I have read many books about the Holocaust, mostly novels and survivor's memoirs- this was the first Non Fiction book I have read strictly about German or Nazi woman during that period. The author did extensive research (her notes are 50 pages long! and very detailed.) and you can tell she cares deeply about this topic. It was a quick read, that keeps you interested to end. I learned some things I did not know (things appalling, but given the history of the era- not unbelievable.)I completely recommend it to anyone interested in the era or even Women's history. ( )

WARNING: THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR THOSE WITH A WEAK STOMACH, THE OVERLY PASSIONATE OR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18.

This book has taken me a tremendously long amount of time to finish; not because it is badly written or long-winded, but because it overwhelms the reader’s emotions to such a point that you need to put it down and walk away. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart, and can only be digested in small, not so easily swallowed mouthfuls.

In writing this book the Author pulls on her twenty years experience as an archival researcher and also things she learnt whilst out doing field work; it shows in the way the book is put together that she felt this was a part of history that needed to be told, warts and all, and covers a part of Nazi Germany that has remained untold.

Through a series of detailed biographies, the Author introduces the reader to each of the “Furies” in the title; we see their simple and ordinary backgrounds, which are all relatively diverse, but all had one reason to go to the Eastern front and this was also simple; money, duty to the Reich, keeping the family together and social or political connections. Once there, however, their stories take on lives of their own and, in some cases these are very chilling and hard to comprehend in today’s society. These women came from areas of their society as diverse as nurses, secretaries and teachers, but each of the women mentioned in this book all had one thing in common, they became a part of the “Final Solution”.

The Author carefully and skilfully separates the women in the book according to their level of participation in these events, whether it is as witnesses to events, indifference at what was happening or, as the reader finds in some cases, just acceptance. By direct or indirect participation, these women could, by no means, be all ‘lumped together’, as each had their own motivations for doing what they did, as chilling as they may have been. Also brought to light is the fact that while many of their male counterparts were the subject of aggressive manhunts that spanned the globe, these women were left untouched and allowed to escape any accountability for their actions by claiming ignorance. I’m not sure if they could be said to have gone on to lead ‘normal’ lives, but the latter part of this provocative and highly emotional read looks into theories that try to explain their participation in such atrocities. The banality of evil was a phrase that came to mind every time I picked up this book and read a little more of their actions. After reading this book, I felt that I am going to need some time away from my much-loved books, both fiction and non-fiction, that cover this period of our history it affected me so much.

I would cautiously recommend this book to all that are interested in this period of history, but if you are going to read it you need to be aware it will move you in ways you never imagined.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2013/10/02/review-hitlers-furies-german-women-in-the-...


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Lower könyve elsƑsorban nĂ©hĂĄny nƑi portrĂ©bĂłl ĂĄll – ĂĄpolĂłnƑk, felesĂ©gek, titkĂĄrnƑk pĂĄlyafutĂĄsĂĄrĂłl olvashatunk, akik a mĂĄsodik vilĂĄghĂĄborĂș Ă©veit a nĂĄcik ĂĄltal gyarmatosĂ­tott keleti vĂ©geken töltöttĂ©k. A tĂĄrgyalt esemĂ©nyek sajnĂĄlatosan ismerƑsek lehetnek azoknak, akik mĂĄr Ă©rintettĂ©k a tĂ©mĂĄt, Ă©s hangja, ez a tĂ©nyszerƱ, de kevĂ©ssĂ© tĂĄrgyilagos hang sem ĂșjdonsĂĄg. (Hiszen lehet-e egy nĂ©pirtĂĄsrĂłl tĂĄrgyilagosan beszĂ©lni? Szabad-e?) NĂ©zƑpontja viszont ĂșjszerƱ. Amellett Ă©rvel ugyanis, hogy Hitler rezsimjĂ©nek sikeressĂ©ge sokkal többet köszönhetett a nƑknek, mint ezt ĂĄltalĂĄban hajlandĂłak vagyunk elismerni. A hĂĄborĂș utĂĄni visszaemlĂ©kezĂ©sekben a nĂ©met asszony többnyire mint ĂĄldozat jelent meg: a nemi erƑszak elszenvedƑje, a szĂ©thullĂł csalĂĄdok összetartĂłja, az „ĂșjjĂĄĂ©pĂ­tƑ”. TermĂ©szetesen joggal, ĂĄm Lower felhĂ­vja a figyelmet, hogy bĂĄr megnyugtatĂł ennĂ©l a szemlĂ©letnĂ©l maradni (legalĂĄbb Ƒk mentek maradtak a bƱntƑl!), de törtĂ©nelmileg tarthatatlan.

