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Please See 2 Parts of this WUNRN Release on International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust - January 27.

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http://historytodaymagazine.blogspot.com/2009/06/secrets-of-sexual-forced-labour-in-nazi.html

 

30 June 2009

Sexual Forced Labour in Nazi Concentration Camps

by Kathryn Hadley

 

I have vivid memories of a school trip to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, 35 kilometres north of Berlin: the crematories, the so-called ‘Station Z’ built for the extermination of prisoners in 1942, the infirmary... I have no recollection, however, of the camp brothel.

Robert Sommer’s latest book The Concentration Camp Bordello: Sexual Forced Labor in National Socialistic Concentration Camps (Das KZ-Bordell) provides, however, for the first time a comprehensive study of this dark, hushed-up and largely ignored chapter of the history of Nazi Germany. Sommer is a cultural studies scholar based in
Berlin. His study will be published in July by Schoningh Verlag, Paderborn. It is the result of a nine-year project based on the study of archives, concentration camp memorial sites and interviews with historical witnesses.

It is often believed that the Nazi regime forbade and fought prostitution. Sommer’s research reveals, however, the existence of brothels in Nazi concentration camps and of a network of state-controlled brothels, which operated across half of
Europe, especially after the outbreak of the Second World War. There existed brothels in the concentration camps of Sachsenhausen, Dachau, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Mittelbau-Dora and Mauthausen.

The first concentration camp brothel was founded in Mauthausen in
Austria in June 1942. Heinrich Himmler had allegedly visited the camp in May 1941 and ordered the construction of a brothel. The construction of brothels in forced labour camps was part of a rewards scheme in an attempt to increase labour productivity. Himmler extolled the benefits of providing ‘the hard-working prisoners with women in brothels’ in a letter to Oswald Pohl, the SS officer in charge of the concentration camps, on March 23rd, 1942. At the time of the opening of the brothel in Mauthausen, it is estimated that approximately 5,500 prisoners worked in the camp. By the end of 1944, over 70,000 forced laborers worked in the complex. The SS recruited 10 women for Mauthausen, which signified between 300 and 500 men per prostitute.

Buchenwald prisoners’ brothel opened on July 11th 1943. A total of ten ‘Sonderbauten’ or ‘special buildings’ are believed to have been built in concentration camps between 1942 and 1945. Estimates reveal that some 200 women worked in Nazi camp brothels. Over 60% of them were of German nationality. No Jewish women were employed in the brothels for ‘racial hygiene’ reasons.

There has been considerable debate over the extent to which these women volunteered. Many women were lured by false promises that they would be released afterwards. The suggestion that some women volunteered may be one reason why former brothel inmates continue to be stigmatised and why the existence of camp brothels has been largely ignored. For some women, however, working in the brothels was the key to their survival. Lieselotte B. was a prisoner at the Mittlebau-Dora camp. She was quoted in an article on the website of Der Spiegel

‘The main thing was that at least we had escaped the hell of Bergen-Belsen and
Ravensbruck […] The main thing was to survive at all’.


Sommer’s research indeed shows that those employed in the brothels had a greater chance of escaping death in the camps. Almost all of the women forced into prostitution survived. Very little is known, however, about what became of them and most of them never spoke about their experiences.

His research has also inspired a travelling exhibition entitled ‘Camp brothels – forced sex work in Nazi concentration camps’ which is due to tour several memorial sites next year.

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Statement by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay,
on the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the

Victims of the Holocaust

27 January 2010

“It is now more than 60 years since the systematic murder of one third of the Jewish people as well as thousands of other victims, including Roma, Slavs, disabled people, homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses, communists and political dissidents. But the grotesque nature and scale of the Holocaust is in no way diminished by the passing of time.”

“Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a stark reminder of what can happen when prejudice, hatred, racism are allowed to fester, or are deliberately used as a political tool. It should also remind us that complacency and indifference in the face of such trends can easily become a form of complicity.”


“A continued focus on the Holocaust helps us to remain alert to the dangers presented by contemporary outbreaks of anti-Semitism and various forms of vilification and discrimination targeting other specific racial, ethnic or social groups. Remembering the Holocaust, and how it came about, can – and should – help us to intervene much earlier in the escalating pattern of prejudice that can lead eventually to genocide. It is also an essential response to those who claim that the Holocaust never happened.”  
 
“The 2005 UN resolution which proclaimed 27 January as the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust also condemned all manifestations of religious intolerance, incitement, harassment or violence against persons or communities based on ethnic origin or religious belief, wherever they occur.”


“Holocaust Remembrance Day provides an occasion when all States can examine their own record of tackling these phenomena, and their progress – or lack of progress – in providing human rights for all, as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The best memorial for the millions of Holocaust victims would be a world where the dignity and rights of every person are protected – both in law and practice.”

“As we honour both the victims and the survivors of the Holocaust, let us pay a special tribute to all those, in many parts of the world, who not only strive to ensure that future generations are educated about the horrors of the Shoah, but also work tirelessly to combat discrimination of all sorts.”

“As we look back at this dark page of history, and subsequent atrocities and crimes of genocide, let us also urge policy-makers to show greater commitment to advancing dialogue and respect among people of all cultures, religions and races.”

 

 





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