What do you think?
Rate this book
The Hyena of Auschwitz: The Crimes of Irma Grese, the beautiful beast of Auschwitz
AN EPISODE IN THE DAYS OF THE TALE OF IRMA GRESE, THE ‘BEAST OF BELSEN’In the days of WW2, there was a beautiful girl. It was Irma Grese, who can claim the fame of being the youngest Nazi activist to be hanged. She was a female guard at the Bergen-Belsen women’s camp in Auschwitz. Irma, who had a nature of touch-me-not throughout her childhood, transformed into a face of cruelty at the speed of the wind.
Her sister Helena’s memoirs suggest that Grese’s life was changed by the things such as SS, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi part, Ravensbruck, etc. The effects brought by the Belsen Trial, Bergen-Belsen camps, training at Ravensbruck, days at Hohenlychen, etc. in Irma Grese’s life are not trivial. This book elaborates on the factors she was involved in during the war mentioned above. It gives readers an idea of what led to her transformation, as well as her main background, World War II and the Holocaust. Through this, you can also understand her personality type ESTJ.
Because she was a demonic face of the brutality of war crimes, she had famous nicknames like “The Beautiful Beast”, “The Hyena of Auschwitz”, and “The Beast of Belson”. “The Hyena of Auschwitz” was the adjective the inmates gave her for the cruel ways she treated prisoners.
Irma Ilse Ida Grese was hanged when she was just 22 years old.
Her sister Helena’s memoirs suggest that Grese’s life was changed by the things such as SS, Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi part, Ravensbruck, etc. The effects brought by the Belsen Trial, Bergen-Belsen camps, training at Ravensbruck, days at Hohenlychen, etc. in Irma Grese’s life are not trivial. This book elaborates on the factors she was involved in during the war mentioned above. It gives readers an idea of what led to her transformation, as well as her main background, World War II and the Holocaust. Through this, you can also understand her personality type ESTJ.
Because she was a demonic face of the brutality of war crimes, she had famous nicknames like “The Beautiful Beast”, “The Hyena of Auschwitz”, and “The Beast of Belson”. “The Hyena of Auschwitz” was the adjective the inmates gave her for the cruel ways she treated prisoners.
Irma Ilse Ida Grese was hanged when she was just 22 years old.
47 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 20, 2022
63 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 28, 2023
This is by far and away one of the worst books I’ve ever read. Didn’t even manage to finish it. The grammar and spelling is excruciatingly bad to the point of it being distracting and confusing. Reads like a secondary school history essay and lacks chronology. To make it even worse, an odd mix of there being either too little background knowledge on substantial things or too much depth into others that have nothing to do with the story means you get very little insight into who Irma Grese actually was.
Very strange. Fuming that I spent money on this book. Don’t even bother!
Very strange. Fuming that I spent money on this book. Don’t even bother!
October 26, 2023
A short, kindle unlimited find about the notorious SS guard Irma Grese. I enjoyed areas of this book but it was short and felt like something I would have produced in my secondary school history class. There was repetition throughout and no clear timelines.
I love wartime history and for a freebie this wasn’t terrible, but equally not something I would have been happy to have physically paid for.
I love wartime history and for a freebie this wasn’t terrible, but equally not something I would have been happy to have physically paid for.
October 7, 2023
Almost incoherent. Writing was absolutely abominable. Really glad I got it on Kindle Unlimited and didn’t pay any money for such a shoddy product.
January 7, 2023
worth a read
I knew very little of Irma Grese before reading this book. Found it interesting and worth a read, would of liked it to be a bit longer.
I knew very little of Irma Grese before reading this book. Found it interesting and worth a read, would of liked it to be a bit longer.
March 16, 2024
Terrible retelling of a Wikipedia article. Save your money. A shallow recount of Irma Grese, it actully recount the Wiki search for her.
April 15, 2025
This has to be the worst book I have read since I learned to read.
To give you a clue of how bad it is, here is the author's first line of description on the Amazon website: "In the days of WW2, there was a beautiful girl. It was Irma Grese, who can claim the fame of being the youngest Nazi activist to be hanged."
And on p. 19: the author suggests Grese is a ESTJ type, referring to the Myers-Briggs personality test. Using ESTJ, the biographer labels Grese as “humble, realistic, and efficient … straight-thinking and systematic … with good compassion and empathy for others.” The Myers-Briggs is a question-answer inventory utilized to determine the quiz-taker’s personality, and there is no record of Grese undergoing any type of testing. I am unsure if the test was even around in Grese's time!
Read in about 25 minutes and then promptly mailed it back. I know, it was only $6.25. Still.
This was someone's 5th grade report translated- badly. Just for example- according to this book, Jews were made to wear “the Star of Davis.” The Nazis were "really mean!" "When she was 19, she herself found another area."
There was no flow to the story- it went in various directions and nothing was cited. No references. Photos were poor quality without label or reference - just slapped in. Paper and cover cheap quality. Double spaced in some kind of "fancy" font - not TNR or any kind of reading font, more like they were trying to decorate the book.
Unless you need a great guffaw and it's .50 at a garage sale, skip this'n.
To give you a clue of how bad it is, here is the author's first line of description on the Amazon website: "In the days of WW2, there was a beautiful girl. It was Irma Grese, who can claim the fame of being the youngest Nazi activist to be hanged."
And on p. 19: the author suggests Grese is a ESTJ type, referring to the Myers-Briggs personality test. Using ESTJ, the biographer labels Grese as “humble, realistic, and efficient … straight-thinking and systematic … with good compassion and empathy for others.” The Myers-Briggs is a question-answer inventory utilized to determine the quiz-taker’s personality, and there is no record of Grese undergoing any type of testing. I am unsure if the test was even around in Grese's time!
Read in about 25 minutes and then promptly mailed it back. I know, it was only $6.25. Still.
This was someone's 5th grade report translated- badly. Just for example- according to this book, Jews were made to wear “the Star of Davis.” The Nazis were "really mean!" "When she was 19, she herself found another area."
There was no flow to the story- it went in various directions and nothing was cited. No references. Photos were poor quality without label or reference - just slapped in. Paper and cover cheap quality. Double spaced in some kind of "fancy" font - not TNR or any kind of reading font, more like they were trying to decorate the book.
Unless you need a great guffaw and it's .50 at a garage sale, skip this'n.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews