Offered for sale is
PROBABLY THE ONLY HANDWRITTEN PIECE WORLDWIDE BY THE HAND OF THE
‘WITCH (OR BITCH) OF BUCHENWALD’ ILSE KOCH
SENT FROM PRISON TO HER MAID SCHWESTER ROSEMARIE
Offered for sale is something that has never before surfaced and it is highly unlikely that something similar will be offered again anywhere: an original 3-page letter that Ilse Koch, the infamous wife of the commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp Karl Otto Koch – nicknamed the Bitch of Buchenwald. Even though she had no official position in Nazi Germany, she became one of the most infamous Nazi figures at the war’s end. Even though never really proven, she was accused to have selected Jewish prisoners to be killed in order to have decorative objects such as lampshades and book bindings made from their skins. However, authoritative testimony from numerous witnesses at Koch’s postwar trials firmly established that she had made extensive use of slave labor at the camp; had assaulted inmates on several occasions; and had reported inmates to the camp SS for beatings — beatings that resulted in death on at least one occasion. Like each of her codefendants at the Buchenwald trial, Ilse Koch was ultimately found guilty by the court on 14 August 1947; she was sentenced to life imprisonment. She committed suicide in Aichstatt prison in 1967.
The 3-page letter that she wrote on prison paper on 1 May 1964 was addressed to ‘Schwester Rosemarie’ who used to be her maid or caretaker. In the letter she portrays herself as the ‘arme unschuldig in Haft seiende Ilse Koch’ (the poor innocent imprisoned Ilse Koch), followed by a poem that Koch wrote. Rosemarie must have cherished the Ilse Koch letter because it was found in her belongings. Nothing that was written by the Witch of Buchenwald has ever been offered anywhere. Since she never had an official position in Nazi Germany, there are no official records like award documents, personal SS files, etc. – which makes this letter a one-of-a-kind document of historical importance.
This item is listed for one of our affiliates in Germany who gives a full money back guarantee for authenticity.
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