Book Launch: The Concentration Camp Brothels

Join us for a book launch of Robert Sommer’s new book, The Concentration Camp Brothels, published by Fordham University Press. In this seminal work, Robert Sommer reveals the hidden hor­rors of sexual forced labor within the SS camp system, a subject long overshadowed and seldom acknowledged in the discourse on the Holocaust.

Through his rigorous examination of over 70 archives and poignant interviews with more than 30 survivors, including former visitors of camp brothels, Sommer paints a vivid and harrow­ing picture of the atrocities committed. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive exploration of the establishment, operation, and profound impact of brothels in Nazi concentration camps.

Robert Sommer is a distinguished historian specializing in the intersections of violence, sexuality, and human rights, with a focus on the Holocaust. He teaches at the University of Cooperative Education, Berlin, Germany. Sommer has served as a historical consultant for museums and film productions, including the BBC documentary Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution (2005).