Masculinity on the Verge of Death. Sexuality of Male Prisoners of Auschwitz

Upon the entry into a Nazi concentration camp women and men were turned into shaved bodies in striped pajamas, their names turned to numbers. An aspect of dehumanization was the elimination of sexual identity. The prisoners’ sexual drive disappeared as food drive became the priority. However, a small group of inmates – mostly prisoner functionaries – was able to obtain extra food on the black market. For them sex became important again. It was a privilege and a status symbol. Because men and women were usually separated, situational homosexuality – homosexual behavior resulting from lack of access to heterosexual encounters – became the main way to express sexuality. Situational homosexual relationships ranged from consensual sex and sexual barter to sexual slavery and rape.

From 1942 on, the Nazis introduced special brothels for camp prisoners to the camp system. The aim was to increase the productivity of slave labour by giving prisoners incentives. Ten such brothels were built; two of them in Auschwitz. Female prisoners were forced to work there. Heterosexual experience in an SS-built brothel was a privilege granted to a small number of male prisoners. The SS permitted sex in the missionary position under observation. Masculinity was a privilege defined as dominant, hegemonic, virile, and exploitative. Female sexuality in the eyes of the SS was passive and subordinated to men, demonstrating the SS vision of sexuality as a patriarchal right.

Based on published and unpublished testimonies and 30 interviews I personally conducted, I will demonstrate the complexities of gendered male sexuality in Auschwitz and its importance in understanding the history of concentration camps and the Holocaust.