The Evening Star (December 9, 1945)
Montgomery orders Belsen group hanged in rejecting appeals
HERFORD, Germany (AP, Dec. 8) – Josef Kramer, “the beast of Belsen”; blonde Irma Grese and nine other Nazi horror camp specialists today were ordered by Field Marshal Montgomery to die on the gallows. The British commander rejected all appeals of the Belsen gang.
In a small town in the British zone, the name of which was kept secret, a gallows already was being built for the eight men and three women sentenced to death by a British military court November 17.
While no date for the hangings was announced, it was assumed they would take place before Christmas. A professional British executioner, Pierrepont, will be brought from England for the task. It was understood he would get $40 for the first hanging – probably Kramer – and a lesser amount for each of the 10 others.
No appeals from 2 women
In all, the court had convicted 30 officials of the concentration camps at Belsen and Oswiecim of responsibility in killing and torturing thousands of helpless victims of Nazi persecution. Prison sentences varying from life to one year were meted out to 19.
In addition to Kramer, 39, commandant at Oswiecim and Belsen, and the 22-year-old Grese, others who will hang are:
- Dr. Fritz Klein, 58. who selected victims for the gas chamber
- Peter Weingartner, 32
- Franz Hoessler, 34
- Juana Bormann, 42
- Elisabeth Volkenrath, 26
- Karl Francioh, 33
- Ansgar Pichen, 32
- Franz Staerfel, 30
- Wilhelm Doerr, 24.
No appeals for clemency had been made by two women – Bormann, a shriveled religious fanatic, and Volkenrath, a former hairdresser who became head SS (Elite Guard) woman of Belsen. Nor was there an appeal from Hoessler, who also selected victims for the gas chamber.
Grese looks awful
The eight others had hoped until the last that Montgomery would commute their sentences, especially Irma Grese.
Maj. G. I. Draper of the War Crimes Section, who visited the defendants in their jail cells at Lueneburg, said “Grese looked awful. Her usual neat appearance in dress and the way she swept back her blond hair had gone. She cried continuously in her cell. Her eyes were red and sunken and she was extremely nervous.
“Kramer and Klein seemed to be in good spirits, joking with each other. Kramer was teasing Klein for losing his memory. Klein said it was hard for him to remember anymore.”