Women and genocide survivors victims perpetrators elissa bemporad and joyce w. warren (eds.) - The e
Women and Genocide Survivors Victims Perpetrators Elissa Bemporad And Joyce W. Warren (Eds.)
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Women in European Holocaust Films: Perpetrators, Victims and Resisters 1st Edition Ingrid Lewis (Auth.)
Advancing International Human Rights Law Responsibilities of Development NGOs: Respecting and Fulfilling the Right to Reparative Justice for Genocide Survivors in Rwanda 1st Edition Noam Schimmel
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I n for m at ion Sc ience s Per m a nence of
Paper for P r i nted L ibra r y M ater i a l s , A NS I
Z39 4 8 -19 92
M a nufac t ure d in the Unit e d St ate s of A me r ic a
C at a log i ng i n for m at ion i s av a i l able f rom t he L ibra r y of Cong re s s .
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1 2 3 4 5 23 2 2 2 1 2 0 19 18
To Joyce , who belie ved in the powe r of education and in the empowe r ment of women
Pre face / Joyce W. War ren i x A cknowledg ment s x v
Memor y, Body, a nd Power: Women a nd t he St udy of Genoc ide / E l i ssa Bemporad 1
1 . The Gendered L og ic s of I nd igenou s Genoc ide / A nd rea Sm it h 17
2 . Women a nd t he Herero Genoc ide / E l i sa von Joeden-Forgey 36
3 . A rsha luy s M a rd ig ia n/A u rora M a rd iga n ia n: A bsor pt ion, St a rdom, E x ploit at ion, a nd Empower ment / Don na-L ee Fr ie z e 58
4 . “Hy phenated ” Ident it ies du r i ng t he Holodomor: Women a nd Ca n n iba l i sm / Olga Ber tel sen 77
5 . Gender: A Cr uc ia l Tool i n Holoc au st R esea rch / M a r ion K apla n 9 7
6. Ger ma n Women a nd t he Holoc au st i n t he Na z i E a st / Wendy L ower 1 1 1
7. No S helter to Cr y I n: R oma n i Gi rl s a nd R espon sibi l it y du r i ng t he Holoc au st / M ichel le K el so 137
8. Birangona: R ape Su r v ivors Bea r i ng W it ness i n Wa r a nd Peace i n Ba ng ladesh / Bi na D’Cost a 159
9. Ver y Superst it iou s: Gendered P u n i sh ment i n Democ rat ic K a mpuchea , 19 75–19 79 / Tr ude Jacobsen 191
10. Se x u a l V iolence a s a Weapon du r i ng t he Gu atema la n Genoc ide / V ic tor ia Sa n ford , Sofi a D uyos Á lv a re z-A rena s, a nd K at h leen Di l l 2 0 7
1 1 . Gender a nd t he M i l it a r y i n Post- Genoc ide Rw a nd a / Georg i na Hol mes 2 23
1 2 . Na r rat ives of Su r v ivors of Srebren ic a: How Do They R econ nec t to t he World? / Sel ma L eydesdor ff 250
13 . The Pl ig ht a nd Fate of Fema les D u r i ng a nd Fol low i ng t he Da r f u r Genoc ide / Sa muel Totten 2 68
1 4 . Gra ssroot s Women’s Pa r t ic ipat ion i n A dd ressi ng Con fl ic t a nd
Genoc ide: Ca se St ud ies f rom t he M idd le E a st Nor t h A f r ic a R eg ion a nd L at i n A mer ic a / L i sa Dav i s a nd Ca ssa nd ra A t la s 2 86
Selec ted Bibliog raphy: Fur the r R eadings 31 1
Inde x 33 1
S o m e o f t he genoc ides descr ibed i n t h is book w i l l be fa m i l ia r to readers, wh i le ot hers w i l l be relat ively u n fa m i l ia r stor ies. But even t he most fa m i l ia r stor ies w i l l appea r u n fa m i l ia r for most readers because of t hei r empha sis on women . Convent iona l na r rat ives have not poi nted out, or i n some ca ses even ment ioned, t he sepa rate way s i n wh ich women have f u nc t ioned du ri ng genocida l ac t ions, eit her as ac tors or as v ic t i ms. I n some of t he i nsta nces of genoc ide d isc ussed i n t h is book , women were a mong t he per pet rators. But women were pr i ma r i ly v ic t i ms of genoc ide, a nd were subjec ted to gender-spec i fic t reat ment wh ich often wa s se x ua l ly v iolent a nd pa r t ic ula rly br uta l . The ma ster na r rat ives have foc used on t he hor rors of t he ma ss mu rders of ma rg i na l ized g roups, but what t he chapters i n t h is book br i ng to l ig ht is t he way women were spec i fica l ly ta rgeted du r i ng ma ny genoc ides. I n some i nsta nces, t he se x ua l ma lt reat ment wa s a del iberate a nd often offic ia l st rateg y