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DAMASCIUS INTERNATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL
VOLUME: 2, ISSUE: 1, M A R C H 2 0 1 7
PEER REVIEWED
ISSN: 2456-3404
SEX SLAVERY IN NAZI REGIME AND JAPAN DURING WORLD
WAR II
MS. GOHITA BASOTIYA
STUDENT (M.A. ENGLISH)
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gohita Basotiya is a literary enthusiast who believes that Literature is the single key to
interdisciplinary knowledge. She is an avid reader and has keen interest in understanding
world through the medium of literature and philosophy. Her love for literature has been
growing with every word she reads, writes and analyse through her studies of literary texts.
ABSTRACT:
The aim of this paper is to show the less-talked about victims of wartimes, focusing
escpecially on World War II. Through this paper, it has been shown how sex slavery was as
common as armament amongst the fighting countries. The paper argues that sex slavery has
never been put up on the front lines of societal concerns due to several socio-political
stereotypes and conservatism. Also, how war time sex slaves have been at the receiving end
of torture and shame during wartime and as well as post-war era, leaving them devoid of any
humane treatment.
SEX SLAVERY IN NAZI REGIME AND JAPAN DURING WORLD
WAR II
Whenever there is a talk about wars and battle fields, prominently male gender comes to
people‟s minds. Isn‟t it the dominating patriarchal naturalisation of fixing gender roles which
legitimizes the notion that, war is to men what domesticity is to women? However, war, as
chaotic and disruptive as it is, changes everything what conventional and usual stands for.
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DAMASCIUS INTERNATIONAL INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL
Despite the belief of keeping the „fair sex‟ away from battlefields to protect them, war has
been indiscriminate when it comes to head counts, tortured public, displacement, suffering,
and death tolls. During a war, civilisation is threatened, and tampered with, and its
consequences fall on both genders.
Irrespective of their nationalities, women were suffering, tortured, raped and brutally
executed on the similar whims of attacking armies and troops throughout the world. During
World War II, Jewish community throughout Europe was being attacked and eradicated in
the name of Hitler‟s Final Solution1 to Jewish Question2. Jewish men, children, elderly and
women, all were tortured and murdered with brutality by Nazis. Jewish women, especially
from Poland, Germany, Italy, and other regions of Europe were targeted the most. The SS3, in
1939, opened Ravensbruck(United States Holocaust Memorial Museum), the largest Nazi
concentration camp established for Jewish women. Over one lakh women are said to have
been incarcerated in this camp, until the Soviet army freed them by the end of war.Wartime
suffering included separation of families in Europe. The daughters were separated from their
parents, wives from their husbands, mothers from their children and elderly women from
their familial support in old age. As an assault on family-unity, women were overwhelmingly
devastated, as since the childhood a woman is trained to grow up as a family or home-maker.
War took away all that women had been tutored for through social conditioning. The
ideological convention of women being domestic makers was disturbed. “The breakup of
family is no by-product of the Nazi dictatorship, but part of the job that the regime had to do,
if it meant to reach its aim- the conquest of the world”4 and total annihilation of Jews.Women
belonging to Jewish community, from every class and social lineage were sent into the
concentration camps like Auschwitz and Ravensbruck. For them separation from families
was a traumatic experience, unaware of awaiting suffering during their imprisonment in
concentration camps till the end of war. Nazi regime also targeted Gypsy (Roma) women,
Polish women and disabled women. Mass murder of Roma and disabled women was
committed along with the Jewish women as they were useless5 in the eyes of German army
for labour purposes in concentration camps. Women who were physically adequate to
perform physical activities were subjected to forced labour. In return of excruciating work
throughout the day, inmates were given exiguous meals, including a poor and tiny loaf of
bread and watery soup. Ceaseless labour would make them exhausted due to which many
died. Nazi army did not bother to see how women bodies would respond to extreme labour
conditions inside the camps as it was serving their purpose of killing every Jew alive. Camps
were overcrowded with unsanitary bunkers, there were few toilets for thousands of inmates.
1
An infamous strategy under Hitler’s doctrine that was based upon the extermination of Jews in Europe. Jews
were captured to be sent to concentration camps where they were either gassed or starved and exhausted to
death.
2
In Nazi Germany, the term Jewish Question referred to the sense that the existence of Jews in Germany posed
a problem for the state. Upon achieving power in 1933, Hitler and the Nazi state began to implement severe
measures aimed at annihilating the Jewish people from Germany and (eventually) all of Europe.
