Ruth Neudeck

Ruth Neudeck
Born	Ruth Closius 5 July 1920 Breslau,Weimar Republic (present dayWrocław,Poland)
Died	29 July 1948 (age 28) Hamelin Prison,Hamelin,Allied-occupied Germany
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	War crimes
Trial	Hamburg Ravensbrück trials
Criminal penalty	Death
Military career
Allegiance	Germany
Service/branch	Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1944 — 1945
Rank	Blockführerin (Barrack Overseer)

Ruth Closius-Neudeck(5 July 1920 – 29 July 1948) was aNaziSchutzstaffel(SS) supervisor at aNazi concentration campcomplex from December 1944 until March 1945. She was executed forwar crimesfor her role inthe Holocaust.

Early life

Ruth Closius was born inBreslau, Germany(nowWrocław, Poland). She later married and was known asRuth NeudeckorRuth Closius-Neudeck.

Atrocities in Nazi concentration camps

In July 1944, she arrived at theRavensbrück concentration campto begin her training to be a camp guard. Neudeck soon began impressing her superiors with her unbending brutality towards the female prisoners, resulting in her promotion to the rank ofBlockführerin(Barrack Overseer) in late July 1944.

In the Ravensbrück camp, she was known as one of the most ruthless female guards. Former French prisonerGeneviève de Gaulle-Anthoniozcommented after the war that she had seen Neudeck "cut the throat of an inmate with the sharp edge of her shovel".In December 1944, she was promoted to the rank of Oberaufseherin, and moved to theUckermark extermination complexdown the road from Ravensbrück. There she involved herself in theselectionand execution of over 5,000 women and children. The prisoners were mistreated by Neudeck or her fellow SSAufseherinnen.In March 1945, Neudeck became head of the Barth subcamp.

Capture, trial and execution

In late April 1945, she fled the camp but was later captured and detained in prison while the British Army investigated the allegations against her. In April 1948, she stood accused at thethird Ravensbrück trial,along with otherSchutzstaffel(SS) women. The 28-year-old former SS supervisor admitted to the accusations of murder and maltreatment made against her.

The British court found Neudeck guilty ofwar crimesand sentenced her to death byhanging.On 29 July 1948, she was executed by British executionerAlbert Pierrepointon thegallowsatHamelin Prison.

See also

• Female guards in Nazi concentration camps

Sources

• Daniel Patrick Brown (2002).The Camp Women: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Concentration Camp System.Schiffer Military History.Schiffer PublishingLimited.

External links

• "Testimony of Ruth Closius Neudeck during her trial".Archived fromthe originalon 2005-02-18.