Ilse Koch on Trial: Making the “Bitch of Buchenwald.”

Ilse Koch (1906–67) has been reviled as one of the worst Nazi perpetrators. In this book, Jardim (history, Toronto Metropolitan Univ.; The Mauthausen Trial: American Military Justice in Germany) commits to the difficult task of separating facts from rumors of Koch’s purported crimes. Koch was infamous for particularly heinous crimes during the war, including having lampshades made from the skin of murdered Buchenwald prisoners. Of course, there’s sufficient evidence of many atrocious acts committed by her and fellow members of the Nazi party throughout the era, but, as Jardim details, there isn’t documentary evidence to support all of the claims against Koch. This book shows how Koch became somewhat of a scapegoat for many Germans, citizens and leaders alike, who were trying to distance themselves from crimes committed during the war. Jardim, a former fellow at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, handles this subject matter with precision and delicacy.