of t he per pet rators a s a way of e x ter m i nat i ng a c u lt u re a nd a n et h n ic it y. A ma ss a ssau lt on women ’ s reproduc t ive abi l it ies wa s seen a s a n effec t ive mea ns of dest roy i ng a people, t hei r c u lt u re, a nd t hei r poster it y. Th at women were spec i fica l ly ta rgeted i n so ma ny of t he genoc ides suggests t hat t here is a sig n i fica nt t h read of m isog y ny u nderly i ng t he ac t ions. One e x pla nat ion for gender-speci fic v iolence is t hat i n a l l c u lt u res t here has e x isted a nd cont i nues to e x ist a host i l it y towa rd fema les, ra ng i ng f rom t he br uta l it y w it nessed i n genoc ides, to t he host i l it y t hat today ma n i fests itsel f on t he i nter net a nd i n socia l med ia, wh ich abou nd w it h v iolent se x ua l i nsu lts a nd t h reats d i rec ted at women. Of cou rse, c yberatt ack s a re not on ly
x P r e f a c e
d i rec ted at women; t hey a lso att ack people for t hei r race, sex ua l or ientat ion, rel ig ion, a nd et h n ic it y or because of persona l a n i mosit y. However, on ly women seem to receive se x ua l ly v iolent att ack s a nd t h reats. Women have been verba l ly att acked, hu m i l iated, a nd i n some ca ses, dest royed v i r t ua l ly by t he hate-fi l led se x ua l v iolence of i nter net t rol ls. Even a relat ively ben ig n fig u re l i ke Em ma Watson, k now n a nd beloved by ma ny a s Her m ione i n t he Ha r r y Potter fi l ms, wa s t he v ic t i m of att ack s d i rec ted at women . A fter she spoke at t he U N i n September 2 01 4, she not on ly received messages of suppor t for her fem i n ist HeForShe speech, but a lso hate-fi l led i nsu lts, i nclud i ng t h reats to revea l nude photos of her on t he i nter net . 1 I f women a re seen as i nt r ud i ng on ma le t u r f, t he att ack s ca n become pa r t ic u la rly ug ly. W hen A n ita Sa rkeesia n a nd ot her women spoke out aga i nst t he m isog y ny i n t he ma le-dom i nated ga m i ng c u lt u re, t hey were ha rassed a nd t h reatened w it h se x ua l v iolence a nd deat h . The att ackers d iscovered t hei r add resses a nd phone nu mbers, a nd so sta l ked, ha ra ssed, a nd t h reatened t hem t hat, i n some ca ses, t hey had to leave t hei r homes. Sa rkeesia n ’ s l i fe beca me a n ig ht ma re, w it h consta nt deat h a nd se x ua l t h reats made aga i nst her a nd her pa rent s. A v ideo ga me wa s even c reated i n wh ich t he v iewer cou ld pu nch her face u nt i l it wa s blood ied or looked a s i f it had had ac id t h row n on it . 2 Si m i la rly, spor t s fa ns who d isag ree w it h fema le spor t s repor ters have att acked t hese women on soc ia l med ia, t h reaten i ng se x ua l v iolence a nd deat h . R ecent ly, ma le spor ts repor ters were a sked to read a loud t he Tw itter messages t he women received; t hey were shocked . Some sa id t he t h reats were so hor rendous t hat t hey ref used to read t hem a loud; t he men sa id t hat a lt houg h t hey had been cr it ic ized, t hey had never been subjec ted to a ny t h i ng l i ke se x ua l ly v iolent att ack s.3
However, gender-speci fic v iolence is not con fi ned to verba l or v i r t ua l attack s. Accord i ng to Depa r t ment of Just ice ca lc u lat ions, a woma n is beaten or sex ua l ly assau lted ever y n i net y seconds i n t he Un ited States.4 The FBI (Federa l Bu reau of I nvest igat ion) does not keep a record of hate cr i mes aga i nst women, a lt houg h it keeps tabs on cr i mes aga i nst ot her ta rgeted g roups.5 A nd t here have been few recorded cases of cr i mes aga i nst women t hat a re officia l ly labeled as hate cr i mes. I f a person is k i l led or beaten because of hat red of ident it y (t he person ’ s race, rel ig ion, et h n icit y, sex ua l or ientat ion), t he cr i me is labeled a hate cr i me. But i f a woma n is beaten or k i l led as occ u rs da i ly even i f t he per pet rator is hea rd to spew genderspeci fic hat red du r i ng t he attack , t he cr i me is seldom labeled a hate cr i me.
