“It is more interesting that Ilse Koch had a lady’s handbag made from the same material. She was just as proud of it as a South Sea woman would have been about her cannibal trophies.” - Jewish inmate. Ilse Koch lived a good life before joining the Nazi party. So it is only a question as to what drove her to join. Known for her horrendous crimes during WWII, Ilse Koch is one of the worst female war criminals in history. Ilse Koch lived with her parents in Germany until she graduated high school following her dreams of becoming a nurse. During her schooling to become a nurse she met a few friends who introduced her to the Nazi party in 1932. During her time with the party she caught interest in a man by the name of Karl Koch. Two years after meeting they got married. She officially joined the nazi party in 1937 when her husband Karl Koch was put in charge of building the new concentration camp …show more content…
It was once reported that there once stood a factory that took the hides of animals and tanned them. This is where Ilse Koch was believed to have hid and gotten the human skin ready to be used on whatever she pleased.
After Ilse and Karl Koch were captured in 1945 Karl Koch went on trial and was executed on the spot by a firing squad. Ilse Koch’s trial on the other hand lasted more than four years. Near the end of the war, Koch was arrested and charged with “participating in a common criminal plan for encouraging, aiding, abetting, and participating in the atrocities at Buchenwald.” She was sentenced to life-imprisonment. During her jail time she became pregnant already having one child at the time. Two years later she was pardoned by General Lucius D. Clay, the military governor of the American zone in