December 13th, 1945.
Inside the cold execution chamber of Hamelin Prison, a 22-year-old woman was led toward the gallows by Britain’s most feared executioner. Within minutes, her neck would snap beneath a hangman’s noose, ending the life of one of the most notorious female Nazi war criminals of World War II.

Her name was Irma Grese.

To survivors of Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, she was known by terrifying nicknames such as “The Hyena of Auschwitz” and “The Beautiful Beast.” Despite her young age and angelic appearance, witnesses described her as one of the most sadistic guards ever to serve inside the Nazi concentration camp system.

But why was Irma Grese executed by hanging instead of being shot like many other Nazi war criminals?

Born in Germany in 1923, Grese originally tried to become a nurse but was rejected. Instead, she entered the SS camp system and trained at Ravensbrück concentration camp to become a female guard. Her own father reportedly became horrified after learning his daughter had joined the SS organization.

Soon afterward, she was transferred to Auschwitz.

At the time, the camp was rapidly expanding, especially the women’s section, which required more female guards. Grese quickly developed a terrifying reputation among prisoners. She carried a whip, a pistol, and a rubber truncheon while patrolling the camp. Survivors later testified that she brutally beat prisoners, randomly shot inmates she believed were not working hard enough, and personally participated in selections sending victims directly to the gas chambers.

According to multiple survivor accounts, prisoners who merely looked at her “the wrong way” could be selected for death.

One witness chillingly described her as beautiful on the outside but monstrous underneath, saying her face appeared innocent while her behavior was unimaginably cruel.

Grese also reportedly became fascinated by Nazi medical experiments conducted on prisoners.

Survivors accused her of personally beating women to death and helping oversee horrific punishments inside Auschwitz. Historians believe the number of deaths connected to her actions likely reached into the hundreds, possibly more.

In the final months of the war, Grese was transferred to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Even there, as disease and starvation devastated prisoners, witnesses claimed she continued her brutality. Inmates suffering from typhus and near death were allegedly forced into pointless exercises that caused even more exhaustion and death.

When British troops liberated Bergen-Belsen in 1945, Grese was captured.

Unlike many SS guards who fled, she remained at the camp and was arrested by British forces. Reports even claimed she attempted to attack a British officer during her capture before being restrained.

At the Belsen Trials, Grese appeared cold and arrogant.

She blamed Heinrich Himmler and the SS leadership for the crimes committed in the camps, but the court found her guilty of war crimes committed at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. When she learned she would be sentenced to death, witnesses said she finally broke down in tears.

Her request for clemency was rejected.

On the morning of December 13th, 1945, executioner Albert Pierrepoint entered her cell after previously calculating the precise drop distance needed to break her neck instantly using Britain’s “long drop” hanging method.

According to Pierrepoint, Grese’s final word before execution was:

“Schnell!”
(“Quickly!”)

She was then led onto the gallows platform.

Her arms and legs were secured. A white hood was pulled over her head before the noose was tightened around her neck. Seconds later, Pierrepoint pulled the lever beneath her feet. The trapdoor opened, and Irma Grese plunged downward, the force instantly snapping her neck.

But why specifically was hanging chosen?

The answer was largely legal and symbolic.

Under British jurisdiction, hanging was the standard civilian execution method for murder and war crimes cases carrying the death penalty. Since Grese was tried by a British military court and executed inside Hamelin Prison under British control, the gallows became the official method of execution.

The British authorities also wanted to demonstrate that even the most hated war criminals would be punished through law and formal judicial procedure rather than mob revenge. Using the long-drop gallows showed discipline, order, and what Britain considered a more “humane” execution designed to cause rapid unconsciousness instead of prolonged strangulation.

Albert Pierrepoint, Britain’s most famous executioner, personally handled the hanging because of his extensive experience with the long-drop method.

For British officials, the execution of Irma Grese was not only punishment — it was meant to symbolize justice carried out under the rule of law after the horrors of the concentration camps shocked the entire world.

At just 22 years old, Irma Grese became the youngest woman executed under British law in the 20th century.

And despite her youth and appearance, history would remember her not as a victim of war — but as one of the most infamous female guards ever to serve the Nazi regime.