Ilse Koch began life as a librarian in Dresden. Then in 1936 married Karl Koch and her life was changed. Karl was not just a Nazi officer, he was the cruel Sachsenhausen and then Buchenwald commander where 20000 were enslaved and murdered. Ilse had no official power but she could do as she pleased. She used her riding crop to whip prisoners and gathered bits of them tattooed skin converted to lampshades and human flesh gloves.

In 1944 Karl was killed by the SS for robbery of wealthy Germans, not murder. Ilse survived the war and was put on trial at the Nuremberg trials where she was given a life sentence. Then an American military governor lowered the sentence to four years provoking an outcry and a Senate investigation.

After her release West Germany arrested her again and this time the court gave her life without a break. She spent the next two decades behind bars until 1967 when she ended her life in her cell.

There is no redemption and no justice given. It just reminds us that some people will always carry their darkness inside them.

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