Wanda Klaff (6 March 1922 – 4 July 1946) was a Nazi concentration camp overseer. Klaff was born in Danzig to German parents as Wanda Kalacinski.[1] After the war, she was executed for crimes against humanity.
Wanda Klaff | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Klaff at the Stutthof Trial in 1946 | |
| Born | Wanda Kalacinski 6 March 1922 |
| Died | 4 July 1946 (aged 24) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation | Guard of the Stutthof concentration camp |
| Conviction(s) | Crimes against humanity |
| Trial | Stutthof trials |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Early life
editWanda Kalacinski was the daughter of railway worker Ludwig Kalacinski.[2] The family name was changed to Kalden in 1941.[2] She finished school in 1938 and worked in a jam factory until 1942. That year, she married Willy Klaff and became a housewife, then a streetcar operator.[2]
SS career, arrest, trial and execution
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In 1944, Klaff joined the Stutthof concentration camp staff at Stutthof's Praust subcamp in present-day Pruszcz, where she abused many of the prisoners.[3] On 5 October 1944, she arrived at Stutthof's Russoschin subcamp, in present-day northern Poland.
Klaff fled the camp in early 1945 but on 11 June 1945 was arrested by Polish officials; soon after, she fell ill from typhoid fever in prison. She stood trial at the first Stutthof trial with other former female supervisors and male personnel.[4] She stated at the trial, "I am very intelligent and very devoted to my work in the camps. I struck at least two prisoners every day."[2]
Klaff was convicted and received the death sentence. She was publicly hanged by short-drop method on 4 July 1946 on Biskupia Górka Hill near Gdańsk, aged 24.[5]
References
edit
- ^ "Female Nazi war criminals". Capitalpunishmentuk.org. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d Wanda Klaff (1922–1946), archived from the original on 2 September 2006, retrieved 12 April 2019
- ^ Cohen, Susan Sarah (1999). Antisemitism: An Annotated Bibliography. Saur. p. 347. ISBN 978-3-598-23707-2.
- ^ Roland, Paul (15 August 2014). Nazi Women: The Attraction of Evil. Arcturus Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78428-046-8.
- ^ Stutthof Trial. Female guards in Nazi concentration camps Archived 13 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine, jewishvirtuallibrary.org (archived); accessed 13 November 2014.
Sources
edit- Benjamin B. Ferencz, Less Than Slaves: Jewish Forced Labor and the Quest for Compensation, books.google.com; accessed 13 November 2014.]
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