Mistress of Life and Death

By the time of her execution at thirty-six, Maria Mandl had achieved the highest rank possible for a woman in the Third Reich. As Head Overseer of the women''s camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was ...

By the time of her execution at thirty-six, Maria Mandl had achieved the highest rank possible for a woman in the Third Reich. As Head Overseer of the women''s camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, she was personally responsible for the murders of thousands, and for the torture and suffering of countless more. In this riveting biography, Susan J. Eischeid explores how Maria Mandl, regarded locally as ''a nice girl from a good family,'' came to embody the very worst of humanity. Born in 1912 in the scenic Austrian village of Munzkirchen, Maria enjoyed a happy childhood with loving parents - who later wat