Experts have speculated for decades what factors drove Ed Gein to murder and grave robbery, from an unhealthy obsession with his mother, Augusta, to undiagnosed mental illness.
However, Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story suggests a real-life Nazi war criminal from the Holocaust may have influenced Gein’s gruesome actions.
In the new season of the popular Netflix anthology series, Gein (played by Charlie Hunnam) learns about Ilse Koch, the notorious wife of a German Schutzstaffel officer during World War II. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that after Gein’s 1957 arrest—when he admitted to killing hardware store owner Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan—police discovered that, like Koch, he had a morbid fascination with human anatomy.
While it’s completely unknown what—if any—effect news coverage of Koch (played onscreen in Monster by Vicky Krieps) had on Gein, her true story is just as stomach-churning as his crimes.
Who Was Ilse Koch?
Koch was born Margarete Ilse Köhler on September 22, 1906, in Dresden, Germany. According to the Washington and Lee University School of Law, Koch’s father was a factory foreman and her family wasn’t politically active. Little is known about her childhood, but she studied accounting and later became a bookkeeper.
Koch joined the Nazi party in 1932 and, within two years, started working as a secretary at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Berlin. She married Karl-Otto Koch, a ruthless SS commandant assigned to another camp, Buchenwald. Arriving there in 1937, she and her husband had three children together, one of whom died in infancy on a family skiing holiday.
The family’s opulent living space was known as the Villa Koch, and Ilse hosted lavish gatherings. She insisted the prisoners who worked at the home call her “eine gnädige Frau,” a term meaning “gracious lady.”
But according to eyewitness testimony, Koch’s behavior was anything but gracious.
Koch allegedly tortured prisoners and made objects from their skin
Koch earned a series of barbarous nicknames, including the “Beast of Buchenwald” and the “Witch of Buchenwald,” for her alleged torture of prisoners.
During Koch’s trial at an Allied military tribunal, eyewitnesses testified she beat prisoners with her riding crop and sometimes forced them to have sex with her. Most disturbing of all, they claimed Koch identified prisoners with tattoos and ordered their deaths. Afterward, she allegedly used the skin from those corpses to craft a variety of household objects, including lampshades, photo albums, a briefcase, and a pair of gloves.
Koch, whose husband was convicted of corruption and graft and executed by the SS, was sent to live with her surviving in family in Ludwigsburg during the final years of the war. U.S. authorities arrested her in 1945 and placed her in prison, where she later had a fourth child placed into foster care.
At her 1947 trial, prosecutors couldn’t prove Koch was guilty of the most disturbing charges against her. However, she was convicted of being a part of the “common design” to abuse prisoners and sentenced to life in prison, according to Brittanica.
Koch’s sentence was later reduced and, because of time already served, she was released on October 17, 1949. However, the West German government apprehended Koch the same day and charged her with abusing German citizens during the war. She was convicted and again sentenced to life in prison. Koch died by suicide in prison on September 1, 1967.
Did Ilse Koch have a connection to Ed Gein?
In the new season of Netflix’s Monster, Gein’s possible love interest Adeline Watkins (played by Suzanna Son) introduces him to Koch’s background and trial. This suggests Gein’s gruesome grave robbing habits—which included fashioning the skin of corpses into body suits and household objects—derived from his knowledge of the infamous war criminal.
It’s entirely possible Gein knew of Koch, as Washington and Lee University points out every major newspaper in the U.S. covered her trial. Extra rows of seats even had to be installed in the courtroom to accommodate the large number of reporters.
However, Gein never made any public mention of Koch or her story after his arrest, so there is no way to know if this was actually true.
Furthermore, it’s likely Gein wouldn’t have heard Koch’s story from Watkins. The latter directly refuted a 1947 newspaper article claiming they had a nearly two-decade romance, which included a shared interest in books and true crime.
In any case, Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story ensures a new generation of true crime enthusiasts will know of Koch’s disturbing legacy.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
