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Sexual violence during the Holocaust was common. The Nazis and their allies (like Hungarian, Romanian, Italian and local collaborators) committed widespread sexual violence towards men and women during the Holocaust.^[1] This was one method they used to commit genocide against the Jewish people.

Sexual violence towards people in concentration camps was very widespread. Common methods of violence included sexual assault, trafficking, humiliation, strip searches, invasive examinations, forced sterilizations,^[2] medical experimentation, pregnancy from rape, and forced abortions.^[1] The Nazis built more than 500 brothels in Nazi-occupied Europe where more than 34,000 girls and women were raped and trafficked.^[3]

Inside and outside of concentration camps, some women performed sexual acts or worked as prostitutes in order to survive. Because they were committed to ensure survival, these acts were not consensual.^[1]

Because survivors' experiences have been met with erasure and stigma, many people still do not know about the sexual violence committed during the Holocaust.^[1]^[4]

Origins

Many factors drove sexual violence during the Holocaust. These factors included:^[1]

Power dynamics (sexual violence was a way of feeling power over Jewish people and others in concentration camps)
Discrimination based on race, religion, or other factors
Antisemitism, including the Nazis' belief that the Jewish race was inferior to the "Aryan race"
Gender-based violence
Wartime conditioning
Cultural norms
Personal desires
The Nazis' desire to exterminate the Jewish race
Genocidal conditions inside and outside concentration camps across Europe

The role of stereotypes

Stereotypes about Jewish sexuality also fueled sexual violence. The Nazis used these stereotypes to dehumanize and exploit Jews. For example, they created propaganda that portrayed the Jewish body as subhuman.^[1]

Stereotypes about masculinity, combined with the shame inflicted by the Nazis, has caused stigma towards Jewish men who experienced sexual abuse and acts of violence during the Holocaust.^[1]

Nazi eugenics, which is based on stereotypes and misconceptions, played a significant role in the Holocaust. The Nazis used eugenics to classify and persecute people based on race. Their policies of racial hygiene and forced sterilization were based on eugenics.^[5] Jewish women were particularly targeted for sterilization efforts to prevent them from reproducing with Germans.^[5] Evidence suggests that mass sterilization of Jewish women occurred in concentration camps, leading to long-lasting health implications.^[5]

Violence in concentration camps

Violence against women in concentration camps

Women in concentration camps often faced sexual violence. Pregnancy was often punished by death or forced abortion. Some women were subjected to excruciating medical experiments on their reproductive organs without anesthesia.^[2] In the camps, women endured filth, forced labor, and starvation.

The Nazis established brothels in some of the concentration and extermination camps. There, some women were forced to work as "camp whores" in exchange for survival. The brothels were meant for Nazi officers, but were also used as a "reward" for camp leaders and forced laborers.^[3] In some camps, gay men were forced to visit the brothels in an attempt to "cure" them of their homosexuality.^[3] Women working in the brothels faced threats, beatings, and rape, and most were eventually killed.

Violence against men in concentration camps

Men in concentration camps also experienced sexual violence, including castration, sterilization,^[2] forced examinations, forced shaving, sexual taunting, and rape. Like women, men were subjected to medical experiments on their reproductive organs. Their experiences have been under-researched and concealed due to social, cultural, and religious expectations.^[4]

Erasure and stigma

Due to trauma and stigma, survivors often faced difficulties in sharing their experiences. As a result, sexual violence is under-reported in Holocaust narratives.^[4] Many survivors did not share their stories immediately after the war, and media representations often downplayed the extent of sexual violence during the Holocaust.^[4]

Research on sexual violence during the Holocaust is challenging because the topic is taboo. As a result, survivors' voices are erased and history does not accurately reflect the role sexual violence played in the Holocaust.^[4]