Mandel, Maria (1912–1948)

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Mandel, Maria (1912–1948)

Austrian war criminal. Born in Münzkirchen, Upper Austria, on Jan 10, 1912; sentenced to death on Dec 22, 1947; executed Jan 24, 1948, in Cracow; did not attend high school.

SS head of women at Auschwitz II (Birkenau), began working as a supervisor at Ravensbrück (1939) and gained a reputation as one of the cruelest of the female SS guards there; appointed female Oberaufseherin (head supervisor) of Auschwitz II (1942); became known to the prisoners as "the beast"; captured (1945), was placed on trial at Cracow and sentenced to death (1947).

See also Women in World History.

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