I n 2 0 0 6 a n a r med k i l ler i nv aded a n A m i sh element a r y sc hool . He forced t he g i rl s to come to t he f ront of t he room, a nd t hen he shot t hem a l l . The med ia w a s out raged at t h i s c r i me aga i n st “school ch i ld ren . ” Most people d id not even not ice t hat t he mu rdered ch i ld ren were a l l g i rl s . A s
Bob Herber t w rote i n t he Ne w York Time s, “I mag i ne i f a g u n ma n had gone i nto a school, sepa rated t he k id s up on t he ba si s of race or rel ig ion, a nd t hen shot on ly t he black k id s . Or on ly t he w h ite k id s . Or on ly t he
Jew s . There wou ld have been t hu nderou s out rage. . . . The att ac k wou ld have been seen for w hat it rea l ly w a s: a hate c r i me. None of t hat occ u r red bec au se the se we re ju s t g irl s [it a l ic s added], a nd we have become so acc u stomed to l iv i ng i n a soc iet y sat u rated w it h m i sog y ny t hat v iolence aga i n st fema les i s more or less to be e x pec ted . ” 6
For t he most pa r t , h i stor y ha s w r itten of genoc id a l ma ss k i l l i ngs i n t he sa me w ay spea k i ng gener ic a l ly of t he hor ror of ma ss mu rder, but not t a k i ng note of t he gender-spec i fic nat u re of much of t he hor ror. W it h t h i s book , we hope to st a r t a conversat ion about w hy women a nd g i rl s a re t a rgeted a s objec t s of hat red , a conversat ion t hat we hope w i l l lead to a better u nderst a nd i ng of m i sog y ny, not on ly i n t he pa st or i n ot her pa r t s of t he g lobe, but tod ay a nd i n ou r ow n c u lt u re now.
The ubiqu itous nat u re of m isog y ny i n A mer ica n c u lt u re wa s emphat ica l ly broug ht to l ig ht du r i ng t he 2 016 president ia l elec t ion ca mpa ig n. A nt iwoma n ca mpa ig n mercha nd ise was open ly sold at t he R epubl ica n Nat iona l
Convent ion a nd at Tr u mp ra l l ies (T-sh i r ts a nd buttons t hat read, for e x a mple, “Li fe’s a Bitch . Don’t Vote for One”). At t he sa me t i me, a nt i-woma n hate g roups have been prol i ferat i ng on t he i nter net . I n 2 01 2 , t he Sout her n
Pover t y L aw Center publ ished a l ist of some of t he g roups, a nd t he ed itor com mented t hat he wa s “completely a stou nded ” at t he fi nd i ngs, stat i ng , “I had no idea t hat t here wa s t h is da rk world of women hat red . A whole u n iverse of t hese people was qu ite shock i ng. ” He noted t hat w it h i n t he rad ica l r ig ht i n recent yea rs t here ha s been i ncrea si ng ev idence of m isog y ny.7 W it h i n t h is back g rou nd, perhaps, it is not su r pr isi ng t hat it wa s so ea s y for her opponents to demon ize H i l la r y Cl i nton, w it h a t u mu lt created over her use of a pr ivate ser ver for some of her gover n ment ema i l despite people ha rd ly not ic i ng when ma le pol it ic ia ns com m itted i r reg u la r it ies w it h t hei r ema i ls.8 Dona ld Tr u mp labeled her “crooked H i l la r y, ” a nd used t hat dubious epit het to el ic it a nt i-H i l la r y venom f rom h is raucous crowds. “L ock her up, ” Tr u mp suppor ters cha nted . 9 “She l ies,” t hey i nsisted despite
x ii P r e f a c e
i ndependent fac t checkers rat i ng her as one of t he most honest of pol it icia ns, a nd Tr u mp a s one of t he lea st . 10 Even more da m n i ng wa s t he way i n wh ich people were w i l l i ng to bel ieve even t he most out rageous fa ke new s about Cl i nton, for e x a mple, t hat she wa s t he head of a t ra ffick i ng r i ng t hat held ch i ld ren i n se x ua l slaver y. 11 (Th is about a woma n who had ded icated her adu lt l i fe to helpi ng ch i ld ren .)12 At t he sa me t i me, when Dona ld Tr u mp wa s caug ht on v ideo tape brag g i ng about how he cou ld se x ua l ly ha ra ss a nd a ssau lt women w it h i mpu n it y, even g rabbi ng t hem by t hei r gen ita ls,13 t he most com mon reac t ion was to sh r ug. A s one ma n sa id, a l l it proves is t hat he is a “ hea lt hy heterose x ua l . ” A nd ma ny women who voted for h i m e xc used h is behav ior w it h t he e x pla nat ion t hat t h is is just t he way men a re.14 He wa s l i ke t hei r husba nds, t hey sa id . They seemed to have i nter na l ized t he m isog y ny a nd accepted it a s pa r t of t he c u lt u re.
Se x i st com ment s m ig ht a n noy some, but t he tendenc y i s often si mply to sh r ug t hem off a s st upid , or perhaps a s i n nocent c u lt u ra l i sm s . The ter m “ bitch ” a s a demea n i ng i n su lt appea rs i n popu la r songs, i n mov ies, a nd i n ord i na r y speech, a nd ma ny ju st accept it a s ev idence t hat “ boy s w i l l be boy s . ” But t he stor ies i n t h i s book st a nd a s ev idence of how fa r such att it udes c a n c a r r y people, a nd t he hor r i fic resu lt s of gender-spec i fic hat red appa rent i n so ma ny genoc ides a re not h i ng to sh r ug off .
