January 29, 1922 - Gerda Steinhoff
An ordinary civilian before the war — bakery worker, tramway conductor, newlywed — Steinhoff's trajectory into the Stutthof camp system illustrates how the Nazi apparatus drew on the general population to staff its machinery of mass killing. Within weeks of joining the camp staff in late 1944, she had risen to senior overseer, participated in prisoner selections for the gas chambers, and earned a commendation for loyalty to the Reich. Her conduct at trial, marked by visible indifference to the proceedings, drew particular notice. She was among eleven camp personnel publicly executed in Gdańsk in July 1946, convicted of crimes against humanity following the first Stutthof trial.
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