. Witness identification and documentary evidence established their roles within the camp structure.
On May 31, 1946, the court delivered its verdict. Of the thirteen defendants, nine were sentenced to death. All five female guards received capital sentences. The court rejected appeals for leniency, ruling that participation in the camp’s system of murder warranted full accountability regardless of gender or rank.
The executions were scheduled for July 4, 1946. Polish authorities determined that they would be carried out publicly near the former camp grounds. The decision was framed as an act of visible justice in the immediate aftermath of occupation and atrocity.
On the day of execution, a scaffold was erected on Biskupia Górka, a hill overlooking Gdańsk. Large crowds gathered. One by one, the condemned were brought forward under guard. Contemporary accounts describe a solemn atmosphere rather than open celebration. The sentences were carried out by hanging. The bodies remained suspended for a period as confirmation that the judgments had been enforced.
Further Stutthof trials followed between 1946 and 1947. In the second trial, 24 additional former personnel were prosecuted. Five more death sentences were issued, while others received lengthy prison terms. Investigations extended to anyone identified as having served within the camp system, regardless of duration. The judicial process was deliberate and methodical, relying heavily on survivor testimony and camp records.
These trials were not merely punitive; they were evidentiary. They documented the mechanisms of persecution and established responsibility within the broader system of Nazi crimes.
When Stutthof was liberated, the physical structures remained, but the population was largely gone. Those who survived bore witness to nearly six years of systematic brutality. The silence that followed the end of operations was heavy with memory.
The executions of the female guards were significant not because of spectacle, but because they demonstrated that accountability extended beyond high-ranking officials. The legal proceedings affirmed that participation in the machinery of genocide, whether administrative or direct, constituted criminal responsibility.
Stutthof was opened within days of the invasion of Poland and operated until the final months of the war. Its history illustrates how ordinary individuals entered and sustained a system of organized cruelty. The postwar trials ensured that the record of what occurred there would not vanish with the collapse of the regime.
The gates of the camp were opened in 1945. The crimes committed within them, and the legal reckoning that followed, remain part of the historical record.
