comfort women Sexual enslavement by Nazi Germany in World War II

Forced prostitution by the Nazi state for sexual gratification of German soldiers and members of other Nazi controlled organizations became prevalent in occupied Europe during World War II.[1] It is estimated that a minimum of 34,140 women from occupied states were forced to work as prostitutes during the Third Reich.[2] The brothels established by the Nazi state were for use by the soldiers of the Wehrmacht, SS officers, and foreign laborers working in the German Reich (including those working within the concentration camps).

The subject of forced prostitution and camp bordellos has remained largely taboo in studies of Nazism until recently, when the new publications by women researchers broke the silence. [3] [4]

Usually organized in hotels confiscated from their rightful owners, they also served travelling soldiers or those withdrawn from the front. Usually they also included a bar, a restaurant and a brothel. [5][6] In most cases, especially in the East, the women were forced to serve as prostitutes after being caught at random on the streets in Łapankas (Nazi German military kidnapping raids against civilians in Poland). [5] [6] [1] The authors of a 2004 German documentary on the victims of forced prostitution in Nazi Germany[1] estimate, that in 1942 alone there were over 500 such brothels for German soldiers all over Europe.[7][1] It is estimated that at least 34,140 women were forced to serve as prostitutes in Nazi brothels for soldiers, SS and Nazi officials, but also in similar institutions for slave laborers and privileged German concentration camp inmates[4] even though many more women remained silent about the experience after the end of the war.[2] According to a Gestapo report on one of such brothels located in Łódź in occupied Poland, there were roughly 4,000 visitors a month, including more than 3,000 soldiers of the Wehrmacht[8]

The hotels/brothels in question were known as German Soldier's Houses (German: Deutsches Soldatenhaus), DSH, or in German Militärbordelle or Wehrmachtsbordell.

Thomas Gaevert and Martin Hilbert, authors of a documentary called "Women as trophy" (made for ARD)[1] claim that Eastern European sex-slaves in the hands of German military were the most perfidious form of slave-labor of World War II. The revealing of the extent of their abuse is not always desirable, because many victims remain afraid of being wrongfully accused of collaboration with the occupier. [9]wiki