Joyc e W. Wa r r e n i s P rofessor of E ng l i sh a nd Di rec tor of Women a nd Gender St ud ies at Q ueen s Col lege of t he Cit y Un iversit y of New York . Her book s i nc lude Wome n , Mone y, and the L aw, Fanny Fe r n: A n
Inde pe nde nt Woman , a nd Th e A me r ic an Narci s su s: Indiv idu ali sm and Women in Nine teenth- Cent ur y A me r ican Fic tion. A mong her ed ited book s i s Fe mini sm and Multicult urali sm .
No t e s
1 . The t h reat to re vea l nude photos l ater proved to be a hoa x , de sig ned to hu m i l i ate a nd d i sc red it Wat son .
2 . See, e .g., Nic k W i ng field , “Fem i n i s t Cr it ic s of V ideo Ga me s Fac i ng Th reat s , ” Ne w York Time s , Oc tober 16, 2 01 4 , A 1. I n 2 01 2 Sa rkee si a n h ad s t a r ted a K ic k s t a r ter c a mpa ig n to f u nd a v ideo on Trope s vs . Wome n in Vid e o Ga me s , w h ic h c r it iqued t he t reat ment of women i n ga me s . I n add it ion to c y beratt ac k s , t he att ac ker s a l so soug ht to
P r e f a c e x iii
pre vent her f rom s pea k i ng W hen she w a s sc hedu led to s pea k at t he Un i ver sit y of Ut a h , for e x a mple, t he u n i ver sit y recei ved a t h reat of t he “ dead l ie s t sc hool shoot i ng i n A mer ic a n h i s tor y, ” a nd t he em a i l me s sage w a s sig ned w it h t he n a me M a rc L épi ne, t he m a n w ho i n
19 8 9 s y s tem at ic a l ly went f rom c l a s s to c l a s s k i l l i ng women at t he É cole Poly tec h n ique i n
Mont rea l , w ho c l a i med t h at he w a s “fi g ht i ng fem i n i sm ” Sa rkee si a n ’ s t a l k w a s c a ncel led bec au se t he u n i ver sit y cou ld not prov ide s u ffic ient protec t ion for t he s t udent s i n t he aud ience O t her women w ho were a l so v ic iou sly att ac ked for s pea k i ng out on ga m i ng i nc lude Z oë Q u i n n a nd Br i a n n a Wu .
3 . See, e .g., Ju l ie D iC a ro, “ Th reat s . V it r iol . H ate . Ug ly Tr ut h about Women i n Spor t s a nd Soc i a l Med i a , ” Spor t s I llu s t rate d , The C au ld ron , September 27, 2 015 , w w w. si .com /c au ld ron/t w itt er-t h reat s-v i le -rem a rk s-women- s por t s-jou r na l i st s . The website Ju s t Not Spor t s m ade t he v ideo “#MoreTh a n Mea n, ” i n w h ic h m a le s por t s repor ter s read a loud t he t weet s t h at D iC a ro a nd Sa ra h Spa i n h ad recei ved .
4 . See t he 2 01 2 Bu reau of Ju s t ice St at i s t ic s , US Depa r t ment of Ju s t ice . The fi g u re s a re c a lc u l ated f rom t he US Depa r t ment of Ju s t ice Nat ion a l Cr i me V ic t i m i z at ion Su r ve y,
2 0 0 9 –13 .
5 . A ccord i ng to F BI s t at i s t ic s , of t he 1 13 ,0 0 0 h ate c r i me s si nce 19 91, 5 5% were ba sed on race, 17 % on rel ig ion, 1 4% on se x u a l or ient at ion, 1 4% on et h n ic it y, a nd 1 % on d i sabi l it y.
See, e .g., Ji m A bra m s , “Hou se Pa s se s E x pa nded H ate Cr i me Bi l l , ” Wa shing ton Pos t , M ay 3 , 2 0 0 7. The 2 0 0 9 M att he w S hepa rd a nd Ja me s By rd Jr., Nat ion a l H ate Cr i me s A c t w a s d raw n up a s a re s pon se to t he tor t u re a nd mu rder of t wo men S hepa rd for h i s se x u a l or ient at ion, By rd bec au se of race . For t he fi r s t t i me, gender a nd se x u a l or ient at ion were i nc luded a s c ate gor ie s of h ate c r i me s . For i n for m at ion on t he 2 0 0 9 H ate Cr i me s A c t , see t he Ci v i l R ig ht s D i v i sion, US Depa r t ment of Ju s t ice, acce s sed M ay 27, 2 016, htt ps://w w w .ju s t ice .gov/c r t/m att he w- shepa rd-a nd-ja me s -by rd-jr-h ate - c r i me s -pre vent ion-ac t- 2 0 0 9 - 0.
