“In 1941 I joined a party organization the Deutsche Frauenschaft and in the summer of 1942 joined the NSDAP. At this time the SS men in the camp sent out a questionnaire stressing that all guards had to belong to the party.” – Maria Mandl

The above statement from former Auschwitz-Birkenau women’s camp guard Maria Mandl (1912-1948), gives the impression that the once proud Nazi party member reluctantly embarked on a journey which involved the persecution of thousands of prisoners detained in the Third Reich’s concentration camps. However, the truth is far more disturbing. In fact, Mandl was known as one of the Reich’s most dangerous overseers and guard who sought to enhance her standing within the Reich. In the annals of World War II history, the female camp guards are sometimes a footnote in discussions. But the dark reality is that many of them were equally as deadly and sadistic as their male counterparts. And like other former officers, many also made homes for themselves outside of Germany as the Third Reich collapsed in April 1945. Readers familiar with the exodus of Germans at the end of the war may recall the name of Hermine Braunsteiner (1919-1999), a former guard at the Ravensbrück and Majdanek concentration camps who was discovered living in my hometown of New York City, in a small part of Queens called Maspeth. In 1973, she was extradited back to Germany where she received a life sentence in 1981. Mandl’s story is much shorter but just as unsettling. This is the life and death of the infamous guard as told by author Susan J. Eischeid.

Before starting the book, I did not know about Maria Mandl. I had heard the name Ilse Koch (1906-1967) and Irme Grese (1923-1945) whose actions during the war earned them a place on the dark side of history. Here, I learned about Mandl with a blank canvas that filled up quickly. Her early life is unremarkable in the sense that she came from a stable home with loving parents and no trace of dysfunction that warranted her future behavior. In fact, the family is so typical that it is hard to understand her descent into tyranny as a female guard. I concur with the author who opines that her thirst for power trumped her moral compass and provided justification for the horrors to come. And what becomes clear very quickly is that she accepted and enjoyed her newly obtained power after joining the ranks of the Reich guards.

I must warn the reader that Mandl was highly disturbed and unhinged at times. Her erratic and often contradictory behavior on display in the book led me to believe that she suffered from undiagnosed psychological ailments. The changes in mood and actions are like an alternating current, and at times it is not clear where Mandl’s mind is. This is further complicated by her love life, which is just as crazy as the actions of the camp guards. On a side note, the author explains a few things about camp behavior that will make readers cringe. I think the word that best comes to mind is debauchery. Mandl learned firsthand what it meant to “give oneself to the Reich”. Her firsthand experiences and lack of a stable companion only served to increase the tensions at the camp, with Mandl unleashing her rage on female prisoners. Living conditions at the camp were sub-human as anyone familiar with the holocaust knows and those conditions are described in the book to reinforce the inhumane treatment that endured. However, Mandl seemed to delight in humiliating other women and the acts recalled in the book are mind boggling. In one instance, the camp has an orchestra that practices and performs as others are being sent to their deaths. It is both macabre and surreal. And in the middle of this is Mandl whose dark and twisted mind tries to rationalize her actions. Her story is so absurd that at one point, she tries to convince others of how she tried to “help” or “save” the prisoners she treated like trash. The cognitive disconnect is hard to believe at times. I can only imagine the author’s thoughts as she compiled the story of Mandl’s life.

Upon her arrival at Auschwitz, the story takes a darker turn as that camp was known for its methods of madness. Within the camp, we learn of the rivalries between guards and the misogynistic attitude towards female guards from their male counterparts who saw them useful for a “good time” only. Even more unsettling are the intimate relationships between guards and prisoners on both sides of the aisle. The dysfunction within the Reich knew no bounds. Mandl joins the mix of insanity and continues her contradictory behavior. The stories are strange, upsetting and mystifying. Further, they will remove all doubt that Mandl “cared” for her prisoners. Sure, there were some situations where she took “pity” on a prisoner and spared her wrath for that moment. But those occasions were far and few in between and not the normal course of business.

As the book progresses, we know that liberation will eventually come to the camp as the Allied forces closed in on Berlin. When the collapse takes place, it becomes every man for himself with thousands of former guards left to fend for themselves and find a way out of Germany before the Soviet Army moves in. Capture by American forces was much more preferred as it offered a better chance of living out the remained of the year in jail instead or a long-term sentence instead of execution. Mandl tried her best but as we see in the book, she is eventually detained and later stands trial. I could not help myself, but while reading the story of proceedings, the image of Kate Winslett in the 2008 film ‘The Reader‘ came to mind. The fictional Hanna Schmitz is not seen on film committing the atrocities attributed to Mandl, but she was a war criminal and paid for her crimes. Like Schmitz, Mandl tried to offer the same excuse of “following orders”. No one bought that story, and it becomes clear in the story that Mandl’s days are numbered. And when she makes her exit from the story, the author describes the last swift moments that marked the end of the life of a Nazi guard responsible for death, heartache, and destruction. In her home village of Münzkirchen, her family was left to wonder how their little girl grew into a monster. Sadly, her father was kept in the dark regarding many things to protect him, but he was aware that his daughter had become what he despised. Mandl’s story is a tragedy in all respects and brings home the realities of war.

This is not a “delightful” book. It is dark at times, but also a reminder of the Third Reich’s insanity as World War II raged and the regime commenced the “Final Solution”. Maria Mandl met her end in 1948 but left a wake of terror that remained implanted in the memories of those who survived the horrors of the camps. This well-presented discussion of Mandl’s life inside the Reich and her fall as Germany’s unimaginable defeat became a reality shall remain a testament to humans’ uncanny ability to destroy themselves and those around them.

ASIN : ‎B0C15WQYJ2