SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST.

 SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE DURING THE HOLOCAUST.

Holocaust Survivors of Sexual Violence

Urgently Seeking Survivors of Sexual Violence During the Holocaust

We at Remember the Women Institute have been seeking for years to place the issue of sexual violence against Jewish women (and men) during the Holocaust in the narrative of Holocaust history. 

We believe that we have made some inroads, especially with our recent symposium in cooperation with USC Shoah Foundation. 

This gathering of 20 invited academics and other experts, including several mental health professionals, took place November 7-8, 2012, at the campus of University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. 

One of the main topics we considered was whether we can actually still find primary testimony so that victims’ and witnesses’ voices can be heard and preserved for the future.

We know that time is running out, but we believe there is still time to find and record testimonies about sexual violence. Our best allies in this effort can be mental health professionals and caretakers. 

Those who are working with the now elderly Holocaust survivors should be “alert to the possibility that the aging former hidden children, men, and women were molested in hiding and have never spoken about it” (Lessing 2011). 

There are certainly other instances of violation besides those against survivors in hiding. 

For example, there was sexual abuse in ghettos, during the entrance process into camps, in concentration and work camps, as forced providers of sex in brothels or private dwellings, and in exchange for food or other requirements for survival. 

There is even documentation that sometimes a ghetto Judenrat would provide the Nazis with “pretty young girls” so that the rest of the ghetto would be temporarily spared.

The November 2012 symposium was historic, because it was the first international meeting to focus specifically on sexual violence against Jewish women during the Holocaust. 

It was prompted by the publication of the book “Sexual Violence Against Jewish Women During the Holocaust” (Hedgepeth and Saidel 2010), which broke new ground in exploring the evidence that had been overlooked or ignored by mainstream Holocaust scholars for more than 65 years. 

This unprecedented anthology, with contributions from historians, social scientists, literary and film critics and psychologists, opens a window into a world that had been virtually unknown, or at least unspoken. 

Chapter authors range from seasoned scholars to Ph.D. candidates, coming from countries including the United States, Israel, Germany, Austria, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

 The book’s 16 chapters cover different forms of sexual violence from various perspectives. As the chapter authors detail, not only the Nazis and their allies, but Jews, Kapos, non-Jewish prisoners, and even liberators violated women, both Jewish and not. The volume examines forced abortion and sterilization as forms of sexual abuse, in connection with pregnancy and motherhood. 

Literature and film about sexual violence – including memoirs and fiction, feature films and documentaries – give readers insights into the transformation of historical facts into imaginative works.

 The shame that sexually violated women feel for their entire lives, as well as its effect on their children, is presented from a psychological perspective. 

(The book was designated a finalist for the 2011 Jewish Book Award in the Women’s Studies category and chosen as the February 2012 book of the month by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous.)

While this groundbreaking book raised awareness about the issue, direct testimony in the voice of survivors of sexual violence is not the focus and is mostly absent. 

Therefore, we decided to use the book as a cornerstone for further investigation and better understanding of women’s Holocaust experiences. 

In general, there is a lack of public awareness, even denial, about this aspect of the Holocaust, and we wanted to find survivor voices to testify before it is too late. 

We at Remember the Women Institute have now created The Witness Project, to identify Holocaust survivors and witnesses of sexual violence who are willing to provide testimony, and we urge you to help us. 

This project is being coordinated by Jessica Neuwirth, an attorney, founder of the international women’s rights organization Equality Now, and a United Nations expert on sexual violence.

 She is assisted by Karen Shulman, an education consultant with experience working on the Holocaust and in Rwanda.

 We received funding to begin the project from the American Jewish Committee’s Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, as well as The Ruth Turner Fund.

While many victims of sexual violence were murdered by the Nazis to ensure their silence, some are still living and able to testify. 

Remember the Women Institute believes it is not too late for the world to hear firsthand what happened to them.