Sexual assualt & the Holocaust

[Sickoffamilydrama]

Don't know what I'm expecting from this post just more sharing my frustrations.

I've just finished reading Cilka's Journey which I know is fiction weaved around what facts & research could be found. I thought the author dealt well with the complexity of sexual violence and rape.

Anyway this lead me down the path of looking up the woman the book is based around to find her stepson is suing the author, mostly it looks like he's denying she was raped but I can't be certain as obviously not privy to the legal documents. The law allows him to sue so that's fair enough.

Looking at this I discovered that a lot of holocaust museums seem to deny or brush over sexual violence during that time and it has really frustrated me especially as it appears there's a lot of oral history of women talking about them witnessing other women being assaulted, they almost never say themselves were a victim which again is understandable. I understand there's a layer of shame around it all but it's really frustrated/saddened me that part of history isn't taken seriously and is effectively denied.

So I thought I'd share my frustrations with you all.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_Bosnian_War
I expect rape is used against women, men and children in every war. In the quote here, I couldn't read closely enough but what I remember hearing is the women's testimony that when they were captured, 'soldiers' came every night for whoever they wanted, including the children. One six year old girl was raped night after night. I don't think I've ever got over hearing that. Just hearing about it was traumatising. God help the women involved.

@Sickoffamilydrama here's a non-paywalled link (the Telegraph are rubbish - that story dates from pre the introduction of their paywall, and they've retrospectively pay-walled it!) Anyway, the article was on Kathryn Bolkovac, and here's a profile of her from elsewhere.

moralheroes.org/kathryn-bolkovac/

This is so depressing. Humans man 😑

Thanks Cara yes Irish it is horrible but I also have faith in human kinds ability to change, but people need to see the need to change and if we don't talk about these horrors no one will see the need to change things.

If you believe that women and children are the property of men and you also believe that damaging property damages the owner then it’s pretty easily to see why rape is a weapon used by military forces. If you believe that men’s status is reduced if they are raped - rape is a weapon.

I suspect the reason it isn’t discussed by the victorious is because they don’t want their own conduct brought into the light.

@CaraDuneRedux

I had never heard of Kathryn Bolkovac or the website Moral Heroes. Thank you for posting the link.

You might be interested in reading Svetlana Alexievich who was a Russian journalist in the wars - particularly recommend the unwomanly faces or war. Very tough reading but a side of war never really discussed, that of female soldiers and participants

I'll look that up saucey

I wonder will Rhonda and Bosnia Herzegovina see secondary affects from all the trauma? What happens to the children of the women who undoubtedly will have PTSD.

I know there's thoughts that the trauma to father's from WW2 caused a spike in serial killers. Will the same happen again but only in those nations?

Awful to think of the generational legacy.