Female Killers

German women made a vital contribution to genocidewithin the context of the Nazi racial hygieneprogram. Female Killers examines the role played byfemale nurses in the crimes of the Nazi regime.Through a detailed study of nurses who participatedin the Nazi euthanasia program at the Hadamarkilling centre, Female Killers examineswomen's agency and their contribution tothe crimes of the Nazi regime. This study appliessociologist Zygmunt Bauman's writings aboutmodernity and Holocaust and evaluates the ways inwhich the organization of the killing enterpriseimpacted upon the conduct of female nurses and howthey reconciled their involvement in the killingswith their consciences. It argues that nurses'compliance with murder evolved incrementally as theybecame embedded within the bureaucratic-medicalnetwork of murder. By the time nurses grasped thedepth of their complicity in murder, they had becometoo enmeshed in the machinery of murder to extricatethemselves from its operations.This study contributes to broader historicalunderstandings of perpetrator behaviour and theHolocaust. The appendices present previouslyunpublished documents.

Autorentext

Sharon M. Harrison BA(Hons) MA(Hist) is a graduate of the School of Historical Studies, the University of Melbourne and is undertaking a PhD on Belgian labour in Germany during the Second World War at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, the University of Edinburgh.

Klappentext
German women made a vital contribution to genocide within the context of the Nazi racial hygiene program. Female Killers examines the role played by female nurses in the crimes of the Nazi regime. Through a detailed study of nurses who participated in the Nazi euthanasia program at the Hadamar killing centre, Female Killers examines women's agency and their contribution to the crimes of the Nazi regime. This study applies sociologist Zygmunt Bauman's writings about modernity and Holocaust and evaluates the ways in which the organization of the killing enterprise impacted upon the conduct of female nurses and how they reconciled their involvement in the killings with their consciences. It argues that nurses' compliance with murder evolved incrementally as they became embedded within the bureaucratic-medical network of murder. By the time nurses grasped the depth of their complicity in murder, they had become too enmeshed in the machinery of murder to extricate themselves from its operations. This study contributes to broader historical understandings of perpetrator behaviour and the Holocaust. The appendices present previously unpublished documents.