Upcoming Third Thursdays, IHE Lunch and Learn
December 17th with Kael Sagheer, IHE Education Coordinator
11:30 am -1:00 pm
Ravenbrück: Life and Death in Hitler’s Concentration Camp for Women
By Sarah Helm
Kael Sagheer, IHE Education Coordinator will be teaching about the book and then leading a discussion. It is not necessary to read the book. We will send you a synopsis when you register. Please email ibanks@ihene.org to receive your summary and zoom link.
Ravensbrück, from the outside, was a prison/re-education center (1939-45) for women who were a threat to German society. From the inside, it was a place of torture, infanticide, prostitution, theft, slave labor, medical experiments, and murder. According to those who survived it, Ravensbrück was its very own kind of hell—one only understood by those inside the walls. In her 658-page book, Sarah Helms tells the previously unknown story of Ravensbrück through historical investigation and personal narratives of inmates as well as German personnel. Each story is a complete tale of the human experience. Yet each one is also a piece of the whole picture that is Ravensbrück. Unfortunately, not every story of the nearly 140,000 women could be known. Many voices were lost in that dark place. The voice that we will be focusing on Dec. 17th is that of Johanna Langefeld, the Oberaufseherin of Ravensbrück. Quite often when teaching and talking about the Holocaust, the question, “How could good people let this happen?” comes up. It is both an earnest and a rhetorical question because to answer it takes a considerable amount of thought and exploration. Our hope is that through Johanna’s story we will be able to explore whether she deserves our empathy or condemnation, and whether we can make a personal connection to Johanna or others like her.
