Name Erika Bergmann | Died 1996, Guben, Germany | |
Erika Bergmann (3 January 1915 in Berlin-Neukölln – 1996 in Guben) was a German Nazi concentration camp guard in at least three slave labor camps during World War II.
Biography
Bergmann was born in Germany. In 1943 she arrived at Ravensbrück where she received her initial training and first assignment. In late 1944 she went to the Neu Rohlau subcamp of Flossenbürg located near Chemnitz, Germany. Bergmann soon moved on to the Oederan subcamp of Flossenbürg where she served out the rest of the war, after which an East German court found her guilty of murder and sentenced her to life imprisonment. Her trial was held in Neubrandenburg in November 1955. She was accused of cruelty towards prisoners using a whip and to have set a dog on prisoners (killing six of them) amongst other crimes. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Bergmann was still in prison in Hoheneck alongside Ulla Jürß, another female Nazi guard. They both petitioned for mercy and were released on probation in May 1991 after serving more than 35 years in prison. Bergmann died in 1996 in Guben, Germany.