"Places for the Displaced": biographische Bewältigungsmuster von weiblichen jüdischen Konzentrationslager-Überlebenden in den USA

Analyzes in detail interviews with ten women (out of a total of 25 interviewed): three originally from Germany, three from Czechoslovakia, two from Hungary, and two from Poland, all of them born between 1912-1929. All were at some time in Ravensbrück, mostly near the end of the war after passing through other concentration and labor camps. Records their reactions and those of their families to the beginnings of Nazi persecution in their homelands, to deportation, and to the concentration camp experience; and finally to liberation and to a new life in the U.S. Describes stratagems of survival, and the value of mutual support between family members and amongst women who were able to join in groups and networks, but notes that these groups were exclusive as well as inclusive. Disputes the theory that women's socialization predisposed them for bonding with others. Ultimately, the prisoners' lives were controlled by the SS, and every woman's first concern was her own survival.