Career
In 1939, Steinhoff became a cook, married and had one child. In 1944, because of the Nazi call for new guards, she joined the camp staff at Stutthof. On October 1, 1944, she became a Blockleiterin in Stutthof women"s camp Saskatchewan-III. There, she took part in selections of prisoners to be sent to the gas chambers.
On October 31, 1944, she was promoted to Steamship-Oberaufseherin and was assigned to the Danzig-Holm subcamp.
On December 1, 1944 she was reassigned to Bromberg-Ost female subcamp of Stutthof located in Bydgoszcz not far from Gdańsk. She was devoted to her job in the camps and was known as a very ruthless overseer.
Soon before the end of World World War II, she fled the camp and went back home. On May 25, 1945, she was arrested by Polish officials and sent to prison.
She stood trial with the other Steamship women and kapos and was convicted and condemned to death for her involvement in the selections and what was called her sadistic abuse of prisoners.
She was publicly hanged on July 4, 1946, on Biskupia Gorka Hill, near Gdańsk.