6. B ob Herber t , “ W hy A ren’t We S hoc ked? ” Ne w York Time s , Oc tober 16, 2 0 0 6, A 19. It a l ic s m i ne .
7. Sout her n Pover t y L aw Center, Int ellige nc e R e por t (Spr i ng 2 01 2). See a l so, Gi n i a
B el l a f ante, “R ean im at i ng M i sog y ny, ” Ne w York Time s , Oc tober 16, 2 016, M B1 A l so rele v a nt i s t he 2 013 c a se of Gi l ber to Va l le, t he “ c a n n iba l cop, ” w h ic h re vea led a s ubset of i nter net a nt i-wom a n website s t h at i ndu lged i n m a le f a nt a sie s of t y i ng up women, rapi ng t hem , sl a sh i ng t hei r t h roat s , a nd i n some c a se s , eat i ng t hem
8 A s m a ny h ave noted , t he Bu sh ad m i n i s t rat ion i l le ga l ly era sed m i l l ion s of em a i l s; M itt R om ne y w iped ser ver s , sold gover n ment h a rd d r i ve s to h i s c lose s t a ide s , a nd de s t royed h i s ad m i n i s t rat ion’s em a i l s; a nd Col i n Powel l u sed h i s Bl ac k ber r y to del iberately by pa s s federa l l aw.
9 For e x a mple, t he ed itor i a l boa rd of t he Ne w York Time s de sc r ibe s i n “A n Even St ra nger Don a ld Tr u mp, ” A ug u s t 1 2 , 2 016, how Don a ld Tr u mp at h i s ra l l ie s told h i s s uppor ter s (f a l sely) t h at P re sident Oba m a w a s t he fou nder of I S I S a nd “ c rooked H i l l a r y ” w a s t he co -fou nder A s soon a s he ment ioned t he word s “ c rooked H i l l a r y, ” “t he c rowd er upted i nto c heer s a nd c h a nt s of ‘L oc k her up, ’ ” htt ps://w w w ny t i me s com/2 016/0 8/1 2 /opi n ion/a n- e ven- s t ra nger- don a ld-t r u mp ht m l
10 D u r i ng t he 2 016 c a mpa ig n, t he i ndependent f ac t- c hec k i ng orga n i z at ion, Pol it i Fac t , rated t he t wo c a nd id ate s on it s “t r ut h- o -meter.” Ba sed on t hei r publ ic s t atement s , H i l l a r y C l i nton rated a 7 2 for t r ue s t atement s , w h i le Don a ld Tr u mp rated a 4 . H i s f a l se s t atement s were 164 , w h i le her s a mou nted to 3 1 . Pol it i f ac t .com ,
x iv P r e f a c e
“Compa r i ng H i l l a r y C l i nton, Don a ld Tr u mp on t he Tr ut h- O -Meter,” acce s sed
Febr u a r y 5 , 2 017, htt p://w w w pol it i f ac t com/t r ut h- o -meter/a r t ic le/2 016/nov/01
/t r ut h- c hec k- c l i nton-a nd-t r u mp -t r ut h- o -meter-1-week /
1 1 The pi zz a pa rlor i n Wa sh i ng ton, DC , t h at t he f a ke s tor y n a med a s t he headqu a r ter s for t he r i ng , a s wel l a s ot her bu si ne s se s on t he bloc k , recei ved con s t a nt h ate c a l l s a nd
deat h t h reat s O ne m a n w a s so conv i nced of t he t r ut h of t he s tor y t h at he a r med h i m sel f a nd d rove f rom Sa l i sbu r y, Nor t h C a rol i n a to Wa sh i ng ton to, a s he sa id , “ re sc ue t he c h i ld ren . ” W hen he fou nd no c h i ld ren, he fi red h i s weapon a ny w ay a nd w a s a r re s ted .
For i n for m at ion about t he f a ke ne w s s tor y, see, e .g., Sa ra h L ee, “A r med M a n E nter s D.C .
P i zz a Pa rlor, I n s pi red by Fa ke Ne w s , ” Wa shing ton Pos t , December 4 , 2 016; a nd M a rc
Fi sher, Joh n Wood row Cox , a nd Peter Her m a n n, “P i zz agate: From R u mor, to H a sht ag , to Gu n fi re i n D.C ., ” Wa shing ton Pos t , December 6, 2 016.
1 2 . See, for e x a mple, her work w it h t he C h i ld ren ’ s Defen se Fu nd , w h ic h i n November 2 016 honored her for her l i felong ad voc ac y for c h i ld ren; her bipa r t i sa n work to pa s s t he C h i ld ren ’ s Hea lt h I n s u ra nce P rog ra m (C H I P); her work i n t he Sen ate on le g i sl at ion to i mprove c h i ld ren ’ s educ at ion a nd to protec t c h i ld ren ’ s sa fet y f rom w rong f u l med ic at ion; a nd her work a s Sec ret a r y of St ate aga i n s t se x t ra ffic k i ng a nd t he e x ploit at ion of c h i ld ren a rou nd t he world .
13 . For a t ra n sc r ipt of t he t ape, see, “ Tra n sc r ipt: Don a ld Tr u mp ’ s Taped Com ment s about Women , ” Ne w York Time s (Oc tober 8, 2 016), htt ps://w w w. ny t i me s .com/2 016/10/0 8/u s/don a ld-t r u mp -t ape -t ra n sc r ipt . ht m l .
1 4 . See, e .g., I r i n C a r mon, “L ow E x pec t at ion s for Hu sba nd s a nd P re sident s , ” Ne w York Time s , December 1 1, 2 016, S R 1 .
