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Female Administrators of the Third Reich pp 115–130Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Secretaries, Secrets and Genocide

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide ((PSHG))

Abstract

As the secretaries gained an increased awareness of the Holocaust and Nazi atrocities, each was presented with an uncomfortable choice: to do nothing, to support the regime or to resist. Through individual case studies, this chapter assesses the actions that some of these women chose to take, and the consequences – or lack thereof – that faced them. Century demonstrates that while a tiny minority took limited action, others capitalised on the opportunity to rise through the ranks. Most women, however, chose to take no action and continued with their work with apparent indifference.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Testimony of Johanna Martha G., 7 June 1967, Topography of Terrors Archive (LG Berlin), 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXII, pp.153–159.

  2. 2.

    Testimony of Rosemarie von G., 12 June 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXIII pp.297–304.

  3. 3.

    Testimony of Elisabeth M., 25 January 1971 and 3 September 1970, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Sonderband II, pp.64–71 g.

  4. 4.

    Testimony of Brunhilde S., 3 July 1968, BArch LB, B 162/4559.

  5. 5.

    Testimony of Marie K., 3 November 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4169.

  6. 6.

    Testimony of Eva N., 25 September 1969, BArch LB, B 162/4557.

  7. 7.

    Interview with the author, Alison Owings, Frauen German. Women Recall the Third Reich (New Brunswick, New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 1994), pp.317–318.

  8. 8.

    For an example of a guard who was put inside a camp, see Rudolf Höss, Death Dealer: the Memoirs of the SS Kommandant at Auschwitz, Steven Paskuly, ed., translated by Andrew Pollinger (New York: Da Capo Press, 1996), p.149.

  9. 9.

    Robert Gellately, Backing Hitler. Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), chapter 3, ‘Concentration Camps and Media Reports’.

  10. 10.

    Testimony of Johanna H., 14 June 1966, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XIX, pp.125–148.

  11. 11.

    Testimony of Johanna Q., 4 January 1968, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd.XXXIV, pp.227–235.

  12. 12.

    Testimony of Marie K., 23 April 1970, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. 80, pp.131–135.

  13. 13.

    Testimony of Waleska B., 5 March 1965, BArch LB, B 162/4553.

  14. 14.

    Testimony of Gertrude K., 1 November 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4169.

  15. 15.

    Testimony of Erika S., 19 September 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXVII, pp.32–35.

  16. 16.

    Testimony of Margarete S., 13 September 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXII, pp.50–60.

  17. 17.

    Testimony of Erna G., 11 November 1968, BArch LB, B 162/4556.

  18. 18.

    Testimony of Hildegard H., 21 June1968, BArch LB, B 162/4556.

  19. 19.

    Testimony of Hildegard T., 17 October 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4174.

  20. 20.

    Testimony of Herta M., 29 September 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4170.

  21. 21.

    Hans Safrian, Eichmann’s Men, translated by Ute Stargardt (New York: Cambridge University Press, in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2010), pp.57, 61, 89, 154.

  22. 22.

    Testimony of Ilse B., 11 October 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4162.

  23. 23.

    Testimony of Ilse B., 11 October 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4162.

  24. 24.

    Yaacov Lozowick, Hitler’s Bureaucrats: The Nazi Security Police and the Banality of Evil, translated by Haim Watzman (London; New York: Continuum, 2002), p.97.

  25. 25.

    Testimony of Elsa H., 21 June 1966, BArch LB, B 162/4168.

  26. 26.

    Internationaler Militärgerichtshof Der Prozeß gegen die Hauptkriegsverbrecher vor dem Internationalen Militärgerichtshof (Nuremberg: Internationaler Militärgerichtshof, 1947–1949) 27, 2–3 cited in Safrian, Eichmann’s Men, p.103.

  27. 27.

    YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, Occ E 3–36, letter of Generalkommissar of Belorussia, Minsk, 16 December 1941, to Reichkommissar Hinrich Lohse, signed by Wilhelm Kube, cited in Safrian, Eichmann’s Men, pp.106–107.

  28. 28.

    YIVO Occ E 3–41, fol.3 and Nuremberg Doc. 3428-PS, IMT 32, 280–281, report from Generalkommissar Weißruthenien to Reichskommissar Ostland, 31 July 1942, regarding Combatting Partisans and Aktionen against Jews in the General District White Ruthenia, signed by Kube, cited in Safrian, Eichmann’s Men, p.127.

  29. 29.

    Testimony of Liesbeth B., 20 June 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXIII, pp.10–15.

  30. 30.

    Testimony of Johanna H., 14 June 1966, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XIX, pp.125–148.

  31. 31.

    Testimony of Hildegard T., 17 October 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4174.

  32. 32.

    Testimony of Elisabeth M., 25 January 1971 and 3 September 1970, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Sonderband II, pp.64–71 g.

  33. 33.

    Testimony of Marie K., 23 April 1970, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. 80, pp.131–135.

  34. 34.

    Testimony of Marie K., 8 November 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4169.

  35. 35.

    Testimony of Ursula F., 27 September 1966, BArch LB, B 162/4555.

