What Role Did Women Play In The Holocaust

World War II gave women the chance to take part in and prove what they where cable of handling men’s work. However there were limitations that women had to overcome during the war such as sexism and sexualized violence.

Gender theory is an effective framework to interpret Jewish deportation because it offers valuable insights into the subtle power relationships between Jews and their oppressors. In order to effectively use gender as a prism of analysis it is necessary to venture beyond descriptive usage of gender; Joan Scott’s characterisation of gender as an implicit way of signifying power provides a sophisticated avenue to explore this topic. When applying gender theory to Schindler’s List, scholars should modify their expectations in light of Zelizer’s critique that popular culture cannot mirror the Holocaust ‘as-it-happened’. To resolve some of these challenges researchers can ‘triangulate’ popular representations with photographs to ensure that their scholarship remains rooted in historical fact. Ultimately, provided that researchers are cognizant of the limitations inherent within both Schindler’s List and photographs, gender theory is a highly applicable intellectual backdrop to examine themes of power, masculinity, and authority during the Holocaust.

The holocaust is regarded as one of the most horrific genocides in recent history. It is not only terrifying because of the sheer number of deaths, but also because of the logistical and efficient manner they used. The systematic process they used defied a person’s ability to live a dignified life. A dignified life is the ability to live your life with the opportunity to become the person that you want to be. My perception of a dignified life was only strengthened by witnessing the Germans systematic process for dehumanizing women. They did this by completely disregarding their opportunity to be their own person which was evident by the removal of hair, being treated like a slave, and being tested on by scientists.

When World War II rolled around men were not the only ones that were called to fight. Women too were enlisted with contributions to the cause. When there were no men left to work business owners began to recruit women. During World War II women proved to be vital in stepping up and taking over men’s jobs. Once the war was over most women were expected to go back to their place in society but there were some who were adamant about it. They had learned new and useful skills and enjoyed the independence working gave them. As men were being shipped out to fight in the battle fronts, women took over various jobs that were before endowed to men. The shortage of male laborers helped them take up jobs like switchboard operators,

World War II, the deadliest war in history, played a key role in the history of not only Britain, but the whole world.The war allowed new jobs, skills, and opportunities for many people. In World War II more than 50 million people lost their lives, among those people were men and women (“World War II Death Toll of All Nations”). People often times seem to neglect the fact that women were just as important to the war effort as men were, and only focus on how men were the soldiers. Women made the war possible. During World War II, women were often recognized for their contributions, but now when people refer to World War II, only men are acknowledged. Women were just as important as men in World War II because they played a key role in aiding

Elie Wiesel once said “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven time sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turn into ash and smoke throughout the night sky.”(“W, Elile”) This is just one of the millions of victims of the Holocaust. The Holocaust was responsible for the massacre of 11 million people, imprisoning millions of innocent people, inflicting child labor, discrimination against race and religion, and caused the most murders ever recorded.The Holocaust was one of the worst event to happen in the world's history because it was inhumane and cruel, it killed countless lives,

Holocaust is a Greek word that means “sacrifice by fire” and this was a theme which the Nazis used against the Jewish population after they came in power in January of 1933. Jews were not the only race that were targeted during this period. The Gypsies, the disabled, the Poles, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and also the Russians were also part of the different groups that were targeted by the Nazis when their reign began in 1933. The Jews endured the most impact of the Holocaust because well over nine million of Europe’s population in 1933 were Jews. This hatred towards the minorities and mostly the Jews happened as a result of the Nazi racial ideology known as the Aryan race. This Aryan race, which is also known as the “master race” was the characterization of biological Germans as having the basic blonde hair and blue eyes features and Hitler, the mastermind behind this construction of racial difference believed that the only way to purify this “master race” again will be through exterminating the people who do not fit the description set forth by the Aryan race. My first primary figuration comes from The Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel. Wiesel who was only 16 years old when he was sent to the Auschwitz camp along with his family, talks about the different ways that people were killed in the Holocaust. Genocide is figured as being favorable to patriarchy in this figuration made by Elie Wiesel. This can be seen in “Night” when Elie Wiesel states, “ Men to