W e a r e g ratef u l to Q ueen s Col lege of t he Cit y Un iversit y of New York for help a nd encou ragement w it h t h i s i mpor t a nt projec t , pa r t ic u la rly t he Women a nd Gender St ud ies prog ra m, a nd t he late V i rg i n ia Frese Pa l mer for f u nd i ng a nd suppor t . The c at a ly st for t h i s book w a s a con ference on Women a nd Genoc ide at Q ueen s Col lege on M a rc h 17, 2 01 4 , w it hout w h ic h t here wou ld have been no book . We a l so t ha n k Peter
Ry a n for prov id i ng a n acc u rate a nd con sc ient iou s t ra n sc r ipt ion of t he comple x proceed i ngs . Fi na l ly, we a re i ndebted to t he A nd rew W. Mel lon Fou nd at ion for it s suppor t .
W OMEN AND GENOCIDE
Me mor y, Body, and Powe r
Women a nd t he St udy of G enoc ide
Eli ssa Be mporad
w h ile g ath e r ing mater ia l for her fi r st book , t it led Th e Unwomanly Face of War (1985), Bela r u sia n w r iter a nd Nobel Pr i z e lau reate Svet la na
A le x iev ic h conduc ted i nter v iew s w it h Sov iet women to c h ron ic le a nd evoke t hei r e x per iences du r i ng World Wa r I I . A le x iev ich e x pla i ned her foc u s on women a nd her quest to fi nd out “ how a woma n feel s ” by a sser ti ng t hat “ women tel l t h i ngs i n more i nterest i ng w ay s . They l ive w it h more feel i ng. They obser ve t hem selves a nd t hei r l ives . Men a re more i mpressed w it h ac t ion . For t hem, t he sequence of event s i s more i mpor t a nt . ”1 I n c apt u r i ng t he i nt r ic ac ies of t he gendered nat u re of memor y, 2 a nd i n h i nti ng t hat gender cou ld deter m i ne t he pred i lec t ion for emot iona l i n format ion, A le x iev ich ’ s word s a l so rem i nd u s of t he sig n i fic a nce of v iew i ng w a r, v iolence, a nd genoc ide t h roug h t he eyes a nd e x per iences of women . H i stor ic a l na r rat ives have dow nplayed t he emot iona l la nd sc ape of w a r a nd genoc ide. It i s t h roug h t he space occ upied by women i n t h i s h i stor y t hat we c a n access a nd d i sc u ss emot ion a s a deter m i nat ive fac tor i n how t h is h istor y u n fold s.
The i ntersec t iona l it y of gender, et h n ic it y, a nd c la ss play s a c r uc ia l role i n t he w ay women e x per ience genoc ide. It may a l so deter m i ne t he g reater foc u s on t he sel f a nd t he emot iona l sphere a s opposed to t he “ sequence
of event s ” desc r ibed by A le x iev ich . 3 The e x per ience of women i ntersec t s w it h mu lt iple fac tors, i nc lud i ng et h n ic it y, race, rel ig ion, a nd c la ss, t hu s shapi ng t he w ay s i n w h ich t hey l ive t h roug h or d ie f rom con fl ic t a nd genoc ide. I n ot her word s, i n t he conte x t of w a r a nd genoc ide, oppression i nten si fies bec au se t wo or more oppressed ident it ies a re occ upied at t he sa me t i me; it c reates a ma rg i na l i z at ion t hat c a n not be cor rec ted by a ny si ng le ac t of i nc lu sion . To f u l ly g ra sp t he rea l it y of w a r a nd genoc ide, we mu st c losely con sider “ i ntersec t iona l it y. ” 4
The e x per ience a nd memor y of w a r a nd genoc ide i s i n sepa rable f rom t he not ion of t he body a nd power st r uc t u res i n soc iet y. The biolog ic a l nat u re of fema le bod ies, i nc lud i ng t hei r abi l it y to c a r r y l i fe, con si stent ly t u r n s women i nto t a rget s for se x u a l i z ed v iolence du r i ng w a r a nd genoc ide. M a ss rape often becomes t he fi rst st age for t he a n n i h i lat ion of t he enemy g roup.5 Women’s bod ies a re t u r ned i nto t he space w here t he genoc id a l projec t of erad ic at i ng t he “ soc ia l pol lut ion” produced by t he a l leged enemy g roup i s i mplemented . By brea k i ng dow n mora l order a nd k i n sh ip st r uc t u re, ma ss rape ser ves a s a n i n st r u ment of et h n ic c lea n si ng.
A ccord i ng to Debra Bergoffen, it prec ipit ates a nd leg it i m i z es genoc ide a s it c reates a com mu n it y of per pet rators w ho bond toget her t h roug h rape. Di sg u st a nd sha me t u r n t he v ic t i m s i nto “ w hores,” a nd t he raped women
a re often acc u sed of bei ng accompl ices of t he rape it sel f . 6
Women i n rel ig iou sly con ser v at ive, pat r ia rc ha l, or f a sc i st c u lt u res, w h ich often place t hem i n i n fer ior soc ia l roles, face g reater r i sk for abu se.
