„Panienki”, „szwungi”, „fajfusy”, „laleczki”. Oprzemocy seksualnej wobec mężczyzn w obozach koncentracyjnych
“Sissies”, “Buggers”, “Fruits”: Sexual Violence Against Men in Concentration Camps

Summary/Abstract: Ostrowska examines homosexual barter relations in the Auschwitz-Birkenau-Monowitz camp complex. In Polish collective memory, a pipel – an inmate functionary’s helper – designates a male victim of rape by homosexual prisoners. For years, homosexual relations between all categories of concentration camp inmates have been falsely attributed to men convicted of homosexual acts. After the war, men sentenced under section 175 continued to be criminalised; often they were also viewed as collaborators rather than victims. Victims of sexual violence, meanwhile, often remained anonymous. Ostrowska sheds light on the functioning of post-war phantasms about sexual violence against men. She uses the few surviving testimonies by victims, co-prisoners’ accounts as well as literary sources that are still unavailable in Polish (Yehiel De-Nur).

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