Another important liberty to note is Irena’s infiltration of the SS-Helferin, or SS-Helpers, to become one of Auschwitz’s female guards. To explain this, first I must address Witold Pilecki, a prominent Polish military and resistance figure who compiled a report on Auschwitz and the camp resistance organization he formed, since translated into The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery. This invaluable primary source helped me with camp life and his resistance organization, though I simplified it for story purposes, and his intention to stage a rebellion. Because Pilecki infiltrated Auschwitz as a prisoner, it gave me the idea to have Irena infiltrate as a guard. Though far riskier and more difficult, I thought perhaps she could find a way to make this work given her family’s connections to Pilecki, the Home Army, various resistance organizations, and the way the SS recruited camp guards.

When recruiting women for camp service, the SS advertised in newspapers, asking women to show their love of the Reich, and even hired criminals and prostitutes. Other women were recruited based on data the SS had already gathered in various ways, such as girls who joined SS organizations growing up. One of these, the Bund Deutscher Mädel (BDM), or the League of German Girls, was the female wing of the Hitler Youth, the youth organization and indoctrination program of the Nazi Party.

Under her false identity, Irena presents herself as a young woman who spent years in the BDM, a history that would have made her extremely pro-Nazi. Many of these women (and many of the female SS guards I studied to craft this persona) came from lower classes and were not highly educated, were not overly intelligent or skilled, and were eager to serve their country. When training for camp employment, some received no more than a brief lecture on their responsibilities, others a little more guidance, but none were fully prepared for the actual evils taking place. Once they took up their positions, many were shocked by what they encountered, but they were brainwashed by their ideals and were reassured that everything being done was for the good of the Reich. It wasn’t long before they were participating in these horrific acts and even felt them necessary.