Jewish women in the Holocaust

Major disparities between mother and father figures in the narratives of survivors were caused by the gender roles of Jewish men and women who were imprisoned.[14]^: 155 Women commonly referred to themselves as surrogate mothers[14]^: 158 and highlighted their unique qualities as women in describing their experiences in the camps. To them, being a woman in the Holocaust meant that they performed every role of a woman. They considered themselves as sisters, mothers, daughters, etc.[14]^: 175 Motherhood represented their gender, for they were continually worried about their children.

Jewish women faced challenges and played a role through their involvement in the Jewish partisan movement, a resistance movement against Nazi Germany throughout Nazi-occupied Europe in World War Two. These women escaped from Jewish ghettos throughout the occupied territory to join partisans in the forest to escape Nazi persecution and enhance their chances of survival.[15] Many women successfully joined partisan units, specifically in the Bielski detachment.[15] The Bielski detachment maintained the highest amount of female partisans, with approximately 364 women of the 1,018 members.[15] However, partisan units were largely male, and military activities were the role of men. When women fled Nazi persecution to reach these units, they generally did so "because they were looking for a rescue, not because they were fighting the enemy."[15]

The social cohesion of these partisan units sometimes reflected larger societal attitudes, including gendered stereotypes and expectations. The roles relegated to female members within were influenced by these factors. Subsequently, women who joined the partisans were generally "excluded from combat duty and from leadership positions"[4] and subjected to gender-specific vulnerabilities. Research shows that many women were aware before entering the forest that "the possibility of rape or murder was real."[6] Once accepted into the partisans, women were often pressured into relationships with men in these units, either willingly or unwillingly, due to the protection they granted to the women.[6] However, under many circumstances, women were not subjected to discrimination and were regarded as valuable assets. Specifically in the Bielski detachment, women played a pivotal role in running the camp by providing food and aiding the injured or ill partisans as nurses or members of the medical staff.[15]

Both men and women were part of the resistance, but the role of women is often overlooked in present-day discussions. Women would sometimes be used to attract the attention of Nazis and lure them into an ambush or assassinate them personally. Some women also worked individually to support the resistance. Freddie Oversteegen and her older sister were 14 and 16 when they joined the Dutch resistance. The sisters met Hannie Schaft, and the three worked as a team to kill Nazi soldiers. Their young age allowed them to evade suspicion and exploit weaknesses in Nazi security. The trio primarily lured enemy soldiers into ambushes staged by older members of their partisan cell.[16]

Niuta Teitelbaum, a 24-year-old Jewish woman nicknamed “Little Wanda with the braids”, and a graduate of Warsaw University, was a high-value target for the Gestapo. Teitelbaum would dress as a Polish farm girl and attempt to entice Nazi soldiers into a secluded location. Once the Nazi lowered his guard, Teitelbaum would kill him with a pistol. In one instance, Teitelbaum shot and killed two Nazis while injuring a third. Dissatisfied, she followed the wounded Nazi to a field hospital, entered the hospital disguised in a physician's coat, and killed both the Nazi guard and the police officer that was treating the man she had injured.[17]

The main goal of the Holocaust was to eliminate the Jews. However, the Nazi regime maintained a large population of Jewish workers in the labor camps. To facilitate the Nazi goal of Jewish genocide, the labor camps conducted "selections," held at random intervals. Women were lined up to be killed or spared, largely at random. Gelissen said, "Selections are sporadic. There is no telling how often they occur…" she also goes on to say "There is usually one SS man who stands in judgment while the rest of them watch, and sometimes there is two SS man, both must give you the thumb toward life."[18]^: 133

According to Gelissen, "if the war is going well for the Germans, once in a while [they] get a slice of meat in [their] soup or with [their] bread," and “we lick our open palms slowly, savoring the smear of margarine or mustard.”[18]^: 136 Apart from these small portions daily, they got morning tea, soup for lunch, and bread for dinner. However, most of the time they simply had water and less of what it actually was supposed to be. They were always hungry and wanted more. "I don’t know which to long for more – food or freedom.”[18]^: 137

Work in the labor camps was intense, due to harsh weather conditions and constant supervision by the SS. Prisoners often conducted manual labor in full sun, "when it was hot on [their] heads.”[18]^: 154 Gelissen performed many different jobs in the camps. She said the physical pain was incomparable to anything she had experienced. “We are working on the new blocks, digging sand out of a deep hole and shifting it through the mesh nets.” However, Rena had had experience doing this and she says, “Our hands are hard. They no longer bleed from the long hours of work….”[18]^: 141