Kriegsbeziehungen: Intimität, Gewalt und Prostitution im besetzten Polen, 1939 bis 1945, by Maren Röger

Extract

Maren Röger’s book sets out to explore the everyday history of the German occupation of Poland through the lens of sexuality. Even though the Nazis banned relationships between Poles and Germans, intimate encounters took place, from consensual to violent, from brief encounters to marriages. Röger demonstrates that sexuality was the place where many of the occupation relationships were negotiated, and where the often brutal power of the German occupation was unleashed. Based on a wide array of archival sources in Polish and German, as well as oral histories, the book offers a wealth of insights into how gender worked during the occupation. Kriegsbeziehungen, which could be translated as ‘wartime relationships’ (an English translation of the book is forthcoming), show what kind of new society came about through the war. Thousands of German occupiers aged between 20 and 45 were stationed in Poland, as soldiers or in offices of the occupation; they came alone, either single or leaving their wives behind. The book covers all of occupied Poland (the General Government and the annexed Eastern territories) and is structured in three parts: prostitution, relationships and sexual violence.