Maria Mandel was proud of her nickname, “The Beast,” given to her by both prisoners and SS staff. She was the top-ranking female guard (SS-Helferin) at Auschwitz II (Birkenau) extermination camp. Mandel was personally and directly involved in the deaths of over half a million female prisoners and children.
She formed the Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, which was used to ceremoniously accompany roll calls and executions. Later, she was assigned to the Mühldorf sub-camp of Dachau.
In August 1945, Mandel was arrested by the United States Army. During the post-WWII Kraków Auschwitz Trial, she was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. In January 1948, at the age of 36, she was hanged at Montelupich Prison in Kraków, located in what was then the Polish People’s Republic.