The latest instalment in Ryan Murphy's true crime anthology series, 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story,' has captivated viewers, but the creative liberties taken by the drama have led many to question the historical figure of Ilse Koch, who features prominently.
Koch, played by Vicky Krieps, is introduced via a comic book titled 'The B of Buchenwald,' which the series uses to depict the killer Ed Gein’s warped fantasies after he learns about Nazi atrocities during WWII.
The real-life Ilse Koch was a notorious Nazi war criminal who earned the chilling nicknames 'Kommandeuse of Buchenwald' and 'the B of Buchenwald' while her husband, Karl-Otto Koch, commanded the Buchenwald concentration camp.
During her tenure, she became infamous as both a sadist and nymphomaniac, reportedly thrashing prisoners with a riding crop and forcing them into exhausting tasks purely for her own twisted entertainment.
Following World War II, Koch faced trial in 1947, charged with prisoner abuse.
Former inmates testified that she allegedly ordered the execution of those with interesting tattoos so their skin could be fashioned into grotesque domestic items, including lampshades, book covers, and gloves.
Although prosecutors failed to definitively establish her involvement in the more sensational crimes, she was found guilty of mistreatment and sentenced to life.
After a brief, controversial freedom, she was rearrested and ultimately took her own life in her prison cell in 1967, remaining an emblem of the Third Reich’s depravity and brutality.
The series also takes liberties with Gein’s story, answering open questions like whether he murdered his brother, and implicating him in unsolved crimes like the disappearance of babysitter Evelyn Hartley, attributed to him in the show.
Koch, played by Vicky Krieps, is introduced via a comic book titled 'The B of Buchenwald,' which the series uses to depict the killer Ed Gein’s warped fantasies after he learns about Nazi atrocities during WWII.
The real-life Ilse Koch was a notorious Nazi war criminal who earned the chilling nicknames 'Kommandeuse of Buchenwald' and 'the B of Buchenwald' while her husband, Karl-Otto Koch, commanded the Buchenwald concentration camp.
During her tenure, she became infamous as both a sadist and nymphomaniac, reportedly thrashing prisoners with a riding crop and forcing them into exhausting tasks purely for her own twisted entertainment.
Following World War II, Koch faced trial in 1947, charged with prisoner abuse.
Former inmates testified that she allegedly ordered the execution of those with interesting tattoos so their skin could be fashioned into grotesque domestic items, including lampshades, book covers, and gloves.
Although prosecutors failed to definitively establish her involvement in the more sensational crimes, she was found guilty of mistreatment and sentenced to life.
After a brief, controversial freedom, she was rearrested and ultimately took her own life in her prison cell in 1967, remaining an emblem of the Third Reich’s depravity and brutality.
The series also takes liberties with Gein’s story, answering open questions like whether he murdered his brother, and implicating him in unsolved crimes like the disappearance of babysitter Evelyn Hartley, attributed to him in the show.