Maria Mandel (January 10, 1912 - January 24, 1948) was infamous for her key role in the Holocaust as a top-ranking official at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp where she is believed to have been directly responsible for orders to kill over 500,000 female Jews, Gypsies, and political prisoners. January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... It has been suggested that Shoah be merged into this article or section. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Majdanek - crematorium Extermination camp (German Vernichtungslager) was the term applied to a group of death camps set up by Nazi Germany during World War II for the express purpose of killing the Jews of Europe, although members of some other groups whom the Nazis wished to exterminate, such as Roma...

Mandel was born in Munzkirchen, Austria. On October 15, 1938, she joined the camp staff as an Aufseherin at Lichtenburg, an early concentration camp in Saxony where she worked with fifty other SS women. On May 15, 1939 she along with other guards and prisoners were sent to the newly opened Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin. She quickly impressed her superiors and in June 1942 became an SS-Oberaufseherin. She oversaw daily roll calls, assignments for Aufseherinnen and punishments such as beatings and floggings. October 15 is the 288th day of the year (289th in Leap years). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Lichtenburg is a town situated in North West Province of South Africa. ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... With an area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... SS or ss or Ss may be: The Schutzstaffel, a Nazi paramilitary force Steamship (SS) (ship prefix) The United States Secret Service A submarine not powered by nuclear energy (SS) (United States Navy designator), see SSN A Soviet/Russian surface-to-surface missile, as listed by NATO reporting name Shortstop... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... View of the barracks at Ravensbrück Ravensbrück was a German concentration camp located 90 km north of Berlin. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

On October 7, 1942, Mandel was assigned to the Auschwitz II Birkenau camp in Poland where she became SS Lagerfuhrerin, a commandant under (male) SS Kommandant (commandant) Hoess. (A woman could never outrank a man.) Mandel controlled all the female Auschwitz camps and female subcamps including Hindenburg, Lichtenwerden, Budy and Rajsko. Her power over female prisoners (and subordinates) was absolute. Maria took a liking to Irma Grese, whom she promoted to head of the Hungarian women's camp at Birkenau. According to some accounts, Mandel often stood at the gate into Birkenau waiting for an inmate to turn and look at her: Any who did were taken out of the lines and never heard from again. In the Auschwitz camps Mandel was known as The Beast, and for the next two years she participated in selections for death and other documented abuses. She reportedly often chose so-called "pet" Jews for herself, keeping them from the gas chamber for a time until she tired of them, sending them to their death. Mandel is also said to have enjoyed selecting children to be killed. She created the Auschwitz orchestra to accompany roll calls, executions, selection and transports. She signed orders sending an estimated half a million women and children to their deaths in the gas chambers at Auschwitz I and II. In November 1944 she was assigned to the Muhldorf subcamp of Dachau concentration camp (Elizabeth Volkenrath became head of the crumbling Auschwitz empire of camps, which were liberated in early January 1945). In May 1945, Mandel fled from Muhldorf into the mountains of southern Bavaria to her birthplace and homeland of Munzkirchen, Austria. October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Irma Grese (October 7, 1923 – December 13, 1945) was a supervisor at the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. ... Birkenau may mean the following: the municipality Birkenau in Hesse, see Birkenau, Hesse the German spelling of the Polish Brzezinka the death camp and part of the concentration camp Auschwitz located near Brzezinka, see Auschwitz concentration camp This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that... Auschwitz, in English, commonly refers to the Auschwitz concentration camp complex built near the town of Oświęcim, by Nazi Germany during World War II. Rarely, it may refer to the Polish town of Oświęcim (called by the Germans Auschwitz) itself. ... An orchestra is a musical ensemble used most often in classical music. ... Mühldorf is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and the capital of the district Mühldorf. ... This article is about Dachau town. ... Categories: 1919 births | 1945 deaths | Holocaust | Nazi leaders | Personnel of Nazi concentration camps | People stubs ... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ...

The US Army arrested Mandel on August 10, 1945. Interrogations reportedly revealed her to be highly intelligent and dedicated to her work in the camps. She was handed over to Poland in November 1946 and in November 1947 she was tried in a Krakow courtroom and sentenced to death. Mandel was hanged on January 24, 1948 at age 36. Her last words were "Long live Poland!". 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article needs cleanup. ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted felon as a punishment for a crime (often called a capital offence or a capital crime). ... January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• Biography from the Jewish Virtual Library.
• Images & Bio-sketch (Text in German).

Literature

• Brown, D. P.: The Camp Women: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Nazi Concentration Camp System; Schiffer Publishing 2002; ISBN 0764314440.