There were notorious camp guards like Ilse Koch and Irma Grese. And lesser known killers like Erna Petri , the wife of an SS officer and a mother who was convicted of shooting to death six Jewish children in Nazi-occupied Poland; or Johanna Altvater Zelle, a German secretary accused of child murder in the Volodymyr-Volynskyy ghetto in Nazi-occupied Ukraine. The Nazi killing machine was undoubtedly a male-dominated affair. But according to new research, the participation of German women in the genocide, as perpetrators, accomplices or passive witnesses, was far greater than previously thought. The researcher, Wendy Lower, an American historian now living in Munich, has drawn attention to the number of seemingly ordinary German women who willingly went out to the Nazi-occupied eastern territories as part of the war effort, to areas where genocide was openly occurring. Lower said in an interview in Jerusalem last week.

Members of the SS-Cavalry , variety show girls, and international stars performed at the open-air revue with up to 2, participants. In addition to highlighting Munich as a travel destination, the event was intended to present Germany's Nazi regime as cosmopolitan and friendly to foreigners, and promote Nazi ideology. The International Racing Week at Munich-Riem was invented in to present world-class equestrian sports in Munich and attract visitors to show off the new Nazi society. The event was organized by Christian Weber , whose personal friendship with Adolf Hitler goes back to the early s. All international horse clubs were invited.

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