  36. 36.

    Testimony of Johanna H., 14 June 1966, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XIX, pp.125–148.

  37. 37.

    Testimony of Erika A., 24 October 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXVIII, pp.127–148.

  38. 38.

    Testimony of Elisabeth M., 8 September 1966, BArch LB, B 162/4170.

  39. 39.

    Testimony of Hildegard J., 4 September 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4168.

  40. 40.

    Gemma La Guardia Gluck, My Story, S. L. Shneiderman, ed. (New York: David McKay, 1961), pp.x–xi.

  41. 41.

    Gluck, My Story, S. L. Shneiderman, ed., and Rochelle G. Saidel, Fiorello’s Sister: Gemma La Guardia Gluck’s Story (Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2007), pp.24–103, and Rochelle G. Saidel, The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006), pp.109–120.

  42. 42.

    Testimony of Luise H., 7 June 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXIII, pp.53–58.

  43. 43.

    Testimony of Waleska B., 5 March 1965, BArch LB, B 162/4553.

  44. 44.

    Testimony of Johanna Q., 4 January 1968, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd.XXXIV, pp.227–235.

  45. 45.

    Testimony of Gertraud F., 23 June 1960, BArch LB, B 162/1602.

  46. 46.

    Testimony of Hildegard J., 4 September 1967, BArch LB, B 162/4168.

  47. 47.

    Testimony of Elisabeth M., 25 January 1971 and 3 September 1970, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Sonderband II, pp.64–71 g.

  48. 48.

    Testimony of Erika M. (married name A.), 20 June 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXII, pp.204–211.

  49. 49.

    Testimony of Erika A., 24 October 1967 LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXXVIII, pp.127–148.

  50. 50.

    Testimony of Maria B., 24 May 1967, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XXIX, pp.146–151.

  51. 51.

    Testimony of Johanna H., 14 June 1966, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd. XIX, pp.125–148. She does not specify why she was considered guilty of friendliness to Jews.

  52. 52.

    Testimony of Johanna Q., 4 January 1968, LG Berlin, 3P Ks 1/71 gegen Otto Bovensiepen und andere, Bd.XXXIV, pp.227–235.

  53. 53.

    Michael Wildt, An Uncompromising Generation. The Nazi Leadership of the Reich Security Main Office (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), pp.177–178.

  54. 54.

    Ursula Nienhaus ‘Himmlers willige Komplizinnen – Weibliche Polizei im Nationalsozialismum 1937–1945,’ in Michael Gruettner, Ruediger Hachtmann, and Heinz-Gerhard Haupt, eds., Geschichte und Emazipation: Festschrift fuer Reinhard Ruerup (Frankfurt am Main: Campus Verlag, 1999), pp.527–533.

  55. 55.

    For some (limited) information on Uckermark, see for example A.Ebbinghaus, Opfer und Täterinnen, Frauenbiographien des Nationalsozialismus (Nördlingen: F. Greno, 1987), and Saidel, The Jewish Women.

  56. 56.

    Wildt, An Uncompromising Generation, pp.177–178.

  57. 57.

    Elisabeth Kohlhaas, ‘Gertrud Slottke – Angestellte im niederländischen Judenreferat der Sicherheitspolizei’ in Klaus-Michael Mallmann and Gerhard Paul, eds., Karrieren der Gewalt, Nationalsozialistische Täterbiographien (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft: 2004, Darmstadt), p.207.

  58. 58.

    Testimony of Gertrud Slottke, 3 October 1968, BArch LB, B 162/4173.

  59. 59.

    Dto.v.15.6.1942, Recueil (Anm.17), Bd.3, RF-1217, cited in Claudia Steur, ‘Eichmanns Emissäre: Die “Judenberater” in Hitlers Europe’, in Gerhard Paul and Klaus-Michael Mallmann, eds., Die Gestapo im Zweiten Weltkrieg. ‘Heimatfront’ und besetztes Europa (Darmstadt: Primus Verlag, 2000), p.414.

  60. 60.

    Gerhard Schoenberner, The Yellow Star. the Persecution of the Jews in Europe, 1933–1945 (New York: Fordham University Press, 2004), p.130.

  61. 61.

    Kohlhaas, ‘Gertrud Slottke’ in Mallmann and Paul, eds., Karrieren der Gewalt, pp.211–212.

  62. 62.

    Testimony of Gertrud Slottke, 4 October 1968, BArch LB, B 162/4173.

  63. 63.

    Wilhelm Zoepf’s testimony 23 February 1966, cited in Kohlhaas, ‘Gertrud Slottke’ in Mallmann and Paul, eds., Karrieren der Gewalt, p.213.

  64. 64.

    Testimony of former colleagues, cited in Kohlhaas, ‘Gertrud Slottke’ in Mallmann and Paul, eds., p.212.

  65. 65.

    Kohlhaas, ‘Gertrud Slottke’ in Mallmann and Paul, eds., Karrieren der Gewalt, p.209.

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    Rachel Century

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Century, R. (2017). Secretaries, Secrets and Genocide. In: Female Administrators of the Third Reich. Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54893-1_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-54893-1_5

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