Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust

Some Jewish women’s memoirs and testimonies recorded soon after the end of World War II included descriptions of various forms of sexual violation, but the subject then virtually disappeared from histories of the Holocaust. Historians did not include sexual violence in their accounts of the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators. Nor is this facet of the Holocaust addressed in the permanent exhibits of memorials and museums that now exist throughout the United States.

            This presentation will include a discussion of the various forms of sexual violence against Jewish women during the Holocaust, including forced nudity, rape, forced prostitution, providing sex for survival, and sexual slavery. The situations in which this sexual violence took place will also be explored, including in ghettos, in hiding, in concentration and work camps, in killing fields, in Nazi brothels, and in the private homes of Nazis and collaborators.

            The difficulty of obtaining testimonies and the reasons for victims’ reluctance to come forth, as well as the struggle to have sexual violence recognized by establishment Holocaust institutions, will also be addressed. A five-minute excerpt of testimony by a survivor of sexual violence who did choose to speak out will conclude the presentation.

            This paper is partially based on the anthology Sexual Violence against Jewish Women during the Holocaust, co-edited by Dr. Sonja M. Hedgepeth and Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel and published in 2010 (Brandeis University Press). This was the first book completely dedicated to the subject.