3
Schutzstaffel, a protective squad in Nazi military, self-acclaimed elite group whose members also served as
policemen and concentration camp guards
4
Erika Mann, School for Barbarians (New York: Modern Age Books, 1938), 29.
5
Jewish prisoners including old women, disabled and women who failed the medical tests conducted by
German army doctors were thought to be useless in the Nazi dictatorship.
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Women were prone to infections of all kinds, dysentery, and other diseases because of the
poor conditions in prison camps. Everything that was a threat to Jewish lives was working in
favour for Third Reich‟s intentions. Hundreds of women died, while getting transported to
the camps within the train bogeys due to lack of proper ventilation. Many died due to
typhoid, pneumonia, and infections caused by chilly weather of Europe and unhygienic
conditions within the camps. Along with the men, women were also asked to strip and stand
naked despite the harsh climatic conditions. The cold and pouring rain would result in
making women sick and consequently dead. Those who managed to survive were made to go
through medical inspection by doctors from German military services. The ones who failed
medical tests were undoubtedly sent to be gassed or murdered by getting shot right in the
head. Women deported from Poland and Soviet Union brought for forced labour in camps
were usually beaten, raped or forced to have sexual relations with German guards and
officials. They were forced to submit their bodies for prostitution. The occupying forces
established, organised and regulated brothels for German soldiers. Wehrmacht and the SS
brothels were prominent ones for Nazi men. They were established in France, occupied
Poland and the eastern front including those in concentration camps. Jewish, Polish and
Russian women were kidnapped from their homes and transported to serve as prostitutes to
German soldiers. These unfortunate girls were the„gift‟ to soldiers from their
Fuhrer.6Wehrmacht or SS brothels were legalised because soldiers were contracting venereal
diseases from sexual services they got from usual brothels or self-employed prostitutes.7 The
affected soldiers were incapable of working on the front taking about three to six months to
recover from the ailments, and to stop further contraction of such diseases, Reich decided to
establish well organised and hygienic brothels. They appointed medical orderlies who
constantly monitored quality of girls. Women were sent to hospitals for regular medical
check-up, and those who were found with any kind of ailment were killed. Being treated like
tools to have sexual pleasures from, objectification of women put them in a state where they
seemed to act like sex robots. As if they had no other purpose than to be sexually exploited
and physically abused. Though Nazi ideology condemned any sexual relations between
Germans and Jews (and Polish) women, but commodification of women as sexual toys was
an exception for them. They considered sexual services of business like nature; no social
interaction between soldiers and Jewish prostitutes was allowed. Female captives had no
chance of returning from the brothels or refusing sexual services to Nazi men. A horrifying
fact about these brothels is that, women were abused or used up to more than twenty times a
day. From accounts of vague recollections of eyewitnesses, it is believed that there were
about 500 Wehrmacht brothels8 which ran in Jewish schools, faculties and other buildings.
Concentration camps were another source for Nazis to take young girls and women from, for
forced prostitution in German military brothels. They either took girls straight away in front
of their families, while deportation was taking place or would cart them off from labour and
6
Adolf Hitler
The self-employed prostitutes were persecuted, captured and sent to Nazi encampments, with harsh
condition where not all managed to survive.
8
Wikipedia contributors. "German military brothels in World War II." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016.
7
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concentration camps. Nazi officials would ask the block leader9 or kapos10 to recruit young
and pretty girls who were selected to serve as military prostitutes. However, it is also true that
some women voluntarily chose to be used as sexual toys than to struggle for their lives at
Auschwitz and other concentration camps.11 These women justified their choice to submit
their bodies for sexual services on the ground of keeping themselves alive. They would let
themselves get raped or sexually abused, even within the camps by SS guards and camp
police to get an extra portion of meagre meals, to sneak in an extra blanket to their bunkers,
since the weather was bone chilling and hypothermia was one of the major threats to their
lives. In my opinion, their survival instincts superseded socially incorporated values of
morality which condemned prostitution and drove them to become sexual objects and stall
their deaths while thousands were being gassed, shot or used for brutal medical experiments.
Women in German military brothels were told that they would be given better living
conditions if they offered sexual and erotic favours to soldiers. But all they got was endless
physical and emotional exploitation. Away from their families and thrown into a hellish
environment where all they could have was a sexual encounter with military officials for an
interaction with someone from outside the confinements of Wehrmachtsbordelle and SSOffiziersbordelle12, it was just another prison for these Jewish and Polish women. The only
thing that worked in their favour was that they were not exterminated suddenly, unlike those
in concentration camps.
