Greta Bösel

Who was Greta Bösel?

Greta Bösel was a trained nurse. Born in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Germany, she became a camp guard at Ravensbrück some time between 1939 and 1943.

Her rank at the camp was Arbeitseinsatzführerin. In November 1944, Bösel was supposed to have been one of the staff members to select prisoners for the gas chamber, or for transfer to Uckermark. She is known to have told another SS guard "If they [prisoners] cannot work, let them rot."

After the death march of prisoners out of Ravensbrück following the impending liberation by the Red Army of Soviet troops, Bösel fled the camp with her husband. She was later caught and arrested by British troops.

Bösel, along with other female guards including Dorothea Binz, stood accused at the Hamburg Ravensbrück Trials, which took place between December 1946 and February 1947 in Hamburg, Germany. The court found her guilty of maltreatment, murder and taking part in the "selections". She was executed for her crimes, hanged along with Elisabeth Marschall at 9:55 am on 3 May 1947 by Albert Pierrepoint in Hameln prison.