Margot Dreschel

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Margot Dreschel (May 17, 1908 – 1945) was a prison guard at concentration camps who was born in Neugersdorf, Germany.

Before her enlistment as an SS auxiliary, she worked at an office in Berlin. On January 31, 1941, Margot Dreschel arrived at Ravensbrück to begin guard training. At first she was an Aufseherin, a low-ranking female guard, at Ravensbrück (a concentration camp primarily for internment of women). She trained under Oberaufseherin (Senior Overseer) Johanna Langefeld in 1941, and quickly became a Rapportführerin (Report Overseer), a higher ranked guard.

On April 27, 1942, Dreschel was selected for transport to the newly opened Auschwitz I camp in Poland. She was very devoted to her work there and served under Maria Mandel. Dreschel was also head of all camp offices in Auschwitz. Dreschel's appearance was reportedly repellent, as one female Auschwitz prisoner recounted: "And Camp Leader Dreschel was there, her buck teeth sticking out, even when her mouth is closed." Inmates described her as vulgar, thin and ugly. After the war, many survivors testified of her brutal treatment.

She regularly moved between the Auschwitz I camp and Birkenau, and involved herself in selections of women and children to be sent to the gas chambers. On November 1, 1944, she went to Flossenbürg as a Rapportführerin.

In January 1945, she was moved back to the Ravensbruck subcamp at Neustadt-Glewe, and fled from there in April 1945 as Nazi Germany fell.

In May 1945, several former Auschwitz prisoners recognized her on a road from Pirna to Bautzen, and took her to the Russian Military Police. The Soviets condemned her to death and executed her in May or June 1945 by hanging in Bautzen.

[edit] Alternative spellings of surname

  • Margot Drexler
  • Margot Dreschler
  • Margot Drechsel
  • Margot Drexel

[edit] External links

[edit] Literature

  • Brown, D. P.: 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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