German camp brothels in World War II



In World War II Nazi Germany established brothels in the concentration camps (Lagerbordell) to create an incentive for collaborating prisoners. The women working in these brothels came mainly from the Ravensbrück concentration camp.

History
The first camp brothel was established in Mauthausen/Gusen in 1942. After 30 June 1943 a camp brothel existed in Auschwitz, and from 15 July 1943 in Buchenwald. On 25 March 1944 Flossenbürg followed, in early 1944 Neuengamme, May 1944 Dachau, Dora-Mittelbau in late summer and Sachsenhausen on 8 August 1944.

The subject of camp prostitution has remained largely taboo in studies of Nazism until recently, when new publications by female researchers broke the silence.

The SS allured the women with the easement of imprisonment. This caused envy among the women. Nina Michailovna, camp prisoner, reported:
 * “When we found out that a girl in our block was chosen, we caught her and threw a blanket on her and beat her up so badly that she could hardly move. It wasn’t clear if she would recover. They just wanted to have a better life and we punished them this way.”

Cultural references
German brothels in concentration camps were presented in fictional nazi exploitation-films such as Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, Last Orgy of the Third Reich, Love Camp 7, SS Experiment Camp and Nazi Love Camp 27.

Examples of Israeli fictional literature on the subject are Yehiel De-Nur alias K. Tzetnik's book The House of Dolls and Stalag fiction.

Books


Lagerbordell Bordello del campo di concentramento Лагерные бордели в нацистской Германии