Grese

 

Photograph Mistaken for Irma Grese – “The Hyena of Auschwitz”

Date: Circa 1943–1945

Location: Auschwitz, Nazi-occupied Poland

Medium: Glossy photograph

Collection: Yavneh Klos Collection, Holocaust Perpetrators Archive 

This image is often sold as memorabilia of Irma Grese, a notorious SS guard at Ravensbruck and Auschwitz known as “the Hyena of Auschwitz.” Notorious for her brutality, Grese became a symbol of the systemic cruelty women could wield within the Nazi regime; convicted of war crimes, Grese was executed at age 22. In fact, this is a photograph of the actress Alexandr Slaska on the set of the unfinished Polish film, “The Passenger,” which depicts the memories of a fictional female SS guard following the war.

Photograph of Alexandra Śląska on the Set of the Film The Passenger (1963)

By Sydney Piglia.

Although this photo is often sold as genuine WWII memorabilia portraying infamous concentration camp guard Irma Grese, this photograph is of actress Alexandra Śląska on the set of an unfinished Polish film titled The Passenger. In this film, Śląska portrays the fictional, former concentration camp guard Liza Kretschmer. The film takes place after the end of the war as Kretschmer is revisiting her past. The photograph features Śląska in a full Nazi uniform, standing before a concentration camp with smoke billowing in the background. This photo is often sold as genuine WWII memorabilia because of Śląska’s resemblance to the infamous concentration camp guard, Irma Grese.

Despite her reportedly normal childhood, Grese joined the League of German Girls (the female version of the Hitler Youth) against her father’s wishes at age 15. At age 18, she started training as a concentration camp guard at Ravensbrück, a women’s concentration camp in Northern Germany. There a standard of cruelty was set for the guards. When Grese was moved to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943, she began cruel sexual, emotional, and physical assaults on captives in the camp. Irma Grese’s vicious and brutal treatment gained her the nickname “The Hyena of Auschwitz” among prisoners. This photo, though not of Grese, depicts a fictional guard similar to her. Grese was known for her beauty, cruelty, and youth. She was 22 when she was executed for war crimes.