Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was one of the most infamous female guards at Stutthof concentration camp, remembered by survivors for her striking appearance and extreme violence toward prisoners. Nicknamed the “Beautiful Spectre,” she participated in beatings, punishments, and selections that sent prisoners to their deaths.
Born in Hamburg in 1922, Barkmann came of age during the rise of Nazi Germany. After working in a pastry shop, she became a concentration camp guard at Stutthof in January 1944, joining the female auxiliaries employed within the Nazi concentration camp system.
At Stutthof, Barkmann supervised Jewish female prisoners. Witnesses later testified that she beat women and children, participated in selections for the gas chamber, and enforced punishments intended to terrorize the inmates. Survivors also recalled prisoners being forced to remain outside during freezing roll calls and Barkmann attacking inmates for minor infractions.
Her service at Stutthof lasted little more than a year. As Nazi Germany collapsed, Barkmann attempted to escape but was captured by Polish authorities in May 1945.
During the First Stutthof Trial, survivors testified about her treatment of prisoners. Barkmann was convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death alongside ten other defendants.
On 4 July 1946, the 24-year-old Barkmann was publicly hanged near Gdańsk in one of the best-known public executions of Nazi concentration camp personnel in post-war Poland.
This documentary examines Jenny-Wanda Barkmann’s transformation from a young woman working in Hamburg into a feared concentration camp guard, the crimes attributed to her at Stutthof, and the final reckoning that followed the collapse of Nazi Germany.
This episode is part of the series Female Fascist Guards and Camp Auxiliaries.
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