Never t heless, br ut a l it y aga i n st women c a n per si st w it h i n a n ideolog y rooted i n t he M a r x i st pr i nc iple of equ a l it y of t he se xes . Even i n t he conte x t of some of t he most revolut iona r y s y stem s osten sibly com m itted to women ’ s ema nc ipat ion, t he a l leged fema le enemy becomes se x u a l i z ed a nd t a rgeted for rape. Suc h w a s t he c a se of t he cou nter revolut iona r y, bou rgeoi s, or k u la k women i n t he St a l i n i st Gu lag , or fema le pr i soners of t he K h mer rouge, w ho were v iewed a s women fi rst a nd t hu s subjec ted to se x u a l i z ed v iolence.7
The power st r uc t u res of a spec i fic soc iet y a nd c u lt u re la rgely determ i ne t he posit ion held by women . A s a resu lt , t hese a re t he sa me power st r uc t u res t hat women m ig ht choose to contest a nd ac t ively cha l lenge a s t hey t a ke adv a nt age of t he col lapse of c iv i l soc iet y produced by genoc ide.
I n t he m id st of con fl ic t , i n a soc iet y rav aged by w a r a nd v iolence, new
possibi l it ies for women ’ s upwa rd mobi l it y a nd i nc rea sed v isibi l it y i n soc ia l l i fe t a ke shape.8 These dy na m ic s of empower ment a nd agenc y took place du r i ng t he Rw a nd a n genoc ide, w hen a nu mber of Hut u women ac t ively pa r t ic ipated i n t he v iolence a s leaders, aut hor it y fig u res, a nd per pet rators.9
Si m i la rly, t he restorat ion of c iv i l soc iet y fol low i ng t he genoc ide i n Rwa nda broug ht ma ny Tut si women to occ upy prom i nent posit ion s i n publ ic l i fe a nd pol it ic s .
I f t he memor y of t rau ma i s gendered , t hen e x plor i ng t he e x per ience of genoc ide c a n not be complete w it hout i nc lud i ng t he voices a nd perspect ives of women . However, women ’ s perspec t ives mu st be seen not si mply a s a n append i x to t he e x plorat ion of event s, but rat her t he epicenter of a sc hol a rly ree x a m i nat ion a nd t hu s en ha ncement of ou r u nder st a ndi ng of t he dy na m ic s t hat emerge i n t he conte x t of genoc id a l v iolence. By st udy i ng t he mu lt i faceted roles women played a s v ic t i m s a nd per pet rator s i n d i fferent genoc id a l a nd postgenoc id a l soc iet ies, t h i s volu me shed s new l ig ht on t he genoc ide of t he Nat ive peoples i n t he A mer ic a s, of t he Herero, A r men ia n, a nd R oma peoples; genoc ides i n Ba ng ladesh, Bosn ia , Ca mbod ia , Da r f u r, Gu atema la , I raq , Rw a nd a , a nd Sy r ia; a nd t he Holodomor a nd Holoc au st . By plac i ng women at center st age, t he cont r ibutors to t h i s volu me attempt to better g ra sp t he ne x u s bet ween m i sog y ny a nd genoc id a l v iolence i n soc iet ies w here genoc ide er upt s . I n add it ion, t h i s volu me br i ngs to t he foref ront t he u ne x pec ted a nd often e xcept iona l i ntersec t ion bet ween women ’ s empower ment a nd genoc ide.
Schola rsh ip on women a nd gender i n t he conte x t of genoc ide st udies ha s generated new resea rch . 10 O ver t he pa st t went y yea rs, schola rs i n genoc ide have i ncor porated t he e x per ience of women a nd gendered perspec t ives i n t hei r st ud ies of t he Holoc au st a nd more recent genoc ides . However, we st i l l have more to do to u ncover t he tot a l it y of genoc ide a s a soc ia l eng i neer i ng projec t , 11 a projec t t hat coerces t he brea kdow n of old nor m s a nd h iera rch ies w h i le c reat i ng new ones i n ever y a spec t of l i fe a nd for ever y member of a g iven soc iet y. To u nderst a nd bot h t he f u l l spect r u m of respon ses of t hose t a rgeted for a n n i h i lat ion a nd t he ra nge of roles f u l fi l led by t hose w ho promote a nd pa r t ic ipate i n v iolence, we mu st st udy t he tot a l it y of women ’ s e x per iences. More spec i fica l ly, we mu st e x plore t he voices of fema le v ic t i m s, fema le per pet rators, a nd fema le ac tors w it h i n t he blu r red bou nd a r ies of t he so -c alled g ray zone, t he space t hat sepa rates
t he v ic t i m s f rom t he per pet rators . 12 The cont r ibut ion s i nc luded i n t h i s volu me represent a n essent ia l st r ide i n t h is d i rec t ion, a nd i ntend to i n for m f ut u re d i sc u ssion s of genoc ide.
