The role of gender in the Holocaust

In 1933, Adolf Hitler, became the leader of Germany and the one responsible for the Holocaust. Though there are not an exact number of the Jewish deaths, but more women than men were killed. The men and women are not treated as equals either in this time period. In the eyes of the Nazis, men were stronger and had more to offer than the women. Gender plays a role in the Holocaust; the men are used to do labor and the women are considered weaker and not as valuable.

In the beginning of the Holocaust, Jewish men were the head of the household and provided for the family. As the Holocaust starts to move forward, the Nazi’s anti-Jewish laws forced most Jewish men out of employment. The Jewish women then stepped in to provide for their family. The women found work in a community that was Jewish. They slowly had to do everything for their family. The Jewish men found it difficult to be in public due to their loss of work and found it embarrassing. The Jewish men are also targeted for violence and stayed home from it. The women bought groceries, cleaned, sewed, stretched out food budgets, stretched out food, filed paperwork, and found sources of income. However, at first, men were the provider for their family. Gradually the women became the superior in the household (Cushman 3).

Later, the Nazis began taking the Jewish men and women to concentration camps. They took the men first for two reasons. The men are accustomed with doing manual labor for the Nazis. They also took the men first because the Nazis thought the women would die quicker without the men. In some cases, the women did die because they did not have a husband to rely on, but in the case when the women are independent they continued to live. When the men left for the camps t...

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.... This psychological trauma caused the survivors to be paranoid and distant from others. The mothers are more likely to suffer from life-long emotional and mental afflictions including post-traumatic stress disorder. Depending on what the mother or father went through determines how it affects their children (Pierpaoli 5).

Overall, the Nazis used men to do labor and the women are considered weaker and not valuable. The women are weaker because they had a harder time giving up their children and are not as strong as men. They are considered useless because they did not provide anything for the Nazis. Gender played a major role because it also decided if they are going to die or not. In the cases of women, they are killed because they were unneeded. Fewer men died because they were needed. Their gender determined the fate of the Jewish men and women in the Holocaust.