Hermine Braunsteiner facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Hermine Braunsteiner
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Braunsteiner during her time in the SS
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| Born | July 16, 1919 Vienna, Republic of German-Austria
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| Died | April 19, 1999 (aged 79) |
| Other names | Mare of Majdanek (Stute von Majdanek) |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse(s) | Russel Ryan |
| Motive | Nazism |
| Conviction(s) | Austria Crimes against human dignity West Germany Involvement in deaths of many people |
| Criminal penalty | Austria 3 years imprisonment West Germany Life imprisonment |
| SS career | |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service/ |
 Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1939–1945 |
| Rank | SS Helferin |
| Awards | Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2. Klasse, 1943 |
| Other work | Hotel and restaurant worker Housewife |
Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan (born July 16, 1919 – died April 19, 1999) was an Austrian woman who worked as a guard in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. She was part of the SS as an Helferin, which means helper. She worked at the Ravensbrück concentration camp and Majdanek concentration camp.
Braunsteiner was the first war criminal from the Nazi era to be sent from the United States to West Germany for trial. Prisoners at Majdanek called her the "Stomping Mare" because of her cruel actions. She was found guilty of being involved in the deaths of many people during the Holocaust. She was sentenced to life in prison in 1981. She was released in 1996 due to health issues and passed away three years later.
Contents
Early Life and War Service
Hermine Braunsteiner was born in Vienna, Austria. She was the youngest child in a Roman Catholic family that worked hard. Her father was a driver or a butcher. Hermine wanted to be a nurse, but she did not have enough money for the training. So, she worked as a maid instead. From 1937 to 1938, she worked in England for an American family.
In 1938, Austria became part of Germany. Hermine became a German citizen. She moved back to Vienna from England. Later that year, she moved to Germany to work at an aircraft factory in Berlin.
Working at Concentration Camps
A German policeman, who was her landlord, told Braunsteiner about a better-paying job. This job was supervising prisoners. She started her training on August 15, 1939. She became an Aufseherin, which means female overseer. Her training was at the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Ravensbrück Camp
Braunsteiner stayed at Ravensbrück after World War II began. Many new prisoners from countries taken over by Germany arrived there. After three years, she had a disagreement with another guard. She asked to be moved to a different camp in October 1942.
Majdanek Camp
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On October 16, 1942, Braunsteiner started working at the Majdanek concentration camp. This camp was near Lublin, Poland. Majdanek was both a labor camp and a place where people were killed. It had special areas for killing people and burning bodies.
In January 1943, she was promoted to assistant wardress. She worked with other female guards. Braunsteiner became known for her very angry outbursts. She was involved in choosing women and children to be sent to their deaths. She also treated prisoners very cruelly, causing severe harm. For her work, she received a special award in 1943.
Return to Ravensbrück
In January 1944, Braunsteiner was sent back to Ravensbrück. This happened because the war front was getting closer to Majdanek. She was promoted to supervising wardress at a smaller camp called Genthin. This camp was a subcamp of Ravensbrück, located near Berlin.
After the War
On May 7, 1945, Braunsteiner ran away from the camp. This was just before the Soviet army arrived. She went back to Vienna, Austria, but soon left. On May 6, 1946, Austrian police arrested her. They gave her to the British military. She was held in different camps until April 18, 1947. Austrian officials arrested her again on April 7, 1948.
On November 22, 1949, an Austrian court found Braunsteiner guilty of treating people badly at Ravensbrück. However, they said there was not enough proof for her actions at Majdanek. She was sentenced to three years in prison. Her property was also taken away. She was released in April 1950 because she had already served time. She was told she would not be charged again. Later, in 1957, she received a partial pardon. She worked in hotels and restaurants before moving to another country.
Life After the War
An American man named Russell Ryan met Hermine while on vacation in Austria. They got married in October 1958. After their marriage, they moved to Nova Scotia, Canada.
Moving to America
In April 1959, Hermine moved to the United States. She became an American citizen on January 19, 1963. They lived in Maspeth, Queens, New York City. There, she was known as a very neat housewife. She was friendly and married to a construction worker.
How She Was Found
A famous Nazi hunter named Simon Wiesenthal found out about her by chance. He was in Tel Aviv when he heard about her from survivors of Majdanek. Based on this information, he followed her path from Vienna to Canada, and then to Queens, New York.
In 1964, Wiesenthal told The New York Times that Braunsteiner might be living in Maspeth, Queens. A young reporter named Joseph Lelyveld was sent to find "Mrs. Ryan." He found her at her home. She told him, "My God, I knew this would happen. You've come."
Braunsteiner said she had only been at Majdanek for one year. She claimed she spent eight months of that time in the camp hospital. Her husband, Russell Ryan, defended her. He said she was a good person and that she had to do her duty. On August 22, 1968, the United States government tried to take away her citizenship. This was because she had not told them about her past convictions for war crimes. Her citizenship was taken away in 1971.
Facing Justice
A prosecutor in Düsseldorf, Germany, started looking into Braunsteiner's actions during the war. In 1973, the West German government asked for her to be sent back to Germany. They accused her of being involved in the deaths of many people.
Being Sent Back to Germany
On March 22, 1973, Braunsteiner was taken into custody. She was held in jail while waiting to be sent back. The United States court rejected her claims that she should not be sent back. They said her citizenship had been taken away correctly. They also said the charges were not political crimes.
For the next year, she and her husband listened to survivors tell their stories. These survivors described how the former SS guard had treated them. They spoke of cruel beatings. On August 7, 1973, Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan became the first Nazi war criminal sent from the United States to West Germany.
The Trial in Germany
Ryan was held in custody in Düsseldorf starting August 7, 1973. She was later released on bail. However, she was put back in custody in December 1977. This was because she tried to scare witnesses. She stayed in jail until January 1978. The German court decided it had the right to try her. This was because she had been a German citizen at the time. More importantly, she had been a German government official.
She was tried in West Germany with 15 other former SS men and women from Majdanek. One witness said that she "grabbed children by their hair and threw them onto trucks going to the killing areas." Others talked about severe beatings. One witness described how Hermine used her boots to hurt prisoners.
The trial was called the Third Majdanek Trial. It began on November 26, 1975, and lasted for 474 sessions. It was one of the longest and most expensive trials in West Germany. The court found her guilty on three charges. These included being involved in the deaths of many people. On June 30, 1981, the court gave her a life sentence. This was a harsher punishment than what her co-defendants received.
Because of health problems, including a leg amputation, she was released from prison in 1996. Hermine Braunsteiner Ryan died on April 19, 1999, at the age of 79, in Bochum, Germany.
After the attention around Ryan's case, the United States government created a special office in 1979. This office was made to find war criminals. Its goal was to take away their citizenship or send them out of the country.
Images for kids
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Braunsteiner during her time in the SS
