21

I'm trying to write a story happening during World War 2, and I'd like to include there a female Gestapo agent/interrogator as a main character. However, I've been searching and I can't find evidence that women had such an important job at Gestapo.

Did the Gestapo hire women as agents or interrogators? Did they have any opportunity to advance to top positions, or were they confined to middle/lower ranks?

4 Answers 4

14

Post #6 in this thread discusses the possibility of high female gestapo agents. Apparently there isn't any evidence for them. They did find this link which proves the existence of at least one female Gestapo, but it isn't clear what her rank was.

4
  • Hmm, so, apparently, I'll have to tweak my story a bit in order to make the presence of that character a bit more plausible... Oct 20, 2014 at 13:14
  • 4
    @RodolfoDias or... do it anyway and who cares. After all, you are writing a slightly alternate History, so minor variations might be ok.
    – o0'.
    Oct 20, 2014 at 15:14
  • 5
    @RodolfoDias Don't forget that people like stories about the people who weren't run of the mill. They love the improbable, and have a willing suspension of reality when it comes to accepting that things that probably wouldn't have actually happened DO happen in your story.
    – corsiKa
    Oct 20, 2014 at 21:26
  • Well, it's the SS instead of the Gestopo, but you might want to look at the documentary "Ilsa, she wolf of the SS". :)
    – AlaskaRon
    Jun 28, 2016 at 23:28
13

There is one brief mention of a woman being "very very high up in the Gestapo" in the book Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich. Unfortunately no specifics are mentioned and the text does not go into her role any deeper.

The book Täterinnen: Frauen im Nationalsozialismus about women's roles during the NS regime mostly confirms what other answers state. Even though the Gestapo had women working for them they were mostly secretaries. Usually those working for the Gestapo were not even employed as public officials ("Beamtinnen") which meant less authority for them.

It is however mentioned that during the war due to so many men being sent to the front a women were sometimes assigned jobs that were usually reserved for men. Again though the book doesn't go into much detail on that (at least from what is available on google books).

The book also briefly covers Carmen Maria Mory who was sent to Paris as a Gestapo agent. The allied later charged her (and sentenced her to death) for abuse of inmates, participating in "selections" (weeding out deportees, slave laborers and inmates that are not "arbeitsverwendungsfähig" i.e. not fit enough for slave labor and therfore to be killed) and killing women by lethal injection.

0
7

It is very unlikely such a thing existed. The Nazi cult assigned very specific roles to men and women. Working women in the Third Reich did exist and included not only secretaries, but even some combat roles. For example, it was found that women were much better AA gunners than men, so boom, they made every single AA gunner a woman. However, by the same token, roles that were designated to men, such as secret police, were invariably men.

Women did act occasionally as spies, so you might be better off making her a spy of some kind, temporarily thrust into the role of interrogator. That would be more realistic.

2
  • 4
    "...they made every single AA gunner a woman" Here's evidence to the contrary. It's a pretty extraordinary claim, what's your citations? What year? What order? What study?
    – Schwern
    Aug 16, 2015 at 1:43
  • 1
    From what I understand the Nazis underutilized women in the workforce and in the armed forces even more than the Western Allies. They had more strict ideas about keeping them in the home and did not try as hard to use them in war industries.
    – Oldcat
    Aug 18, 2015 at 20:49
7

Depending on the time frame, no one questions the SS.

As the Nazi Party monopolized political power in Germany, key government functions such as law enforcement were absorbed by the [Schutzstaffel], while many SS organizations became de facto government agencies. To maintain the political power and security of the Nazi party (and later the nation), the SS established and ran the SD (Security service) and took over the administration of Gestapo (Secret state police), Kripo (criminal investigative police), and the Orpo (regular uniformed police). Moreover, legal jurisdiction over the SS and its members was taken away from the civilian courts and given to courts run by the SS itself. These actions effectively put the SS above the law.


Female guards in Nazi concentration camps were collectively known as SS-Helferin, "Female SS Helper". The Nazis began conscripting women because of a guard shortage, however they were never given any positional titles or equivalent ranks of the SS. The German title for this position, Aufseherin means female overseer or attendant. Heinrich Himmler himself had told the SS men to regard the female guards as equals and comrades. -Wiki

I would assume, unofficial or not; lady comes in with SS on her arm, nubs (regular army) click their heels.

enter image description here

SS-Helferinnen

3
  • Just because there were a few unranked women in the SS which had a MILLION people in it, has nothing to do with women in the Sicherheitsdienst der SS, which was a much more specialized organization. Oct 21, 2014 at 0:36
  • 1
    @TylerDurden Apparently someone doesn't remember Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS.
    – Mordred
    Oct 21, 2014 at 15:45
  • 3
    @Mordred LOL, that movie is nuts. Oct 21, 2014 at 15:48

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.