This weekend I was schmoozing at an event when some guy asked me what kind of history I study. I said “I’m currently researching the role of gender in Jewish emigration out of the Third Reich,” and he replied “oh you just threw gender in there for fun, huh?” and shot me what he clearly thought to be a charming smile.
The reality is that most of our understandings of history revolve around what men were doing. But by paying attention to the other half of humanity our understanding of history can be radically altered.
For example, with Jewish emigration out of the Third Reich it is just kind of assumed that it was a decision made by a man, and the rest of his family just followed him out of danger. But that is completely inaccurate. Women, constrained to the private social sphere to varying extents, were the first to notice the rise in social anti-Semitism in the beginning of Hitler’s rule. They were the ones to notice their friends pulling away and their social networks coming apart. They were the first to sense the danger.
German Jewish men tended to work in industries which were historically heavily Jewish, thus keeping them from directly experiencing this “social death.” These women would warn their husbands and urge them to begin the emigration process, and often their husbands would overlook or undervalue their concerns (“you’re just being hysterical” etc). After the Nuremberg Laws were passed, and after even more so after Kristallnacht, it fell to women to free their husbands from concentration camps, to run businesses, and to wade through the emigration process.
The fact that the Nazis initially focused their efforts on Jewish men meant that it fell to Jewish women to take charge of the family and plan their escape. In one case, a woman had her husband freed from a camp (to do so, she had to present emigration papers which were not easy to procure), and casually informed him that she had arranged their transport to Shanghai. Her husband—so traumatized from the camp—made no argument. Just by looking at what women were doing, our understanding of this era of Jewish history is changed.
I have read an article arguing that the Renaissance only existed for men, and that women did not undergo this cultural change. The writings of female loyalists in the American Revolutionary period add much needed nuance to our understanding of this period. The character of Jewish liberalism in the first half of the twentieth century is a direct result of the education and socialization of Jewish women. I can give you more examples, but I think you get the point.
So, you wanna understand history? Then you gotta remember the ladies (and not just the privileged ones).
Holy fuck. I was raised Jewish— with female Rabbis, even!— and I did not hear about any of this. Gender studies are important.
“so you just threw gender in there for fun” ffs i hope you poured his drink down his pants
I actually studied this in one of my classes last semester. It was beyond fascinating.
There was one woman who begged her husband for months to leave Germany. When he refused to listen to her, she refused to get into bed with him at night, instead kneeling down in front of him and begging him to listen to her, or if he wouldn’t listen to her, to at least tell her who he would listen to. He gave her the name of a close, trusted male friend. She went and found that friend, convinced him of the need to get the hell out of Europe, and then brought him home. Thankfully, her husband finally saw sense and moved their family to Palestine.
Another woman had a bit more control over her own situation (she was a lawyer). She had read Mein Kampf when it was first published and saw the writing on the wall. She asked her husband to leave Europe, but he didn’t want to leave his (very good) job and told her that he had faith in his countrymen not to allow an evil man to have his way. She sent their children to a boarding school in England, but stayed in Germany by her husband’s side. Once it was clear that if they stayed in Germany they were going to die, he fled to France but was quickly captured and killed. His wife, however, joined the French Resistance and was active for over a year before being captured and sent to Auschwitz.
(This is probably my favorite of these stories) The third story is about a young woman who saved her fiance and his father after Kristallnacht. She was at home when the soldiers came, but her fiance was working late in his shop. Worried for him, she snuck out (in the middle of all the chaos) to make sure he was alright. She found him cowering (quite understandably) in the back of his shop and then dragged him out, hoping to escape the violence. Unfortunately, they were stopped and he, along with hundreds of other men, was taken to a concentration camp. She was eventually told that she would have to go to the camp in person to free him, and so she did. Unfortunately, the only way she could get there was on a bus that was filled with SS men; she spent the entire trip smiling and flirting with them so that they would never suspect that she wasn’t supposed to be there. When she got to the camp, she convinced whoever was in charge to release her fiance. She then took him to another camp and managed to get her father-in-law to be released. Her father-in-law was a rabbi, so she grabbed a couple or witnesses and made him perform their marriage ceremony right then and there so that it would be easier for her to get her now-husband out of the country, which she did withing a few months. This woman was so bad ass that not only was her story passed around resistance circles, even the SS men told it to each other and honoured her courage.
The moral of these stories is that men tend to trust their governments to take care of them because they always have; women know that our governments will screw us over because they always have.
Another interesting tidbit is that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that Kristallnacht is a term that historians came up with after the fact, and was not what the event was actually called at the time. It’s likely that the event was actually called was (I’m sorry that I can’t remember the German word for it but it translates to) night of the feathers, because that, instead of broken glass, is the image that stuck in people’s minds because the soldiers also went into people’s homes and destroyed their bedding, throwing the feathers from pillows and blankets into the air. What does it say that in our history we have taken away the focus of the event from the more domestic, traditionally feminine, realms, and placed it in the business, traditionally masculine, realms?
