RACE, RAPE and GENDER in NAZI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES a Dissertation Submitted to Kent State University in Partial Fulfillment Of
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RACE, RAPE AND GENDER IN NAZI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Monika J. Flaschka December, 2009 Dissertation written by Monika J. Flaschka B.S., University of Arizona, 1997 M.A., Kent State University, 2001 M.A., Kent State University, 2004 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2009 Approved by ___________________________________, Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Richard Steigmann-Gall ___________________________________, Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Geoffrey Giles ___________________________________ Shelley Baranowski ___________________________________ Elizabeth Smith-Pryor ___________________________________ Kristen Marcussen Accepted by _______________________________________, Chair, Department of History Kenneth Bindas _______________________________________, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences John Stalvey ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Historiography .........................................................................................................4 From German to Nazi Ideologies ..........................................................................27 Analytical Framework and Purpose .......................................................................31 Methodology ..........................................................................................................38 Chapter Outline ......................................................................................................43 II “[A]lways the worst of their Volk”: Constructions of Femininity ........................47 The Debates about “Racial Inferiority” .................................................................49 The Rape of Jewish Women .................................................................................61 The Intersection of Gender and Race in Assaults on Non-German Women ........63 Mothers of the Race ..............................................................................................78 Conclusion .............................................................................................................90 III “NOT LIKE GERMAN SOLDIERS”: CONSTRUCTIONS OF HETEROSEXUAL MASCULINITY IN CASES OF RAPE .............................93 The Tensions Surrounding Abstinence and Rape ............................................... 96 Soldierly Ability ..................................................................................................102 The Reputation of the Wehrmacht, The Troop, and the Uniform .......................115 Wieder gut zu Machen ........................................................................................125 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................129 IV “[T]HE GREATEST DANGER TO THE MILITARY”: HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE THREAT TO THE HETEROSEXUALITY OF THE MILITARY, THE NATION, AND THE RACE .................................................137 The Threat of Homosexuality ............................................................................140 The Heterosexuality of the Military .....................................................................146 Abstinence does not Obtain .................................................................................153 The Image of Heterosexual Masculinity ..............................................................159 Wieder gut zu Machen .........................................................................................167 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................171 iii V “SHE MAKES A SENSUAL IMPRESSION”: THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN............................................................177 Physical Development, Moral Quality, Intelligence, and the Absence of Trauma ..............................................................................................182 A Punishable Offense .........................................................................................192 The Threat to the Heterosexuality of the Nation ................................................197 Wieder gut zu Machen ........................................................................................203 Conclusion ..........................................................................................................204 VI THE “OTHERS”: “RACIAL INFERIORS” AND ETHNIC GERMANS .........210 Courts and Laws of the Occupied Territories .....................................................214 Sexual Abuse by “Racial Inferiors” .....................................................................216 Sexual Abuse by Ethnic Germans........................................................................224 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................233 VII CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................236 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................247 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have been waiting, for as long as it took for me to conceive of, do the research for, and write the dissertation, to write these acknowledgements. I am not often mushy, and I am going to make the most of this opportunity. I must first thank the organizations funding my research: my gratitude to the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), for their funding of my months in Germany; to the Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for a wonderful six months at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC; to the Holocaust Educational Foundation for a second summer in Germany; and to the Shoah Foundation Corrie ten Boom fellowship for a month in Los Angeles with the oral testimonies of the Shoah Foundation. At Kent State University, my first thanks go to my advisor of seven years, Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall, who supported me without doubt and with complete faith longer than anyone in my professional experience. No one has expressed more absolute faith in me than you, no one has the camaraderie that you and I have, and you have my absolute gratitude. My thanks to my committee members, Dr. Shelley Baranowski, who also had complete confidence in my abilities, upon whose expertise and comments I constantly relied, and to whose productivity and analytical rigor I aspire; to Dr. Elizabeth Smith- Pryor, who for many years allowed me to bounce my ideas off her, and who, of all my committee members, knows the most about the difficulties of a dissertation relying on the legal analysis of gender and race; to Dr. Geoffrey Giles, who agreed to be on my v committee after a single speech I gave for his Holocaust education project, who adjusted his schedule for my defense, and whose opinion as the foremost expert on the persecution of homosexuals under the Nazi regime means a great deal to me professionally and personally; to Dr. Kristen Marcussen and Dr. Patrick Coy, who agreed both agreed to be the outside members of my committee. Also among the faculty at Kent State, I thank first and foremost Dr. Rebecca Pulju, who never once refused a request for help, a recommendation letter, a teaching evaluation, time to discuss teaching, or a moment to vent. I’ve never met so consummate a historian, someone whom I can so easily and gratefully call, now, a colleague and, hopefully, a friend, whose work ethic, research, and personality I respect more. To Dr. Alison Fletcher, who challenged me more than any other historian, for whom I wrote my first paper on masculinity, and who supported me as an individual— my gratitude. My thanks go also to Dr. Tim Scarnecchia and Dr. Patti Kameya. To everyone else at the Kent State History Department, especially Dr. Ken Bindas, Nancy Myers, Ellen Denning, Carolyn Brothers, and Kay Dennis, I thank them all for their infinite patience and support. To my friends in the department, my thanks go first to Julie Mujic, my closest friend—no one read as many drafts as you, offered such unqualified support, or made me laugh and feel as safe as you. Thank you also to Dr. Rachel Oley Boaz, the funniest women I’ve ever met; Nathan Fry, the kindest soul; Steven Haynes, staid, and with a vi marvelous laugh; Erika Briesacher, mischievous; Sarah Zabic, annoyingly brilliant; and Bryan Kvet, someone with whom I never agree, but whose company makes me smile all the time. Also at Kent State, my thanks to Dr. Carolyn Schneiderman for keeping me sane, for teaching me to trust in my abilities, and for offering unqualified support tempered by her own obvious intellectual brilliance. I thank my fellow fellows at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, particularly Sarah Cushman, with whom I felt an immediate, and I hope long-lasting connection. My thanks to the brilliant Dr. Shannon Woodcock, who supported me for years after our first short tenure together. To Dr. Helene Sinnreich, Esther, Alexa, Alex, and Laszlo, my gratitude for the fun and the intellectual support for the best six months of my life. Also at the Museum, my thanks to Dr. Lisa Yavnai, Tracie Rucker, Dieter Kuntz, Ron Coleman, Micheline Amir, and most of all, to Vincent Slatt, who provided