Elisabeth Volkenrath became one of the most notorious female guards in the Nazi concentration camp system. At Auschwitz, survivors testified that she brutally beat prisoners, including during exhausting roll calls, and participated in selections of women who were sent to the gas chambers. In November 1944, she was promoted to Oberaufseherin, or Chief Female Overseer.

In February 1945, Volkenrath arrived at Bergen-Belsen, where witnesses accused her of continuing to abuse starving and sick prisoners. After British forces liberated the camp in April 1945, she was captured alongside Josef Kramer and Irma Grese. Volkenrath was later brought before a British military tribunal, where she finally paid for her crimes.