Badass women and interesting commentary. Though I would argue that “Night of Broken Glass" includes both the personal and the private spheres. It was called Kristallnacht by the Nazis, which led to Jewish survivors referring to it as the November Pogrom until the term “Kristallnacht" was reclaimed, as such.
None of this runs directly counter to your fascinating commentary, though.
thinking about how the burning of the library of alexandria is remembered as the most prominent historical symbol of the destruction of knowledge…but that’s nothing compared to the thousands of entire languages killed in America and Australia by the colonialists…
Andrew Gillum won the Democratic nomination for Florida governor, and y’all, this is huge. He’s the first black person in Florida history to ever be nominated for governor. I’m so proud of him. He came up through the ranks in Tallahassee city government and made it all the way to mayor. When Hurricane Hermine came though, he kept the city from falling apart with cleanup resources slow in coming, Rick Scott breathing down his neck, power being out for a really long time, and everyone looking to him for leadership. He’s a good candidate, and I hope Florida does the right thing.
Between him in Florida and Stacey Abrams in Georgia, I’m seeing some small glimmers of hope. Yeah, they have to actually win, but the fact that they’re legit nominees for governor is historic. In case anyone’s looking for some bright spots in politics, here are two.
In one episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine, they talk about how trans people have it difficult in prison. In the very next episode the sentence “Nothing is more attractive in a woman than the clear absence of a penis” is uttered.
It’s almost like B99 is a show made by liberals for liberals and its progressiveness is entirely performative.
Just want to point out since the post kind of glosses over the fact that the last sentence is uttered ironically by a gay character who is trying to pass as straight to distract a guard at a women’s prison. The running joke is that he believes straight people are transphobic and homophobic, so when he tries to pretend to be one, he acts that way. The joke is, no one around him acts like what he’s saying is off, making further commentary on how transphobic and homophobic our society is.
tumblr taking things out of context to vilify something good? its more likely than you think
you want my hot take for the evening? people who dont like complainers just havent been exposed to good complaining, and will never know if they themselves have an inborn talent for the art of kvetching
good complaining is some combination of a) funny, b) animated and theatrical, c) insightful re: human foibles, d) inquiry into social trends and norms.it must ALWAYS involve at least a small degree of self awareness, and is often used to build camaraderie and maintain relationships.
to my fellow freshman girlies out there, go parties in groups, don’t walk alone late at night, and if you sense some shady shit going on don’t hesitate to interfere. trust your gut. people are getting sicker by the minute and nothing seems to be changing anytime soon.
PS: CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS REGARDING WEAPON PURCHASING
I’m not lying fuck men omfg
as a former RA, who has seen way too much of this shit, it is important to highlight that most of these assaults will not be someone grabbing you from behind a bush or something – a lot of the weapons used against you will be social convention and alcohol/drugs.
it will be at parties. surrounded by people, where you lose sight of a friend and you’re surrounded. it will be guys “making sure to bring you home” while you’re drunk. it’ll be “come on over and let’s watch a movie”, it’ll be so many insidious things.
please always push back from any pressure or challenge to your boundaries. GET LOUD. your physical and mental health is SO much more important than how “cool” you seem. make a fuss, and it might make things awkward, but it’ll be so much better than the alternative. i’ve had so many of my residents come back for the night, so regretful about staying silent while a guy felt her up because she didn’t want to rock the boat or “ruin the mood” of the party. DO IT.
keep a friend, a trusted friend, preferably a girl, and use the goddamn buddy system.do not let your buddy out of sight. keep together at all times, and not just at parties – even at casual outings. new roommate? talk to them about how you want to stick together and make sure nothing happens.
do not go anywhere alone for the first month (this is also just a good practice to meet new people and find new friends lol). go to campus-run events, which are usually more tame and supervised (and still fun!).
know the red flags, and always be cautious of going alone with any man – ESPECIALLY if they’re older. that includes going to parties, movies, even out to lunch.
i don’t want to scare people at all, i really want you to be safe. know that there are campus resources if things do happen, but when it comes down to it, CALL THE POLICE. campus police and counselors can help you deal with trauma and change your classes so you’re away from your assailant, but they’re ultimately working for the university that doesn’t want to report assaults. grab a friend to stay with you to support you – hell, if you live in a residence hall, most RAs have been trained with crisis counseling and will stick with you to the end, and CALL THE POLICE.
pepper spray is a good start, but half the battle is knowing the warning signs and sticking together, and never being afraid to fight back.
also like… start checking your guy friends who do this type of shit and not just when it’s a girl you personally care about
ugh 