Erna Petermann

Erna Petermann
Born1912 (1912)
Disappeared1944
OccupationOverseer

Erna Petermann (born 1912, date of death unknown) was the head of the female guards at Grosswerther, a small cap of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. From March 15 until the camp was cleared on April 4, 1945, around 290 Jewish women were held there. Petermann was incharge of eighteen female guards, while an SS officer named Werner Beest ran the camp. [1][2]

Biography

Little is known about Erna Petermann, other than that she trained at the men's camp at Mittelbau-Dora sometime in 1944. The Schutzstaffel (SS) promoted Petermann to the rank of Lagerführerin (Female Camp Commandant) under a male commandant. Later, Petermann was transferred as Female Camp Commandant to the Großwerther subcamp in the Harz Mountains.[3][4]

Disappearance

When Großwerther was liberated by the Allies, Petermann fled the camp and went into hiding. Her whereabouts were not discovered and therefore it was not possible to question her regarding possible involvement with war crimes. Her subsequent history and post-war activities remain unknown.

References

  1. ↑ Neander, Joachim (2000). "Auschwitz–Grosswerther–Gunskirchen: A Nine Months' Odyssey Through Eight Nazi Concentration Camps". Yad Vashem Studies. 28. Yad Vashem: 287–310.
  2. ↑ Neander, Joachim (2009). "Grosswerther" (PDF). In Megargee, Geoffrey P. (ed.). The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945. Vol. I. Indiana University Press. pp. 981–983. doi:10.2307/j.ctt16gzb17.33.
  3. ↑ "Auschwitz - Grosswerther - Gunskirchen: A Nine Months' Odyssey Through Eight Nazi Concentration Camps". www.yadvashem.org. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  4. ↑ "The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945, Volume I". Indiana University Press. Retrieved 2026-08-16.
  • Daniel Patrick Brown, The Camp Women: The Female Auxiliaries Who Assisted the SS in Running the Nazi Concentration Camp System, Schiffer Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-7643-1444-0

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