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Violent, Erotic, Brainwashed: Stereotypes of Female Perpetrators in Holocaust Films between 1945 and 2000

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Women in European Holocaust Films

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Abstract

This chapter examines the cinematic representation of women as accomplices and perpetrators grouped into three categories that received visibility in European Holocaust films: concentration camp guards, secretaries and medical personnel. At the core of this chapter are films such as The Last Stage (1948), The Passenger (1963), Seven Beauties (1976), Europa, Europa (1991), Gloomy Sunday (1999) and Spring of Life (2000). It argues that the paucity of female figures working within the Nazi system goes hand in hand with their confinement to stereotypes of violent, erotic, sexually perverted and ridiculous characters.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dundalk Institute of Technology, Dundalk, Ireland

    Ingrid Lewis

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  1. Ingrid Lewis
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Correspondence to Ingrid Lewis .

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Lewis, I. (2017). Violent, Erotic, Brainwashed: Stereotypes of Female Perpetrators in Holocaust Films between 1945 and 2000. In: Women in European Holocaust Films. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65061-6_6

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