Gendered Disparities in the Portrayal of Rescuers

Abstract

This chapter highlights a significant gender disparity in the depiction of male versus female rescuers in European Holocaust cinema. Given that historical accounts emphasise women as the main actors in rescue activities, this chapter explores how and to what extent this reality is reflected in European Holocaust cinema. It takes into consideration a wide range of films centred on the topic of rescue, but examines more closely two recent productions: Ludi Boeken’s Army of Saviours (2009) and Rose Bosch’s The Round Up (2010). The chapter contends that the limited presence of leading female characters in rescue narratives, the popularity of romantic plots and the preference for fictional scripts are symptomatic of the general downplaying of female heroines who fit uneasily into the Holocaust pantheon.