Obozowa przemoc seksualna i obscena w relacji Lieby Tiefenbrun o przeżyciach w obozie płaszowskim
Sexual Violence and Lewdness in Lieba Tiefenbrun’s Account of Her Experiences in the Płaszów Concentration Camp

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the account made by Lieba Tiefenbrun in Tarnów in May 1945 (Archive of the Jewish Historical Institute – “Accounts” Unit 301/1182). The twenty-five-year-old woman reported on her experiences in the Płaszów, Auschwitz, Stutthof and Praust camps. One of the recounted episodes is markedly different from both the rest of her narration and from the dominating narration of camp experiences of women. Lieba Tiefenbrun recounts sexual violence against Płaszów women inmates. What is interesting in her account is not only the sole fact that it includes this strongly-tabooed motif, but also the way it is recounted: Tiefenbrun cites the obscene, offensive language of both male and female inmates. Her description of experiences of women in Płaszów shows how strongly the perception of camp experiences has been influenced by the knowledge and memory of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. It induces one to have another look at the archives, this time focusing on those motifs in women’s accounts of camp experiences that have been left out of the official discourse.

• Details
• Contents