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Abstract:
Between 1939 and 1945, National Socialist Germany mobilized upwards of 500,000 female auxiliaries into the German armed forces. Approximately 3,700 of these auxiliaries participated in, and carried out, systemic violence against Nazi concentration camp victims. The female overseers who worked in the Nazi camps consisted of a diverse group of "ordinary" women from various backgrounds and individual identity. Post-war discussions established a narrative of 'masculinity' and 'deviancy' surrounding the Aufseherinnen that continues within current public memory. Examining Holocaust photographs taken by Nazi concentration camp staff and Allied liberation troops this thesis expands current knowledge on the workaday lives of female SS guards (Aufseherinnen).