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Last update - 14:56 11/07/2007 Secrets of Nazi camp brothels emerge in German exhibition By Reuters An exhibition in Ravensbrueck women's concentration camp north of Berlin aims to shed light on brothels operating in the World War II concentration camps and expose the Nazis' sinister attempt to manipulate prisoners' sexuality. For decades no one wanted to remember the concentration camp "special blocks" where the Nazis forced female inmates to entertain their male peers. Nazi commander Heinrich Himmler had ordered the creation of camp brothels in 1941. His logic was chilling - male prisoners would work harder if offered the incentive of sex, and if only a few had this privilege it would crush solidarity. Advertisement As the horrors of Hitler's death camps emerged, the brothels swiftly became taboo. The mainly German women who had staffed them were too scarred by the experience to speak of it, whereas the male inmates who used them remained silent in shame. The exhibition in Ravensbrueck, where tens of thousands of women were murdered or died of hunger or disease, has video extracts of former prisoners remembering the brothels and their victims, as well as vouchers which were handed in for sex. "The theme invites voyeurism," said Insa Eschebach, head of the Ravensbrueck memorial site, which is why the exhibition relies mainly on the written word. One man who tried to break this enduring silence is former Buchenwald prisoner Albert van Dijk, a Dutchman from the town of Kampen, close to the German border. "Often I raised the subject of the 'special block' at meetings of former inmates of Buchenwald, but nobody ever wanted to discuss it or they said I was mistaken," said Van Dijk. The 83-year-old still vividly recalls how at the age of 18, among the despair and degradation of the camp, he fell for a blonde prostitute called Frieda and lost his virginity to her in the "special block". Although prostitution was officially forbidden by the Nazis, the elite SS guards had set up a network of brothels catering to German soldiers, forced laborers and prisoners, which they intended in part to stamp out homosexuality. From 1942 onwards, 200-300 gentile prisoners from the camp were forced to work in 10 camp brothels across Germany, Austria and Poland. Almost all had been imprisoned as "anti-social". At first some women volunteered for service as prostitutes, falsely informed they would be released after 6 months. Later they were forcibly recruited during roll call or even from the camp sick bay. Although the women got slightly better rations and could wear civilian clothes, the work reduced most to physical wrecks. Many caught sexually transmitted diseases, were subject to medical experiments or were forced to have abortions. Each woman used a small room where male prisoners, after a brief examination, were allowed 15 minutes. Guards looked through peep holes to check sex only took place lying down, as stated in the rules. After a full day of work in the camp, women spent two hours each night entertaining male prisoners, who paid two Reichsmark. Those who came to them held the most privileged positions among the hierarchy of prisoners, and had the best rations. The vast majority of the male prisoners were much too weak for sex. Frieda Frieda was the first woman Van Dijk had seen in six months. He was a teenager, sent to Buchenwald for fleeing a forced labor troop and smuggling rations to Kampen's Jews and was in awe of her. She appreciated his youthful coyness. "One day I was sent to clean in the block and I found myself alone with her... She gave me some Schnaps, blew cigarette smoke in my mouth and we landed in bed. It was my first time and you never forget." Later he had to pay like the others to see Frieda, a privilege allowed him as he was imprisoned neither on racial nor political grounds. "You could let your relatives send you money which was written on an account to spend in the camp," recalls Van Dijk. With grotesque efficiency, the SS camp administrators sometimes billed prisoners' families for services rendered in the brothel. Other prisoners told him he should be ashamed for spending his mother's money in the brothel, but in an environment where sexual exploitation was rife and young men sometimes bartered with sexual favours, Van Dijk saw nothing wrong. "Some young guys slept with older prisoners for an extra morsel of bread ... I was young and naive and thought Frieda was interested in me," he recalled. After liberation, forced laborers began their fight for compensation. But women who had worked in the brothels found they were unable to claim damages, because of the supposed "voluntary" nature of their work. Others, fearing stigmatization and the scorn they had already attracted from other prisoners, simply fell silent. Concentration camps have featured as a backdrop in some erotic films and a realm of sexual fantasy, exploiting the extreme power gulf between SS guards and prisoners, she said. Also on display in the exhibition are the few remaining photographs of the special blocks, where the rustic German furniture, vases of flowers and tablecloths belie the horror of what took place Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hezbollah abduction How the Lebanese militia captured two IDF reservists in 2006, illustrated in pictures. Kuntar's crimes Israeli YouTube video details the 1979 terror attack perpetrated by Samir Kuntar.   1.   Nazi brothels 15:19  |  siegfried buchwalte 11/07/07   2.   Survivors and perpetrators 16:01  |  Jonathan S 11/07/07   3.   Brothels 16:29  |  Gershon Ron 11/07/07   4.   Forced? 16:48  |  Dovy 11/07/07   5.   Let the dead bury the dead, your time will come 16:50  |  J. 11/07/07   6.   Sickness and evil unfathomable 16:56  |  Johnny 11/07/07   7.   criminals 17:40  |  TAZ 11/07/07   8.   Bloody Huns 18:11  |  Jake 11/07/07   9.   Brothels 18:20  |  Shana 11/07/07   10.   Not the whole picture 18:27  |  Dave 11/07/07   11.   Dovy shows off his Holocaust-denial credentials 18:33  |  Jake 11/07/07   12.   #4 - Learn to read 18:40  |  Max 11/07/07   13.   #9: Shana you`re wrong 19:02  |  Taiki 11/07/07   14.   Not In My Name 19:13  |  David Duke`s Friend 11/07/07   15.   Dovy 19:18  |  Connie 11/07/07   16.   #4 19:19  |  Jo 11/07/07   17.   About #4...the jerk knows this story is true but wants to play 19:24  |  D 11/07/07   18.   9 Shana. Learn to read! The article was about gentiles, not Jews! 19:37  |  Nannette 11/07/07   19.   #4 NO NAILS 19:52  |  TOBIA 11/07/07   20.   #5 and #9 We Need To Know This Stuff 19:58  |  GeneRx 11/07/07   21.   brothels 20:18  |  sleven 11/07/07   22.   #9 Shana-We Will NEVER FORGET 20:35  |  Klomp 11/07/07   23.   Nannette 20:35  |  Brak 11/07/07   24.   GeneRx 20:39  |  J 11/07/07   25.   This article is about Gentiles, NOT Jews people! 20:41  |  People! People! 11/07/07   26.   20 Brak The people dissing the Holocaust are non-Jews! 21:00  |  Nannette 11/07/07   27.   G-d bless you #1 & #3 21:05  |  rpc 11/07/07   28.   #7, TAZ, criminals didn`t get away 23:37  |  Lili Shi 11/07/07   29.   Kapos etc 00:57  |  Fritz 12/07/07   30.   #29 Fritz 01:25  |  * BEN JABO 12/07/07   31.   #25 People 01:33  |  * BEN JABO 12/07/07   32.   Read Mila 18 - by Leon Uris 01:34  |  * BEN JABO 12/07/07   33.   Can I Use My Last Two Tokens? 05:26  |  Leo Ivanaskratchitz 12/07/07   34.   nazi`s brortheld 06:41  |  aisa 03/11/07   35.   If gentile women, why not Jewish ? 04:24  |  michael mazur 03/07/08   36.   Concentration Camp Brothel-Aufseherinnen (Attendants) 00:14  |  Ricky J. 17/07/08

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