Charlotte Klein photos and bio

[Alextavor]

Apology, it died not 2006 but already 1996. It was by the way born in Eilenburg (with Leipzig).

Thanks Kathrin. From that groups of Female guards, there is an interview of Hilde Lisiewitz of 2004. Below link to a documentary of a prisoner where a piece of the interview is shown

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,734 ... 79,00.html

Is there something on Charlotte Klein? Can you share any details of her post war life?

[Uncle John]

Charlotte and Herta Bothe were friends, both were very tall.... seen together at Celle Prison
Both and Gertrud Reinhold were roomates at Bergen Belsen.
She was born in Eilenburg all right, but I don't know if she grew up to her early 20s there until she joined SS.
Eilenburg was almost completely destroyed just few days after Belsen liberation.... German defenses has rejected Hodges' 1st U.S. Army's ultimatum to surrender.
I have no idea where she went after the trial....to her home area under communist rule? or moved to West Germany?
Of course, they changed her name for her protection from angry Jews.
Did you know? 11 of the defendants were hanged on Charlotte's birthday.


In this picture, there is a badge patch on her left sleeve....can you tell me what is it?

Another question, is Celle Prison still there or gone?

Thanks
John

Charlotte and Gertrud.png

Badge Patch.png

[VanillaNuns]

Celle Prison is still there. Built in the early 18th century, it's one of the oldest prisons in Europe.

Now used to hold the "worst of the worst" - violent and sexual offenders and those convicted of terrorism acts. The minimum sentence is 14 years to be incarcerated there...


https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justizv ... talt_Celle

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justizv ... talt_Celle

I've never heard of Gertrud Reinhold before so will do some research tonight.

[Uncle John]

Ahh I see.....Thanks!
I have looked at it on Google map......which court yard? the square one I think?

Celle Prison.jpg

A couple of very nice photos to post here......
These photos are from the estate of a Canadian air force veteran in Vancouver....
who visited the Celle prison to see the female guards walking
around the court yard....four times a day......not sure everyday.
I hope we'll see more pictures from the relatives of WW2 soldiers/air force guys in the future
Enjoy!

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Charlotte's face isn't in the picture....too bad but I'm sure it's her.... on the left.
Herta Bothe behind her.

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I don't know 2 women behind Grese and Volkenrath....

6976_originalnamed.jpg

[VanillaNuns]

Fantastic photographs. Thanks for sharing them.

Volkenrath is a strange woman. If you look at 5 different photographs of her after her arrest, she looks different each time. Perhaps she utilised her skills as a qualified hairdresser?

More from the same occasion possibly. Taken by Flight Lieutenant Keith Parfitt:

[VanillaNuns]

Last one.

I've seen this recently in an issue of "After the Battle" magazine...

[Hans1906]

Looking at the photos of these "women", I hate to imagine how these women ruled in the camps at that time.
Even in British captivity, the women are frightening, total "underdogs" who have probably lived out their hatred mercilessly.

The photos speak volumes, they are disturbing, one of the SS helpers in the series of three photos, the woman left looks like my first love Gunda, slim, north German, blond, the racial ideal of the time, a real beauty...

She looks like a twin, for sure Gunda never saw this photo.

Everthing was possible, there were no borders, nowhere


Hans

[Hans1906]

The photos of the women in Celle hardly let you go, frightening.

SS-Gefolge https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS-Gefolge (Not av. in english language)

Das SS-Lager und die SS-Aufseherinnen vom Konzentrationslager Ravensbrück - Dokumentation (23 Min.)



Hans

[Uncle John]

Thanks VanillaNuns for photos, yes I have seen them before.....I'll post few more pics of her soon.


Thanks Hans for wikipedia link "SS entourage" (SS-Gedolge)
(It can translate to English)


Heh.....Volkenrath's weirdest hairstyle here...

