Sexual Violence in History: A Bibliography

compiled by Stefan Blaschke

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First published: January 1, 2026 - Last updated: January 1, 2026

TITLE INFORMATION

Author: Jessie Williams

Title: Sexual Violence Against Women during the Holocaust

Subtitle: Inside and Outside of Extermination Camps

Journal: History in the Making

Volume: 14

Issue: -

Year: 2021

Pages: 81-102

ISSN: -

Language: English

Keywords: Modern History: 20th Century | European History: German History | Types: Sexual Assault / Sexual Violence during the Holocaust



FULL TEXT

Link: CSUSB ScholarWorks: Digital Repository of the California State University, San Bernardino (Free Access)



ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Author: -

Abstract: »The article will explore women’s sexual experiences during the Holocaust, specifically the experience of those who were targeted by the Nazi regime for being “inferior” to the Aryan race. During this period, Jewish women, women categorized as “asocial” despite their German citizenship, women who identified as Romani, and Soviet or Ukrainian women were targets of sexual violence mostly at the hands of members of the Nazi Party. However, these women were also assaulted by the partisans who helped hide them, liberating soldiers, and male prisoners because of the vulnerable situations many women found themselves in. This article focuses first on the importance of the female experience during the Holocaust, the dangers of the “hierarchy of suffering,” and the various forms of sexual violence women faced regardless of if they were in ghettos, extermination camps, or in hiding. This article also touches on the debate about whether consensual sex existed under Nazi occupation and introduces the concept of “limited choice,” a concept that expresses women’s reduced choices and emphasizes that the reduction of choices forced them to choose options they would not have chosen normally when laws and morality applied. Women during the Holocaust had to make difficult choices to survive, and when faced with sexual assault or death, many women chose sexual assault; however, that does not make the sex consensual.« (Source: History in the Making)

Contents:
  Abstract (p. 81)
  Forms of Sexual Violence (p. 87)
    Forced Sterilization (p. 87)
    Forced Abortion (p. 89)
    Humiliation (p. 91)
    Rape (p. 93)
    Brothels (p. 96)
  Conclusion (p. 99)
  Bibliography (p. 100)
  Author Bio (p. 102)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Germany / Nazi Germany | Internment: Nazi concentration camps | Genocide: The Holocaust / Sexual violence during the Holocaust | Sex and the law: Sexual violence