They were a reward and an incentive to work for other prisoners. They had to see as many as ten "clients" each day. When they became pregnant, they were forced to have abortions or had their babies taken from them. These women went through a real hell in the camps. But until recently they couldn't talk about it.
Frau W. was one of many German women sent to a concentration camp for "anti-social behavior". Such accusations were usually used to prosecute prostitutes. But not only. To be convicted, it was enough to have suspicious connections or to have a relationship with a Jew, as happened in this case.
The woman, arrested at the end of 1939, was first detained in Ravensbrück and then transferred to Buchenwald.
After the war, the former prisoner found out that despite many years in the camp, was not entitled to any compensation. The East German authorities rejected Frau W.'s request on the basis of ... the reason for the arrest. A long-term battle began, the end of which - in fact, unsuccessful for her - the woman did not live to see. She died in 1990.
What she did not dare to admit in subsequent interrogations was the fact that during her stay in Buchenwald she was "employed" in the camp brothel. Like all other female employees of these establishments, organized by the labor camp administration in order to motivate prisoners to work, she feared discrimination. Only shortly before her death, she was one of the few that dared to speak. But why did victims like her stay silent for so long about what happened to them?
photo:Bundesarchiv / CC-BY-SA 3.0 The first brothel for prisoners was built in Mauthausen.
"Fussy residents"
In the camp "Puff" (from the German word Puff, i.e. a brothel), existing in the years 1942-1945, a group of about 200-210 women prisoners worked. 190 of them served in brothels for inmates, and 20 - in their counterparts for Ukrainian SS men. We know more or less who they were. The majority - over 60% - were German women. There were also many Polish women. Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian women were less frequent.
Almost all of them, as much as 97%, were sent to the camp just like Frau W. - for “anti-social” behavior. These women, however, fell into the ground after the war. As journalists Mareike Fallet and Simone Kaiser write:
Almost all women forced into prostitution survived the terror of the Nazi regime. [But] to a large extent it is not known what happened to them later or whether they were ever able to recover from their traumatic experiences. Most were silent about their fate for the rest of their lives.
The consternation caused by this silence disappears when we get acquainted with the few post-war reports on the camp brothels. Most of them, however, as emphasized by Polish sexuality historian Agnieszka Weseli, come from men. These are the stories of "political prisoners, SS men, prisoner functionaries who were the institution of power in the camp subordinate to the SS". They often did not mince words:
The statements include the following words: an element to which this completely corresponded, typical prostitutes, fussy female residents, bogdanki, prostitutes for whom staying in block 24 was not something terrible , ladies, girls (…).
They have been talked about for decades - without them. It varies, depending on whether a former SS man, a young function-criminal, political prisoner or a young woman is speaking. Ironically, with distance, with contempt, with condemnation, with disrespect.
One of the brothels for prisoners was set up in Auschwitz. It was located in Block 24.
Perpetrators, not victims?
The scornful assessment of the employees of the camp brothels was reinforced by the way the authorities treated them after the war. In most countries, they could not claim any compensation as female prisoners sentenced during the Third Reich for "asociality".
It was not until the 1980s that West Germany introduced individual, non-statutory subsidies, from which some of those employed in "Puffas" actually benefited.
There were also voices that women serving in the camp brothels should not be entitled to compensation because the nature of their work was allegedly voluntary. This myth of volunteer prostitutes was created largely by the Germans themselves, spreading rumors that they reported to the brothel of their own free will .
photo:public domain It is often said that working in the camp brothel was voluntary. But in the camp world, can any action be considered voluntary?
It was emphasized that, after all, they received additional privileges for their service. The consequences of mindlessly repeating such a view turned out to be disastrous - especially in our country. This is pointed out by Agnieszka Weseli:
In Poland, such issues still remain a blank spot on history. Puff recruitment is still considered a voluntary matter, and women who have been abused by camp authorities are treated as perpetrators, not victims .
The situation began to change only in the early 1990s, mainly thanks to the researcher Christa Paul, who managed to conduct the first interviews with former employees of the camp brothels. This made it possible to recall the enormity of the violence that they were subjected to on an equal footing with other prisoners.
This article was inspired by the novel by Dominik W. Rettinger "Kommando Puff" , published by the Świat Książki publishing house.
Some actually "decided" to get a brothel, hoping for better treatment. Others were blackmailed. But can any of these decisions really be called voluntary? Sexual violence researcher Robert Sommer strongly disagrees with this approach:
Bearing in mind the catastrophic conditions in women's camps, it is easy to imagine how attractive the promise of sufficient rations and hygiene, especially a false promise to starving, dirty and sick women, seemed to be freedom.
Many prisoners would do anything to escape the hell of the camps and the inevitable death. A former prisoner of Auschwitz said:" Understand, if you were in Birkenau, I bet if they told you to cut your fingers in exchange for freedom, you would have done it ”.
Shame
The biggest enemy of the Puff residents turned out to be… prudishness. She was the reason why sex in the camps was talked about as little as possible for many years. No wonder that - as Dominik W. Rettinger, author of the book "Kommando Puff" , put it - "the shame and fear of persecution made [the employees of the brothels - ed. A.W.] preferred to remain silent and disappear. " Finally, as Agnieszka Weseli, quoted above, notes, "When you talk about the place where millions of people died, it seems that you can't even mention things related to sexuality."
"When you talk about the place where millions of people died, it seems that you can't even mention the things related to sexuality," explains Dr. Agnieszka Weseli.
We are most ashamed to tell about stories, such as those related to the fate of the women serving in "Puffas". And we can't do it. Until recently, the researcher Nicole Bogue bitterly recalled that at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum there is still no mention of what happened in barracks number 24, where one of the brothels was located. In her opinion, this theme does not fit in with the general narrative that the museum transmits to visitors.
Fortunately, the last decade has brought many changes. Exhibitions dedicated to the sex slaves of the Nazi system are held in Ravensbrück and other places where camps were once located. Films are being made, such as 2012's "Damned Evenings:Prostitution in Concentration Camps", showing the accounts of female prisoners forced to work in brothels. Reliable research is also underway on this issue. It is a pity that it was so late - not all aggrieved parties managed to wait for it. Among others, Frau W.
Inspiration:
This article was inspired by the novel by Dominik W. Rettinger "Kommando Puff" , published by the Świat Książki publishing house.