Mistress of Life and Death

The Dark Journey of Maria Mandl, Head Overseer of the Women's Camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau

By: Susan J. Eischeid

Narrated by: Elisabeth Lagelee

The first-ever biography of SS Overseer Maria Mandl, the highest-ranked woman in the Nazi killing machine and one of the few female perpetrators of the Holocaust.

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.

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 Münzkirchen, Maria enjoyed a happy childhood with loving parents—who later watched in anguish as their grown daughter rose through the Nazi system.

For two decades, Eischeid has excavated the details of Mandl's life story, drawing on archival testimonies, speaking to dozens of witnesses, and spending time with Mandl's community of friends and neighbors who shared their memories as well as those handed down in their families. The result is a chilling and complex exploration of how easily an ordinary citizen chose the path of evil in a climate of hate and fear.

©2024 Susan J. Eischeid (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Narration was rough…

But the story overall was very interesting. I believe the author did a great job sticking to facts of the history of events without adding too much of their own opinion on the individual herself as well as the victims.

The narrator however often sounded like AI. Very robotic at times like Siri.

Mandatory History for Everyone

Anyone needs to understand what REAL fascism is. Difficult to listen to due to the absolute lack of humanity demonstrated by Mandl & her ilk but critical to remember!

Heartbreaking

This story needs to be told over and over again so people don’t forget the atrocities.

Riveting & sorrowful

I really enjoyed the pace of this book. I finished it within a couple of days. Horrific subject matter & a perplexing study of an individual who seemingly had no reason to be so hateful & unspeakably cruel. Books like this important so that the horrors of the holocaust are not repeated.

How we are all capable of evil

Excellent example of how what would be considered normal people can descend into madness and hate.