Summary Of The Camp Sister By Ruth Kay

Another significant difference in the experience of women relates to their relationship with children. Only women were faced with the decision whether to stay with their children and face their demise, or to leave their young ones behind. The Jewish women that successfully made their way into the camp eventually had to make the choice between their own life and that of their children. This was a conflicting reversal of natural order as a moment of giving life turns into a moment of death, as a mother’s choice to live meant death for the newborn baby. This was a betrayal of their maternal nature.

Ruth Bondy, a survivor of the Holocaust acknowledged that death swept men and women the same way. However, she still dealt with the issue of gender,

The key to the idea of survival as resistance is the exercising of some choice in their lives. For the women, attempting to carry on some semblance of a “normal” life in the face of the wretched conditions was resistance. Within the ghettos, efforts to maintain a normal life included creating Jewish cultural institutions, continuing to observe religious holidays and rituals, providing education and collecting documentation. In concentration camps, women spiritually resisted persecution by uniting together to support each other in order to survive. This strategy was known as the “Camp Sister”, or the Lagerschwestern, which comprised of women sharing their food and resources as well as protecting one another from the threats and attacks from the Nazis. The camp sisters were a way for the women to keep each other alive. This strategy seems to be a gender-specific coping mechanism. Male friendships were never as significant or bonded as those of the women. Lawrence Langer argues that the relationships between women may have been a result of the different work situations of men and women. This may be true, but it does not eliminate the gendered nature. Women’s vulnerability as well as their sensitivity ensured that they formed friendships that would help them get through the

The body is gender-related as it bears importance as part of the socio-cultural framework. Sexual abuse was a significant difference between the experiences that Jewish women had compared to the men. Although there were men, mainly youths, who suffered from sexual abuse, more women were subjected to sexual exploitation and assaults. The cases of rape may be rare and not a constant threat, but it still contributed to the women’s suffering and psychological harm. A series of memories, Still Alive, written by Ruth Kluger tells her tale of being a young girl whose happy life was destroyed, as she recalled the humiliation and terror that she suffered as a child in the camps. Her experience speaks on behalf of many other