Ilse Koch
Also known as Margarete Ilse Köhler, The Witch of Buchenwald, The Beast of Buchenwald, Queen of Buchenwald, Red Witch of Buchenwald, Butcher Widow, The Bitch of Buchenwald, Ilse Köhler
Margarete Ilse Koch was a German war criminal who committed atrocities while her husband Karl-Otto Koch was the commandant at Buchenwald. Though Ilse Koch had no official position in Nazi Germany, she became one of the most infamous Nazi figures at the war's end and was referred to as the "Kommandeuse of Buchenwald".
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Key facts
- Born
- Margarete Ilse Köhler , ( 1906-09-22 ) 22 September 1906, Dresden , German Empire
- Died
- 1 September 1967 (1967-09-01) (aged 60), Aichach , West Germany
- Cause of death
- Suicide by hanging
- Other names
- The Bitch of Buchenwald The Witch of Buchenwald
- Criminal status
- Deceased
- Spouse
- Karl-Otto Koch ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1937 ; died 1945 )
- Convictions
- U.S. Military , War crimes (1947), West Germany , Incitement to murder , Incitement to attempted murder , Incitement to infliction of grievous bodily harm , Incitement to infliction of bodily harm (2 counts)
- Criminal penalty
- U.S. Military , Life imprisonment ; commuted to 4 years imprisonment (1947), West Germany , Life imprisonment (1951)
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Article
Margarete Ilse Koch (née Köhler; 22 September 1906 – 1 September 1967) was a German war criminal who committed atrocities while her husband Karl-Otto Koch was the commandant at Buchenwald. Though Ilse Koch had no official position in Nazi Germany, she became one of the most infamous Nazi figures at the war's end and was referred to as the "Kommandeuse of Buchenwald".
Because of the egregiousness of her alleged actions, including that she had selected Jewish prisoners for death in order to fashion lampshades from human skin and other items from it, her 1947 U.S. military commission court trial at Dachau received worldwide media attention, as did the testimony of survivors who ascribed sadistic and perverse acts of violence to Koch—giving rise to the image of her as "the concentration camp murderess".