Erna Wallisch

Erna Wallisch (February 10, 1922–February 21, 2008) was a female guard in two Nazi concentration camps, and at one time was the seventh most wanted war criminal still at large by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.cite web |title= Wiesenthal Center Annual Report Notes Rise in Number of Convictions of Nazi War Criminals During Past Year; Slams Austria, Germany and Twelve Others for Failure to Bring Holocaust Perpetrators to Justice; Praises US and Italy for Continued Successes |work =Simon Wiesenthal Center News Release |publisher= Simon Wiesenthal Center |date= April 15, 2007 |url =http://www.wiesenthal.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=fwLYKnN8LzH&b=245494&ct=3761331 |accessdate =2008-07-07]

Early life

Wallisch was born Erna Pfannenstiel, and raised in Eastern Germany by her postal clerk father. At the age of 19, she joined the Nazi Party and underwent training to become an "Aufseherin", or female concentration camp guard.cite news |last= Leidig |first= Michael |title= Elderly woman is wanted Nazi war criminal |work= Telegraph.co.uk |language= English |publisher= The Daily Telegraph |date =2007-10-24 |url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1566994/Elderly-woman-is-wanted-Nazi-war-criminal.html |accessdate= 2008-07-07]

Concentration camps

Wallisch first served as a guard at Ravensbrück concentration camp for a year before she was transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp in Lublin Poland.cite news |last= Ashford |first= Victoria |title= How I found Nazi war criminal suspect |work= Wiltshire Times & Chippenaham News |language= English |publisher= This is Wiltshire Network |date= 2007-10-25 |url= http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1782475.mostviewed.how_i_found_nazi_war_criminal_suspect.php |accessdate= 2008-07-07] While in service at Majdanek, she met a Nazi guard named Georg Wallisch, and married him in 1944. cite news |last= Hall |first= Allan |title= Historian tracks down evil Erna the Nazi killer - a 'harmless' granny in Vienna |work= Mail Online |language= English |publisher= The Daily Mail |date= 2007-10-22 |url= http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-489028/Historian-tracks-evil-Erna-Nazi-killer--harmless-granny-Vienna.html |accessdate= 2008-07-07] It is alleged that she was a brutal guard, beating women and children on their way to the gas chambers and personally participated in the selections of inmates to be executed. Survivors described a then pregnant Wallisch beating a young boy to death saying, "The sweating, breathless face of that monster was something I will never forget."

Discovery

In 2007, author and journalist Guy Walters tracked Wallisch down to a small flat in Vienna, Austria, as part of his research for an upcoming work titled "Hunting Evil", about the pursuit of escaped Nazi war criminals. Though Wallisch would not talk to him and the Austrian government claimed that the statute of limitations had expired on her war crimes, Poland has explored seeking an indictment against her. Though they had investigated Wallisch for her crimes in the 1970s, the renewed interest as well as evidence from Polish survivors, lead Austrian officials to commission a report on the crimes which had taken place six decades earlier.cite news |last= Homola |first= Victoria |title= Austria: Death Camp Case Reopened |work= New York Times |language= English |publisher= New York Times |date= 2008-01-30 |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/world/europe/30wbrf-deathcamp.html?ex=1359349200&en=4189ccae6e5347aa&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |accessdate= 2008-07-07] Before the report could be completed, at the age of 86, Wallish died in a hospital bed on February 22, 2008.cite news |last= Homola |first= Victoria |title= Former Concentration Camp Guard Dies |work= New York Times |language= English |publisher= New York Times |date= 2008-02-22 |url= http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/world/europe/22briefs-austria.html?ex=1361336400&en=a4040bad8b959528&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |accessdate= 2008-07-07]

References