WEHRMACHT BROTHELS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF UKRAINE AS A COMPONENT OF NAZI SEXUAL VIOLENCE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24919/2519-058X.37.346040Abstract
The purpose is to study, through the prism of the functioning of the Wehrmacht brothel system in Ukraine, one of the methods of violence regulated by the Nazi state – sexual; to determine the number of brothels established by the Nazis in the occupied Ukrainian lands; to analyze the reasons and problems during their organization and a forced recruitment of the Ukrainian women. The research methodology is based on theoretical developments of scientific schools of social history and psychology, military anthropology, and gender studies. In the article general scientific methods of fundamental studies, as well as methods of historicism, source studies, and interdisciplinary approaches have been applied. The scientific novelty consists in the formulation of the above mentioned problem, an attempt to find its specific historical solution based on the information discovered by the author about more than three dozen brothels established by the Wehrmacht in the occupied territories of Ukraine in 1941 – 1944, and at least 2.3 thousand Ukrainian women forcibly recruited for work. Conclusions. It has been found out that the rapid growth of uncontrolled intimate relationships among the German soldiers and local women, prohibited by the racial dogmas of Nazi Germany, as well as the spread of venereal diseases forced the occupiers to establish a number of stationary brothels for Wehrmacht soldiers and the German civil administration in early 1942. These institutions, according to the command's plan, were to help the Third Reich prevent chaotic sexual contacts with local women, prevent the spread of venereal diseases, sexual violence, deterioration of discipline in the army, and homosexual relations among servicemen. Local women and girls were usually forcibly recruited to work in rear brothels.
Key words: Ukraine, Germany, occupation, sexual violence, Wehrmacht, German soldiers, brothels, women.
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