Historical story

Sexual life of servants - rape victims or calculated provocateurs?

At the beginning of the 20th century, young men from the so-called of the good houses, they had their first sexual intercourse mainly with their servants. As the boys themselves said, the servants did not take long to be asked. At the same time, the teachings of the church clearly indicated the cause of sexual acts between the master of the house or the master and the maidservant - indecency in the dress or behavior of young girls.

Sexual abuse of servants, which took place in the privacy of the employer's home, made it difficult for the victims to prove the truth in court. Many cases have not been reported to law enforcement due to fear that they have no chance of arguing with richer and powerful people, leading to the fact that we will never know the true extent of these acts of violence.

School of Service for them. St Kinga, Marszałkowska No 81a

Rape in the next room

May 1929, thirteen-year-old Stanisława L., working for the family of the forester Antoni C., was raped by her employer while the rest of the household were in the next room.
According to the victim's testimony:

[Antoni C.] approached her, threw her down with violence on the bed, and despite the fact that Leszczyńska resisted him and called for help, he had sexual intercourse with her against her will.

As a result of the forensic examination, the medical examiner stated:

The hymen was torn six months ago by inserting the male penis into the vagina.

Despite the agreement between the words of the victim and the medical examinations, the court found that Antoni C. could not have raped a minor because in the immediately adjacent kitchen there was, among others, the defendant's wife…

Good name of the host

A similar situation took place in Częstochowa in January 1918. Eighteen-year-old Szajndla Monet accused Abram Gotlieb of:

Abram Dawid G. and having gone to Szajndla Moneta's bed, stopping her mouth from screaming, he tore her legs and raped, and the accused threatened to beat her in case she screamed. Frightened by this, Szajndla Moneta lay quietly until the morning and only the next day informed her parents that the accused had raped her.

The expert's opinion confirmed the words of the injured person, yet Abram G. did not intend to plead guilty. He claimed that at the time indicated by Szajndla Moneta he was in Auschwitz and tried to prove that the girl was acting indecently. For this purpose, he mobilized several witnesses, including the shopkeeper Bajla Wierzbicka and ... the wife of G.

The shopkeeper unequivocally described Gotlieb as a pious and righteous person, and Szajndla Moneta as a dissolute person:

She would come to the store more than once, whenever there were men there, without a blouse, it was unpleasant to look at as there was a lot of naked flesh visible. Once, one young man in my shop asked her if she would be waiting in his hall.

According to Gotliebowa, the husband could not have committed the rape because the kitchen where the maid sleeps is next to the room she is sharing with the children , and Abram G. himself was then in Oświęcim. She also informed the court that:

I chased her [Szajndla] out of the service because she was doing badly. Whenever I went out, I had to lock it because it was going out into the street behind the boys.

The court believed the witnesses and cleared Gotlieb of the charges.

The cover of the "Domestic Service" magazine, Bluszcz Publishing House

Just punishment

However, the torturer did not always manage to get away with it. 27-year-old Józef M. and a businessman named Białas from Skierniewice found out about it. In 1925, Józef M. tried twice to force a thirteen-year-old maid Marianna J into a sexual act. . The first attempt was prevented by the entry of Józef M.'s wife, who to the attack of the lady of the house only replied:

I'll make her a child if I want. It's not your business. You will hide them.

The second situation was interrupted by another family member, this time it was Józef M.'s three-year-old son. The court had no doubts as to the guilt of Józef M., also because, according to the local residents, the accused was a degenerate and womanizer. He went to prison for a year.

The story of a businessman from Skierniewice began when a modest nineteen-year-old Stanisława N. was accepted into work, who did not want to succumb to the charm of the master of the house:

A handsome maid caught the attention of the principal, who also began courting her. The girl responded to Białas's recommendations with contemptuous indifference, which made Don Juan Skierniewicki furious.

