Hitler's Furies Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Wendy Lower in Hitler’s Furies interrelates the adventures of 13 women who travelled to East Germany in search of jobs, fortune, romance, and even power. These young women (mostly secretaries, wives, teachers and nurses) saw the “wild east” as an exciting opportunity to acquire what most women in Germany dreamed about which were career advancement, marriage and valuable possessions. Hitler’s Furies attacks the claim that women in Germany were largely innocent and hardly participated in Nazi party’s devilry by using examples of seemingly “ordinary” German women who committed heinous crimes under the guise of patriotism. Their crimes were as low as being indignant bystanders to as high as been the perpetrators who were only too

For instance, throughout the book, she emphasises her point stating that women are not any different from men when it comes to violence, and they equally commit murder when given the opportunity in the right circumstance, but she refuses to acknowledge the male and female murder statistics. A modern statistical analysis which concludes, “Although women compromise more than half of the U.S population, they committed only 14.7% of the homicides noted during the study interval. In contrast to men, who killed non-intimate acquaintances, strangers, or victims of undetermined relationship in 80% of cases.” Although Hitler’s Furies is useful for learning the role women played in the Third Reich, it is a one-sided book with an agenda. Hence, it is not a book to be recommended for using as an academic source when examining the role of women in the Third Reich without prejudice. “That women, as well as men, can abuse their fellow human beings, is hardly the novelty she claims.” Consequently, Hitler’s Furies fails to fit the criteria of an academic resource concerning the History 358

For example, Lower provides an explanation for why these female perpetrators participated in the genocide - of Jews, asocials and other unfortunate groups in the Third Reich – by stating that “there is general agreement among scientists that the environment is the most important factor in determining whether one will become a perpetrator of genocide.” This argument implies that genocide is as a result of nurture and it seems fairly logical but she also goes on to argue that nature as a cause of genocide by stating that "the behaviour of the perpetrators was all too human… Genocide as an idea and act is a human phenomenon."Hence, Hitler’s Furies does not fit the criteria of an academic resource concerning the History 358