Prostitution in Nazi brothels came with many curses on women; one of the most horrendous
was sterilization. Sterilization was done brutally to prevent the Jewish and Polish women
from reproducing kids; a part of Nazi regime to sweep Jewish existence off from the face of
world. Nazi regime forbade the interracial relations between Jews and Germans. Military
prostitutes were sterilized so that no offspring could be born out of a sexual encounter
between a Jewish woman and a German man. Even if a woman got pregnant by a German
man, she was forced to abort the child. Sterilization proved to be a major violation of a
female‟s right to body provided by nature. Mothers who gave birth during their imprisonment
in camps, were separated from their new born immediately. Nazi scientists would use those
infants for brutal medical experiments. They would inject poisonous liquids and chemicals
into infants‟ eyes and limbs, to record how their bodies would react. For Nazis, deported
children were useless because they could not perform laborious tasks meant for inmates, and
were consequently sent to gas chambers. One can only estimate or imagine how these women
were tortured and exploited in various ways during Nazi dictatorship.
While the major area where World War II was being fought was Europe, east of the world
was also affected by it. Japan13 and China had been at war since 1937.Just like those from
Nazi stricken Europe, women in Japan, Thailand, Korea, China, Burma, Vietnam and other
occupied territories fell victim to forced prostitution. Teenage girls and young women were
9
Or Blockälteste
Also, known as Capo, a professional criminal put in the camps as an in-charge to monitor the inmates
11
Famous ones are, Warsaw, Ravensbruck, Terenzin, Belzec, Treblinka, and Dachau (considered to be the first
Nazi concentration camp)
12
Wehrmacht brothel and SS-Officers brothels.
13
Allying with Germany
10
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kidnapped from their villages. Japanese military deceived and manipulated them into sex
slavery. These girls who were turned into sex slaves are euphemistically known as Comfort
Women because, as per the Japanese military, soldiers fighting on the front drain themselves
off physically and emotionally, and these women were there to „refresh and ease‟ the spirits
and bodies of tired soldiers.
Continents may change, but the atrocities faced by women during war remained common.
Sex slavery, physical torture, forced sterilization, random beatings and execution, everything
was alike to those faced by Nazi captive women. On an estimate, women were forced to have
sex with 30 to 40 Japanese soldiers a day(Sanghani). Japanese doctors would surgically
remove their uteruses against their will, leaving them infertile for the rest for their lives.
They were transported along with the Japanese troops as if they were one of the objects to be
carried in their cargoes. When Japan surrendered in August, 1945, Japanese military did
everything it could to remove any evidences left on the camps. One of their evidences were
sex slave camps and to erase this, slave girls were executed in Bomb Shelters, only a few
could be saved when the allied troops attacked Japan.
But as it is said, war never goes away from people‟s lives completely, so do its consequences.
Even after the war was over, women faced many problems. Be it Jewish women, Polish
women, German women, Japanese women, etc.; their sufferings echoed the similar tone of
heart aching reality they were living with. Women from those countries who fought in the
war became homeless refugees, widows, childless, orphans, disabled, ill and psychologically
disturbed14. Jewish women who had survived the war and concentration camps were
malnourished and underweight. It took a considerable amount of time for them to regain their
normal physical health. Women who were fortunate enough to remain unsterilized had a
responsibility to bear children to increase the Jewish population. These women who were
primarily confined into domestic life in pre-war era, were then imprisoned in the
concentration camps to become labour force and sex slaves for German military, and in postwar times turned into obligated child bearers. Maternal instincts were somehow forcefully
expected out of all the potential fertile women, even though war and its tormenting process
had left these women tormented deep down to their souls and psyche. It is evident that the
post war Jewish baby boom was a very good thing for the Jews, but people didn‟t consider it
important to know what women wanted. Were all the Jewish women who survived wanted to
become mothers? Were there any exceptions amongst the surviving women who didn‟t want
to conceive a child? After all, it is a woman‟s sole right to decide whether she wants to
reproduce or not. However, sadly society has looked down upon those women who lead or
even aspire to lead their lives in their own ways. Thus, contraception after the war time, for
Jewish women was highly despised. It seems like women were only tossed around from one
confining sphere to another then to another during the modern age. Japanese women who
were formerly subjected as sex slaves, have either died due to old age or ailments they
contracted during their enslavement in the Military Comfort camps.Those who survived were
left homeless and those who were sheltered in war relief camps are still struggling to have
14
Psychological disorders were increased after WW II, such as Post Traumatic Disorders, Hypertension,
Depression, Suicidal instincts.