An additional obstacle was the presence of Białas's wife, which is why, as befits an enterprising man, he came up with the idea that he would go with a maid to a suburban summer resort. Initially, Białas tried to bribe Stanisława N. with valuables, but when this did not result in force, he forced the door of the room and immobilized the injured person:he tied the sheet and twisted her head around her head. The next day, after his release, the maid notifies the police, and the Skierniewice Don Juan is imprisoned:

Bialas, the rich man from Skierniewice, covered his name with a disgrace, the owner of several tenement houses, a shop and a bakery. He has been a serious merchant so far, has been a criminal for several days and is in prison.

"Servant in the Tavern" Célestin Nanteuil

Threats Lurking for Servants

The feminist Teodora Męczkowska, investigating the prostitution of servants, emphasized that a significant problem was the location of the servant's bed in the kitchen, and it was often through this room that gentlemen returned late at night, additionally excited about the alcohol they consumed:

It is generally accepted with us that a maid sleeps in the kitchen, but this maid's bedroom is considered to be a kind of second hall which is allowed to enter by everyone and at any time of the day or night. In order not to wake anyone from the family with the bell at the front door at a late night time, each of the household members, including the gentlemen, has the right to knock on the kitchen and force the servant to open it. There are more such and similar, in fact, scandalous, but generally accepted habits.

Another flash point was the departure of the lady of the house, which became an opportunity for men to harass the servants. Interestingly, most wives blamed their husbands' servants for infidelity.
The girls were afraid to report the attempted rape to the police, because on the one hand they had no guarantee that the attacker would be punished, and on the other hand, they would face a fine or imprisonment for publicly slandering their employer .

Prostitution among servants

The girls' fear of the consequences of refusing to have intercourse often led to the fact that the first sexual contacts of the gentlemen took place with the servants, and the boys from good homes claimed that these situations happened .

Some of the servants devoted themselves to the employer without any compulsion, because his interest itself was very flattering. Some hoped that they would wrap the giver around their finger and he would move away from his wife.
At the beginning of the 20th century across Europe, the road from servant to prostitute was not as far as it might seem . In Berlin, 1026 from 1689, and in Lviv, 213 out of 488 prostitutes previously worked as a servant. The harsh working conditions of the maid, alienation, lack of support, and often prudence led to going astray and hitting pimps' wings.

Sexual abuse of charges

Some of the servants hurt the children instead of looking after them. One of the victims was the famous actor Witold Pyrkosz, who claimed that at the age of twelve he was sexually harassed by a girl working in his family home.

"Her first place" George Dunlop Leslie

There were more such cases and, frighteningly, even younger boys. As reported by "Express Wieczorny" in 1926:

The bondage of a five-year-old boy. The degenerate maid seduced the son of her donors and infected him with a terrible disease. The female vampire was arrested and jailed.

In 1929, "Głos Poranny" reported that the maid sexually abused a nine-year-old boy and if she had not infected him with a venereal disease, the truth might not have come to light:

The boy against the wall testified that for a long time the maid had been forcing him to intercourse with herself when no one was at home, and, under the threat of beatings, demanded from him to keep it a secret.

The servants worked from morning to evening, had limited contact with the outside world, were humiliated and treated as the property of the employer. These harsh conditions have led to various derailments, but some of the acts of the servants cannot be excused.

Bibliography:

  1. J. Kuciel-Frydryszak, Serving everything, Margins 2018.
  2. I. Moszczeńska, What we do not know about our sons. Facts and Figures for Parents' Use, Warsaw 1904.
  3. Files of Antoni C., reference number 63/208/0/4/8942, file ref. 8942, archive in Suwałki.
  4. Files of Jakub G., ref. 8/300/0, District Court in Częstochowa, archive in Częstochowa.
  5. T. Męczkowska, The Servant and the Prostitution, Warsaw 1906.
  6. Files of Józef M., reference number 63/208/0/4/7858, file ref. 7858, the archive in Suwałki.
  7. He tied her hands and wrapped the sheet around her head, "Dziennik Białostocki", 19.06.1923.