female SS guard and inmates (Photo: DÖW/ Ravensbrück archive)

Female guards These women cam from all social classes and got employment as a concentration camp guard through employment agencies, advertisements or compulsory service. After three months probationary period, they were formally employed as guards and became part of the SS following. Their equipment consisted of uniform, handgun, and truncheon. From 1942, 3,500 guards were trained in Ravensbrück for their deployment in German concentration and extermination camps.

Note: This as well as the other photos marked „SS propaganda shot“ are some of the 92 photos in the SS propaganda album which was created between 1940 and 1942, which documents the visits of Heinrich Himmler as well as the SS-owned commercial enterprises in the Ravensbrück concentration camp.