The Holocaust was a traumatic event that was carried out by both men and women. It affected men and women differently. Jews saw women after the war as violent tormentors working alongside men in the concentration camps and in the killing fields of Eastern Europe. Gender and sexuality shaped the holocaust for both the perpetrator and the victims differently. The responses of Jews who were victims also varied depending on gender and sexuality. Men were accustomed to killing, but for women killing was not second nature, but during the Holocaust it would become so. In terms of the sexuality women suffered far more than men and the role sexuality played is unique.
The predisposed notion that women could do such harm to innocent victims was debunked …show more content…
The reality of gender stretched the convention and rules of behavior for women more so than men. Marion Kaplan discusses the reality many Jewish women experienced who tried to survive in Between Dignity and Despair. Kaplan says, “Some young women even resorted to exchanging sex for shelter.” For women using sex to their advantage meant the difference between living or being captured and sent to a concentration camp. Sex was often demanded in many instances, leaving one to suggest that because these women were helpless they would do anything to live. This was the reality for many victims of the …show more content…
Women prior to the holocaust were looked at as innocent motherly figures and after research the belief that only men could bring such harm to innocent people was dispelled. Sexuality and gender affected the victims of the Holocaust greater than it did the perpetrators. Women who were victims dehumanized themselves by resorting to selling their bodies in order to live. Victims were ostracized by their sexuality and tormented in a social hierarchy in the concentration camps. Looking back the victims were more resilient than the perpetrators and their voices live on. By dissecting gender and sexuality of victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust we are offered a deeper understanding to the brutal effects of
The predisposed notion that women could do such harm to innocent victims was debunked …show more content…
The reality of gender stretched the convention and rules of behavior for women more so than men. Marion Kaplan discusses the reality many Jewish women experienced who tried to survive in Between Dignity and Despair. Kaplan says, “Some young women even resorted to exchanging sex for shelter.” For women using sex to their advantage meant the difference between living or being captured and sent to a concentration camp. Sex was often demanded in many instances, leaving one to suggest that because these women were helpless they would do anything to live. This was the reality for many victims of the …show more content…
Women prior to the holocaust were looked at as innocent motherly figures and after research the belief that only men could bring such harm to innocent people was dispelled. Sexuality and gender affected the victims of the Holocaust greater than it did the perpetrators. Women who were victims dehumanized themselves by resorting to selling their bodies in order to live. Victims were ostracized by their sexuality and tormented in a social hierarchy in the concentration camps. Looking back the victims were more resilient than the perpetrators and their voices live on. By dissecting gender and sexuality of victims and perpetrators of the Holocaust we are offered a deeper understanding to the brutal effects of