23 Facts About Ilse Koch

Ilse Koch was a German war criminal who committed atrocities while her husband Karl-Otto Koch was commandant at Buchenwald.

Ilse Koch was known as "The Witch of Buchenwald" by the inmates of the camp because of her suspected cruelty and lasciviousness toward prisoners.

Ilse Koch died by suicide at Aichach women's prison on 1 September 1967 at age 60.

Ilse Koch was the daughter of a former military commander.

Ilse Koch was known as a polite and happy child in her elementary school.

Karl and Ilse Koch had two daughters and one son, who were all born on the Buchenwald concentration camp grounds from October 1937.

In 1940, Ilse Koch commissioned the construction of an indoor riding arena, which cost over 250,000 reichsmarks.

Ilse Koch continued to live in the SS settlement at Buchenwald in Karl's absence.

However, on 24 August 1943, both Karl and Ilse Koch were arrested following a renewed investigation led by SS judge Konrad Morgen.

Ilse Koch was arrested by American occupation authorities in Ludwigsburg on 30 June 1945, after being recognized on the street by a former inmate of Buchenwald.

Ilse Koch was seven months pregnant with her fourth child at the time of her sentence, by an unknown father.

Ilse Koch was a woman of depraved character and ill repute.

Ilse Koch had done many things reprehensible and punishable, undoubtedly, under German law.

Ilse Koch was immediately re-arrested following her release from Landsberg prison in 1949.

At least four witnesses for the prosecution testified that they had seen Ilse Koch choose tattooed prisoners, who were then killed, or had seen or been involved in the process of making human-skin lampshades from tattooed skin.

On 15 January 1951, the court pronounced its verdict, in a 111-page-long decision, for which Ilse Koch was not present in court.

Ilse Koch was ultimately convicted of seven misdemeanor counts of incitement to grievous bodily harm, one count of incitement to attempted murder, and one count of incitement to murder.

Ilse Koch appealed to have the judgment quashed, but the appeal was dismissed on 22 April 1952 by the Federal Court of Justice.

Ilse Koch later made several petitions for a pardon, all of which were rejected by the Bavarian Ministry of Justice.

Ilse Koch protested her life sentence, to no avail, to the International Human Rights Commission.

Ilse Koch gave birth to a son she named Uwe Kohler while incarcerated at Landsberg prison in October 1947.

Ilse Koch hanged herself with a bed sheet at Aichach women's prison on 1 September 1967 at age 60.

Ilse Koch experienced delusions and had become convinced that concentration camp survivors would abuse her in her cell.