A kötet koronĂĄja, az utolsĂł pĂĄr fejezet, melyet konklĂșziĂłkĂ©nt is Ă©rtelmezhetĂŒnk. Ebben Lower a törtĂ©nelmi adatok megvizsgĂĄlĂĄsa utĂĄn etikai Ă©s filozĂłfiai Ă©rtelemben is kibontja a tĂ©mĂĄt, szembesĂ­t a nĂĄcitlanĂ­tĂł bĂ­rĂłsĂĄgok erkölcsi kompromisszumaival, azzal, hogy hasznĂĄltĂĄk ki a nƑi hĂĄborĂșs bƱnösök az apolitikus nƑrƑl kialakult elƑítĂ©letet, hogy megmenekĂŒljenek a bĂŒntetĂ©stƑl
 Csupa kellemetlen, megvĂĄlaszolhatatlan morĂĄlis kĂ©rdĂ©st tesz fel az olvasĂłnak – finoman szĂłlva is nyugtalanĂ­tĂł. FĂĄjdalmas olvasmĂĄny. Pont olyan, amilyennek lennie kell. ( )

Wendy Lower's book offers some superb insights, and not just the much overlooked role of women in Nazi genocide. It also provides a better understanding of the psychology of the perpetrators as well as the scope of German war crimes.

The first thing we learn is that female brutality was not limited to camp guards, who numbered no more than 3,500. There were potentially tens of thousands of women who had the opportunity to take part in the apparatus of looting, exploitation and killing. First and foremost were the nurses, who were heavily implicated in the Nazi "euthanasia" campaigns against the physically and mentally handicapped. These activities started in the late 1930s, prior to the Final Solution. It was a “dress rehearsal" which even included the gassing of victims on a small scale -- a harbinger of the systematic gassings of Auschwitz.

Later, during the war, thousands of women were employed as secretaries and administrators by the SS and Gestapo, both in Germany and in the occupied territories. Many staffed the bureaucracy of the concentration camps and einsatzengruppen (mobile death squads). At least some of these women were more than passive desk workers. They took an active part in the processing, maltreatment and even killing of Jews and other victims. This was especially true of women who ostensibly had no official role at all in the SS machinery -- the wives of Nazi officials and commanders. They frequently proved to be just as brutal (albeit on a smaller scale) than their husbands.

As for the psychology of Nazi women, Lower describes them as being young, ambitious, and callous: "I imagined a young female clerk in a powerful office in Berlin, satisfied not to be working in a factory or on a farm, routinely typing and stamping deportation lists... daydreaming about her social plans after work and those pretty shoes that she had seen in a shop window that morning. She was just 'doing her job' and eyeing its material rewards."

They were, in fact, the sort of amoral individuals who thrive under any totalitarian regime. Nor do I think it was merely the anti-Semitism and racism that motivated them, as depraved as that was. After all, Europe had experienced similar bigotry over the centuries, but never on this scale. From its earliest beginnings, the Nazi system was completely uninhibited in advocacy and use of violence. Nazi ideology was based on a ruthless utopianism: "Studies of perpetrator motivation explain that those who incite acts of hate are seeking to rid themselves and the world around them of its unsettling, messy ambiguities and complexity."

The final lesson of Lower’s book is the sheer ubiquity of Nazi brutality. In the immediate wake of World War II it was believed that genocide had been confined to a few dozen concentration camps. But as Hitler’s Furies make clear, murder and depredations in the eastern territories were commonplace (fostered by systemic opportunism, theft and corruption). Admittedly there was a paradox, which Lower touches on. Officially the regime did not publicize its killing activities. Individuals could be prosecuted for speaking too openly about it. By contrast, the official language of genocide was very euphemistic. That said, it seems that ordinary soldiers and civilians in many of the occupied areas of Poland, Ukraine and Russia would have been exposed to some aspect of Nazi atrocities. As Lower puts it, although only a minority (albeit a larger one that hitherto imagined) were active “perpetrators,” still more were “accomplices,” who were fully aware of their role as enablers and beneficiaries of the system.

The only debatable point is Lower's treatment of “witnesses.” These were the women who recognized what was happening and distanced themselves from the killing as much as they could. Lower's discussion is slightly ambiguous. At times she seems aware of the fear and repression which would preclude more active resistance by the majority of decent individuals; on the other, she appears judgmental of their inactivity. In the end, it is perhaps impossible for us to say what could and not have been done. After all, these sorts of moral patterns -- in terms of culpability and innocence -- were at work not just in the Third Reich. They existed in Stalinist Russia, Pol Pot’s Cambodia, Mao’s China, and anywhere that top-down tyranny ensures widespread compliance. That said, one cannot but share Lower’s keen disappointment that so few of the women chronicled ever faced justice in this life and that the prosecution of less prominent Nazi criminals after the war was so deficient. ( )