"'A lot of visitors coming to the memorial ask about these women. There are not so many questions about men working in this field,' says Andrea Genest, director of the memorial museum at Ravensbrück, as she shows me where the women lived. 'People don't like to think that women can be so cruel.'
Many of the young women came from poorer families, left school early and had few career opportunities.
A job at a concentration camp meant higher wages, comfortable accommodation and financial independence. 'It was more attractive than working in a factory,' says Dr Genest.
Many had been indoctrinated early in Nazi youth groups and believed in Hitler's ideology. 'They felt they were supporting society by doing something against its enemies,' she said.
~Damien McGuinness
"Nazi Ravensbrück camp: How ordinary women became SS torturers"
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