World War II was a time where women were generally expected to stay at home and take care of the kids while their husbands went off to fight. During the war, women helped out with the war effort in many different ways because they cared about their country just as much as the men did, but they often had to prove themselves as capable of taking on different responsibilities during World War II. Women contributed in many different ways, but some really stood out because these women completely abandoned their traditional domestic sphere to help our country. Aside from serving in an army branch designated for women, many ladies were able to get their pilot licenses and operate American military aircrafts. A lot of the factory jobs that were meant for men were given to women while men were fighting for their country. Some women even went deeper into the war effort by risking their lives and going undercover as spies. Though many women across the globe were participating in such activities, it’s still unbelievable to think that women could break so many boundaries during such a sexist period of time. These women all had different jobs and experiences, such as nursing, working as a war correspondent, and spying to collect secrets for their country. Out of their many options, spies were the most useful to the war effort because their dangerous work could influence the results of battles and could save lives before they

Nazi persecution accentuates how the victims of the Holocaust responded in gendered ways. The treatment that the women received by the Nazi soldiers, in comparison to the men was harsher. This was largely due to the ideological factors. Women were more despised by the Nazis as they were regarded as the bearers of the next Jewish generation. This prompted a harder process during selection for camps as women were viewed as being a less efficient workforce.

Some took things a bit too far. But some risked their lives and helped the prisoners. As we can see, some of these women weren’t stay-at-home machines. They were officers, who took the place of men when helping Hitler. When it came to females who rejected to follow Hitler’s orders, their kind-heartedness lead them to help the prisoners.

As we begin to scratch the surface about the Holocaust we must understand what these people were living in. Even before the war began, Hitler immediately called the first order of his “Final Solution”. He began to give terrible living conditions to Jews and humans alike. These areas of hellish nature were the ghettos of Poland and the “concentration camps” set up throughout Europe. Here, at the camps alone, over 3 million would be killed, or slaughtered, to be more specific. 90% of this population is the result of Auschwitz, where near 900,000 victims died. Add all the rest of the Jewish casualties, and you get a staggering 6 million Jewish deaths in total. Add other races, and the number soon becomes an even more staggering 11 million deaths. (www.ushmm.org/)

poor state of health and the Nazi’s claimed they were saving them (Friedlander 112). The killings were still operating at the hospitals and at the killing centers since there was church protest, Hitler sought to appease them by issuing the order but in reality the killings were still operating. The stop order limited the killings at the killing centers but the euthanasia movement was still being active, killing handicapped newborns and adults was top on the list, and the physicians used a variety of tactics to kill certain people (Friedlander 151). For the children, they were not placed in the gas chambers as the adults were placed in the gas chambers or killed in the hospitals by a variety of methods. While the Nazi’s believed that their inferior

As the readings and videos portray, women’s participation had a profound impact on a country’s success in both world wars. As the article, “Women in the Military World War I and II,” indicates women made up for the deficits in labor, in both agriculture and industry. The participation in World War II for women was much greater than that of World War I. This becomes evident when, “More than ten times as many women served in most militaries during World War II as had served during World War I, although the size of the militaries as a whole only doubled or tripled” (Women in the Military World War I and II). Not only were they participating in labor work, many women were now serving in auxiliaries, nursing corps, and some even playing combat

This investigation will analyze the question: What was the role of women in Nazi Germany? The years 1934 through 1945 will be used to allow analysis on the women’s role from when Hitler first rose to power to the end of World War II.

In closing, the Nazi’s had their picks for which women were good enough to become a child bearer. They had control over women’s every action. The Nazi’s didn’t think women were worthy enough to complete a ‘mans’ job, that’s why they only used the women when they had no other choice. If it hadn’t of been for the men being shipped off for battle, the women would’ve still been considered valuable only for their reproductive ability. Women eventually gained control over their own lives, but it was easy to