Elisabeth_Volkenrath.jpg

Now, I think the walk around courtyard location is at the back, rectangular shape.
The "C" shape building with gray color flat roof is probably has been remodelded/rebuilt many years after WW2.....maybe....I'm not sure.
Cheers
John

[VanillaNuns]

There is a good photograph of Himmler inspecting Ravensbrück with the female SS staff lined up in the yard outside for inspection.

It's been kicking around the internet for years and can easily be found on Google search.

There's a high quality image which is from the small museum at the camp and, apparently, they've now managed to identify Irma Grese (who was doing her training there) and a couple of other well known guards.

They all look the same to me in uniform, but I guess the researchers there wouldn't have posted it unless they were sure.

I will try and find it in good quality. It's actually a still from a YouTube video posted by someone who visited the exhibition and museum at Fürstenberg.


Yeah, I think the smaller yard at Celle is the one in the photos. There's a guard tower there now so it must be for prisoner recreation and exercise.

Whereas, the larger front entrance and courtyard has minimal security. So almost certainly off limits to the prisoners.

On a rather grisly note, there were some excavations a few years ago at the site where the 11 executed Belsen defendants are currently buried. The specific area is currently just a grassy field with unmarked graves, but there is a possibility of construction and worry that it could unearth the 90+ bodies of Nazi war criminals which were interred there in 1954 after being removed from the prison cemetery at Hamelin.

Such talk of grave locations is not encouraged here, but you should be able to locate the story easy enough...

It would be surreal if the bodies of Kramer, Hössler, Grese, Volkenrath and the others were accidentally disturbed after all this time.

A detailed biography of the leading camp women from Auschwitz, Belsen and Ravensbrück is long overdue but there is so little information about Grese and Volkenrath. Both came from poor families and had uneventful lives.

[Uncle John]

Apart from their heights, Charlotte and Herta Bothe were different.....Herta joined in 1942 and didn't quit until at the end of the war....that was her big mistake.
In August 1944, rules changed.....Charlotte has no choice, conscripted into Waffen SS and became an Aufseherinnen.
I don't know where or when they became friends... at Strutthof? Bremberg?
They travelled to Bergen Belsen together.
I was wondering if Herta wept when she looked at next to Charlotte's empty seat after acquitted?
Reunion years later? no.....no way.

More photos of Charlotte...

ck 1.jpg

Bad day at the grave.....she was brave.....unlike Herta, she wasn't complaining.
(I cropped and blurred out the graphic images)

Belsen 1.jpg

Belsen 2.jpg

Belsen 3.jpg

Screenshots from films.....

ck sceenshot.png

[Uncle John]

Screenshots from films.....
She checked her hand to see if anything from corpses....

ck screenshot 1.png

At the Belsen Trial.....
Heh.... 2 British MPs helped Irma Grese to get down....... Tall Charlotte jumped out of truck by herself and helped an old lady.

ck trial.jpg

ck trial 1.jpg

ck trial 2.jpg

ck trial 3.jpg

I think Sept 17th 1945 (first day of the trial) was the last public photographs and films of Charlotte and the
rest of the defendants except Herta Bothe and Hilde Lisiewicz some 50 years later.
Well, that's it.....I really hope someday.... someone will show up the pictures of her in her later life......

[Uncle John]

The demolition of the "Belsen Trial" building in 1975........THE END!

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1975_2.jpg

[VanillaNuns]

Fantastic, thanks for sharing all these and for the added work of adding the names.

I don't suppose you could identify everyone in this photo? It's one of those you posted earlier.

Many thanks again.

[VanillaNuns]

Also, is that definitely Gertrud Fiest in this photo? She looks so different from her "mugshot"

I found another one of Volkenrath taken at the same time. Who is that right behind her?

In other circumstances, they could be auditioning for a modelling role, up on the catwalk. The way they both move, the way they turn...

I really struggle with identification in these old photos so please bear with me. What is blindingly obvious to others isn't always the case with me.