10 Most-Evil Nazis You’ve Never Even Heard Of

4. Maria Mandl - "The Beast" Who Was Directly Complicit In The Murder Of More Than 500,000 Female Prisoners At Auschwitz

Maria Mandl was deemed directly complicit for the murder of more than 500,000 female prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau - just think about that number for a second. No wonder she was labelled "The Beast" for her uncompromising ferocity.

Born in Austria-Hungary, she joined the staff at Lichtenburg camp following the Anschluss of Austria and Germany in 1938, before moving to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in May 1939. Impressing her superiors, Mandl was quickly promoted up the ranks and became responsible for overseeing roll calls and punishments - and she revelled in handing out beatings and floggings to prisoners.

It was from October 1942 onwards that Mandl gained her notoriety, however, when she was relocated to Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Although as a female commandant she could never outrank a man, her control over the female prisoners was absolute - and she ruled over all female Auschwitz sub-camps including Hindenburg, Raisko and Lichtewerden.

Promoting the likes of Irma Grese to higher positions, Mandl was famous for standing at the gates and waiting for female prisoners to turn and look at her - and any who did were taken away and then exterminated. Signing off the list of inmates to be sent to be killed, she is believed to have orchestrated the gassing of more than 500,000 women and children in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. She would also select Jews as "pets", forcing them to walk around and do tasks for her, before she inevitably got bored of them and had them killed.

Always looking for new innovative methods, she also created the "Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz", who performed music for the inmates to dance to on their way into the gas chambers - believing it would make the killing process more efficient.

Captured by the US Army in August 1945, she was handed over to the Republic of Poland in November 1946. Tried at the Auschwitz Trial, she was hanged on January 1948 - although it is believed she had asked for forgiveness before being executed.