Morgan

1
Madison Morgan
UWRT 1102
Professor Wertz-O
9 November 2015
Research Review Assignment

Stories of Sexual Assault and Prostitution in the Holocaust: A Research Review

Prostitution is a current issue that is occurring all over the world. While we are at home
under the covers watching Netflix, there is a young female or male somewhere in a brothel;
scared and helpless, being abused everyday. In reality, how many of us truly realize that this is a
growing problem? Why is this topic not brought up nearly as much as a trending video of a dog
dancing? Society tends to breeze over subjects that seem overly sensitive to the public. Is this
really helping solve the problem or just causing a deeper issue? When we have learned about the
Holocaust, but it seems to be such a repetitive topic to where you only think of one or two things.
In actuality, they have gone through more than just famine and filth. Prostitution was a very
popular concept within the Holocaust. The women involved were not just Jewish, but were also
women of color, gypsies, Homosexuals, Roma women, and even women of disabilities were
involved with prostitution. As I was researching prostitution and brothels in the Holocaust, I had
to search for articles describing the experiences of women who had been subjected to this
horrible crime. Why did it take me so much searching in order to find a decent article? This was
such a huge part of what had happened Why havent we been shown this side of the Holocaust?
What happened to the women who lived in these brothels?

Morgan
2
I wanted to first learn about the different women prisoners that had been affected by the
Holocaust first before going into detail with prostitution. First, I started looking strictly at any
type of female concentration camps that were in the Holocaust. In the article Women During the
Holocaust they spoke of a concentration camp that had all female prisoners. Something that I
had not heard of was the fact that Jewish women were not the only prisoners these institutions
had. They had also victimized gypsy women, polish women, and women with disabilities. One of
the first camps that ever had been made was actually for women called Ravensbrck. This was
the largest camp for women, almost holding over 100,000 women. There was no sympathy for
the women and children. Women were typically accompanied with their children. Non Jewish
women were also huge targets of the mass murders. Nazi ideology also targeted Roma women,
Polish women, and Women with disabilities living in institutions(Woman During the Holocaust)
When reading this quote, it astounds me that this isnt more knowledgeable information that high
school curriculums teach. It seems to be the most basic concepts that we tend to remember. I
never once remember learning about the different races and ethnicities that had also been
affected by the Holocaust. How were they able to get ahold of these different women? What
problem did they have with the other races? Were they not Hitlers perfect race? The
Germans and their collaborators spared neither women nor Children-Jewish or non-Jewish-in
conducting mass murder operations. (Women During the Holocaust) I didnt realize how
susceptible children of the Holocaust had been when it came to being killed. If this is the case,
when women became pregnant as a result of being raped, did they have to be condemned to
death? Or was the childs life spared because they were the child of a Nazi?
In the Article, The Untold Stories of Rape During the Holocaust, they lead with talking
about what the woman had gone through when it came to rape and sexual assault. A wonderful

Morgan
3
point that I see them bring up is that we are taught to associate the Holocaust with gas chambers,
concentration camps, and other gory details. The question that I finally see an article asking is
why arent we being taught about the rape that had gone on in these concentration camps? Right
now we have historians and Holocaust experts now trying to find ways as to how we can start
incorporating this new information with what we already associate with the Holocaust today. I
have been astounded by some of the lack of caring or just dismissing of what had happened. A
preeminent Holocaust scholar states, to make rape a significant part of the narrative. The
numbers would have to be in the thousands. We will never know how often it happened.
(Ravitz) How is rape not a significant part of the holocaust? Throughout other sources rape has
been a huge factor of what women experienced through their time in the concentration camps.
Women were repeatedly brutally beaten and raped by the officers who were running the
facilities, and there were times where Jewish men were even available to come to these brothels
and rape their own kind. In contrast to what the scholar had stated, men make up the bulk of
those interviewed survivors in the first 40 years after the warand they may have been reluctant
to raise the question of rape. (Ravitz) This has a lot to do with why we might not heat about the
women who had been sexually assaulted. Men were typically the strong hold of the family.
Women were not as prone to speaking up as men were. Once they had been sexually and verbally
abused they get to a point where they believe that they arent worth telling their story; or
speaking up. What had happened to the women who had been pregnant or ended up being
pregnant while being involved with prostitution? If they had been subjected to a soldiers rape,
what would they do if they ended up being pregnant with their child? one camp survivor spoke
of a pregnant woman who was raped in the view of others before being tossed on a cart, never to
be seen again.(Ravitz) Women who had been pregnant were still raped and used regardless of

Morgan
4
them being pregnant or having the child that is of a soldiers baby. What I would like to figure
out is what would possibly happen to the baby after being born? Would they let the woman have
the baby or would she eventually murdered?
When choosing what articles to read and what to research, I was some what limited to
what I could work with. There are not that many sources online that I could find when it came to
prostitution and sexual assault. I think that since it is such a sensitive subject, and very few
women who were affected by sexual assault spoke up, there was not that many sources that I
could find. I enjoyed doing this even though it is not my favorite form of writing. I have realized
that there is a lot of unspoken stories that I need to find in order to get the information that I
need. As for dialoging my sources, it caused me to think about what I was reading rather than
just reading the article. I have proposed more questions as to what I want to prove and how I
want to expand on my topic more than I have now. I loved learning more about the woman I am
wanting to study rather than just diving into my topic. Over all I think that I thoroughly enjoyed
writing this paper and I hope that you enjoyed it as well!

Peer Review over Catherines Paper

I thought that Catherines paper had been written very well and clear. I
knew exactly what I was reading about what her inquiry topic was, and why
she chose certain articles. She has so far met the requirements that are
needed for this Research Paper. Medical topics typically become boring to me
since its not an interest of mine. But reading from her article it kept me
entertained and its safe to say that I have learned a few new things from her

Morgan
5
paper. I enjoyed that she didnt put the quote at the beginning of the
paragraphs as well.
Some things I would encourage improvement on is the wording.
Instead of saying the word people in the beginning paragraph I would use a
more creative word. Or leading into a paragraph saying in this article it
talked about or a quote that I found she could use different wordings so it
doesnt seem as direct sounding as it is. Over all I really enjoyed reading her
paper and I think that it was very well put together! Just a few tweaks here
and there. But I could see that there was an overall effort put into the piece.
Catherine is doing fine with the quotation sandwich, but she would put
some of the quotations at the beginning of her paragraph, when she has the
ability to fit it inside the paragraph itself, but since this is just a rough draft
she has the ability to change that. As far as I am concerned, she doesnt
seem to need to add any information. I know exactly what her topic is about,
how she feels about it, along with what she was talking about that the article
had highlighted.

Work Cited

Ravitz, Jessica. Silence Lifted: The Untold Stories of Rape During the Holocaust. CNN. Cable
News Network. 24 June 2011. Web. 25. Oct. 2015.

Morgan
6
Women during the Holocaust. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States
Holocaust Memorial Council, 18 Aug. 2015. Web.20 Oct. 2015.