Scandalous art about forced prostitution in the Nazi state unfolds in Berlin

Scandalous art about forced prostitution in the Nazi state unfolds in Berlin

In the documentation center for Nazi compulsory work in Schöneweide, Berlin, Birgit Szepanski's art installation is presented "Missing Female Stories". This exhibition addresses the cruel conditions of forced prostitution in National Socialist Germany, especially in the so-called "B-Baracke". Szepanski illuminates the circumstances under which women in brothels for forced laborers: inside and the associated crimes that took place in the period from 1943. There is hardly any information about the women in the "B-Baracke" of what their stories and suffer in the shadow of history.

The installation includes a large rectangle made of thin fabric railways, which is modeled on the outline of the construction plans of the brothel barrack. These construction plans are the only documented traces of this place. The brown fabric is symbolic of the emptiness that prevails over what has happened. "Aryan" women and Jews were excluded from prostitution, while women who were considered "anti -social" were often forced to sex work. According to historians, between 300 and 500 forced laborers per prostitute.

history and discoveries

Birgit Sepanski received references to forced prostitution in a labor camp of the Henschel aircraft works. During her research, she discovered the construction drawings of the brothel barrack in the Treptow construction file archive. This barrack, which was only 500 meters from the Henschelwerk, had twelve rooms, each with only 3.75 m² in size. Men were able to visit the brothel room for 15 minutes, paying them to admission. Part of the money went to women.

Between 1944 and 1945 almost two million prisoners of war and millions of forced laborers who largely came from occupied areas had to work in the German war economy. The living conditions varied strongly, and people from the Soviet Union and Poland were particularly suppressed. From 1940, both men and women from attacked countries were recruited to eliminate the shortage of labor, which made the company a reality.

insights into the forced prostitution

historian Robert Sommer describes the National Socialist leadership as the "largest pimp in history". From 1934 prostitution in the Nazi state was actually legalized, but for many women this was a prelude to exploitation. At the beginning of the Second World War, control over prostitutes tightened, and the SS under Heinrich Himmler enabled the construction of brothels for "foreign workers" in 1940. These decisions show the systematic abuse, from the forced laborers: led inside.

The exhibition by Birgit Szepanski runs until April 6th and is accessible free of charge. Archaeological research on the "B-Baracke" is already planned in order to gain further knowledge about this dark section of the story. Over 3,000 forced labor camps are documented in Berlin, which illustrates the dimension of forced labor.

For more details on this topic, visit the articles from taz.de , nd-aktuell.de and bpb.de.