Elegant, educated, and merciless — Ilse Koch lived in luxury above Buchenwald, while thousands suffered below.
As the wife of SS commandant Karl-Otto Koch, she ruled through greed, vanity, and sadism. She rode through the camp on horseback, whipping prisoners, laughing during executions, and stealing the possessions of the dead.

After the liberation of Buchenwald on April 11 1945, her name became infamous worldwide as “The Bitch of Buchenwald.” Tried twice for war crimes and sentenced to life in prison, she remained unrepentant to the end.
Her story stands as a chilling reminder of how power and cruelty can corrupt the human soul.