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basic- necessities in their hands. When former sex slaves would return to their villages and
towns, society despised them a lot. They were hated to have survived, considered a threat to
social construct of morality, little did society realise that these women were victims of war
time circumstances. For instance, a former Japanese comfort woman, Piani said, “What could
I do? I was just fourteen. I wanted to live. But I felt dirty, impure and I still feel
ashamed.”(Seeker Network)They were victims of progeny of war in shapes of „comfort‟ or
„service‟ seeking soldiers from those sex slaves and forcefully made prostitutes. It was
difficult for women to lead a normal life after war. They had to either leave their countries or
change their identities to fit in the norms of social environment. For instance, thousands of
Jewish women sought asylum in countries like U.S.A and Canada. Many concealed their lips
and never talked about the tortures they faced. Those who decided to tell their stories were
either ignored or hushed by the society. One such example is of Japanese former Comfort
women, now in their 70s and 80s, are still scarred by memories of their slavery to Japanese
soldiers. Till date, they have been allegedly unacknowledged as crucial war victims by their
country‟s government. Despite international lawsuits and pressures, these women have not
been granted any reparations from their native state.
History has always had its own whims; it has always been manipulated, omitted and edited.
There are millions of literary works and reports on the struggles and valour of soldiers and
armies, on thousands of women who were „allowed‟ to fight in the wars. But not much has
been written on how the „women-who-are-not-to-be-talked-about‟ perished, executed and for
an exception managed to survive. In this ever-recording world of „History‟ when will this
world unhesitatingly talk about and record „Her-Story‟?
WORKS CITED:
1. United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum.<https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005199>.
2. Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 13 November 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_military_brothels_in_World_War_II>.
3. Sanghani, Radhika. "The Telegraph." 29 December 2015.
telegragh.co.uk.<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/the-horrific-story-of-koreascomfort-women---forced-to-be-sex-sl/>.
4. Seeker Network. "Seeker Nework." 19 August 2015.
Youtube.<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOIYaJKFvvU>.
5. Wikipedia contributors. "German military brothels in World War II." Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. n.d.
6. Feinstein, Margarete Myers. “Jewish Women Survivors in the Displaced Persons Camps of
Occupied Germany: Transmitters of the Past, Caretakers of the Present, and Builders of the
Future.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 24.4 (2006): 67–89. Web.
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7. History Of Wars. “The Nazis and Prostitution Documentary.” 24 Nov. 2015. Web.
8. Zahra, Tara. “„The psychological Marshall Plan‟: Displacement, Gender, and Human
Rights After World War II.” Central European History 44.01 (2011): 37–62. Web.
9. “The life in comfort stations.” n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
10. jkkim1999. “„Herstory‟ Comfort Women Animation - English.” YouTube. YouTube, 15
Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum.<https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005199>.
Wikipedia. n.d. Web. 13 November 2016.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_military_brothels_in_World_War_II>.
Sanghani, Radhika. "The Telegraph." 29 December 2015.
telegragh.co.uk.<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/the-horrific-story-of-koreascomfort-women---forced-to-be-sex-sl/>.
Seeker Network. "Seeker Nework." 19 August 2015.
Youtube.<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOIYaJKFvvU>.
Wikipedia contributors. "German military brothels in World War II." Wikipedia, The Free
Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 14 Nov. 2016. Web. 14 Nov. 2016. n.d.
Feinstein, Margarete Myers. “Jewish Women Survivors in the Displaced Persons Camps of
Occupied Germany: Transmitters of the Past, Caretakers of the Present, and Builders of the
Future.” Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies 24.4 (2006): 67–89. Web.
History Of Wars. “The Nazis and Prostitution Documentary.” 24 Nov. 2015. Web.
Zahra, Tara. “„The psychological Marshall Plan‟: Displacement, Gender, and Human Rights
After World War II.” Central European History 44.01 (2011): 37–62. Web.
“The life in comfort stations.” n.d. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
jkkim1999. “„Herstory‟ Comfort Women Animation - English.” YouTube. YouTube, 15 Jan.
2014. Web. 20 Nov. 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_women
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