A D IF F ER E N T S T O RY
I n h is da r i ng effor ts to ch ron icle t he l i fe a nd deat h of Pol ish Jew r y w it h i n t he wa l ls of t he Wa rsaw g hetto, t he la rgest g hetto i n Ea ster n Eu rope, h istor ia n Ema nuel R i ngelblu m f u l ly g ra sped t hat t he e x per ience of women i n t he m idst of genoc ida l v iolence wa s d i fferent f rom t hat of men, a nd shou ld be st ud ied a s such . R i ngelblu m secret ly created t he Oyneg Shabe s a rch ive, a n e x t raord i na r y col lec t ion of d ia r ies, stat ist ics, e xcer pts f rom t he u nderg rou nd press, essay s, photog raphs, a nd w it ness accou nt s t hat capt u red Pol ish Jew s ’ mu lt i layered responses to persec ut ion a nd v iolence i n t he face of e x ter m i nat ion. I n h is work , R i ngelblu m made t he st udy of women i n t he g hetto a top pr ior it y.13 He saw t hat women ’ s socioeconom ic stat us, biolog ica l ident it y, a ndt he power st r uc t u res a nd c u lt u ra l const r uc ts a rou nd t hem cou nted i m mensely, a nd t hat overlook i ng t hem wou ld prevent f ut u re generat ions f rom ga i n i ng a f u l l i nsig ht i nto genoc ide a s a soc ia l phenomenon .
I n h is Note s from the Warsaw Ghe tto, t he jou r na l he kept f rom September 1939 u nt i l t he eve of t he dest r uc t ion of t he g hetto i n A pr i l 1943, R i ngelblu m si ng led out women for pra ise. He wa s qu ick to note t hat “t he f ut u re h istor ia n w i l l have to devote much attent ion . . . to t he role of t he Jew ish woma n i n t he wa r. She w i l l receive a n honored place i n Jew ish h istor y because of her cou rage a nd powers of endu ra nce, wh ich enable t housa nds of fa m il ies to su r v ive t h is bitter t i me. . . . t he stor y of t he Jew ish women w i l l be a g lor ious page i n t he h istor y of Jew r y du r i ng t he present wa r. A nd Jew ish women w i l l be t he lead i ng fig u res i n t h is stor y.”14 R i ngelblu m bel ieved t hat women showed a rema rk able abi l it y to adju st to t he cha ng i ng c i rc u msta nces, t he col lapse of c iv i l soc iet y, establ ished gender relat ions, a nd t rad it iona l fa m i ly st r uc t u res. He poi nted out t hei r resou rcef u l ness a s t hey fi l led roles for merly assig ned to Jew ish men, who had been rendered powerless a nd u nable to protec t t hei r fa m i l ies.15 For e x a mple, R i ngelblu m noted “t he toug h ness of women . The ch ief ea r ners. The men don’t go out . W hen t hey—t he Ger ma ns catch a ma n for labor, t he w i fe is not a f ra id . She r u ns
a long , yel ls, screa ms. She’s not a f ra id of t he sold iers. She sta nds i n long l i nes for food . ”16 A few mont hs before h is capt u re by t he Gestapo, w r it i ng f rom h is u nderg rou nd bu n ker, R i ngelblu m made one more com ment about t he braver y of Jew ish women i n wa r, wh ich he had persona l ly w it nessed du r i ng t he batt les of t he Wa rsaw g hetto: “[Thei r] cou rage, i ngenu it y, a nd combat sk i l ls left t he men fa r beh i nd . ”17
Despite t h i s c a l l for recog n it ion of Jew i sh women a nd t hei r gendered respon ses to dest r uc t ion, Holoc au st schola rs d id l itt le or not h i ng about t he subjec t for dec ades . W hy not? Pa r t of t he a n s wer c a n be fou nd i n t he poig na nt word s of R ut h K luger, Holoc au st su r v ivor, w r iter, a nd schola r i n t he field of Ger ma n l iterat u re. Bor n i n V ien na i n 193 1, K luger wa s depor ted to t he Theresien st adt concent rat ion c a mp at t he age of eleven a nd later s u r v i ved t he A u sc hw it z -Bi rken au , a nd C h r i s t i a n s t adt l abor c a mps . M a ny yea rs later, a s a professor emer it a of Ger ma n at t he Un iversit y of Ca l i for n ia , she w rote i n her memoi rs t hat , “ w a rs, a nd hence t he memor ies of w a rs, a re ow ned by t he ma le of t he spec ies . A nd fa sc i sm i s a dec ided ly ma le proper t y, w het her you were for or aga i n st it . ”18 Thu s, accord i ng to K luger, t he h i stor y a nd memor y of w a r a nd v iolence, a s wel l a s t he ideolog ies t hat fac i l it ate a nd t r ig ger genoc ide, become ma le proper t y w het her women a re v ic t i m s or per pet rators. However, t h is gendered appropr iat ion of t he memor y of v iolence defies rea l it y. The biolog ic a l d i fferences a nd soc ia l st at u s of women do not ma ke t hem i m mu ne to t heor ies a nd idea s of v iolence, w het her t hese stem f rom rel ig ion, fa sc i sm, nat iona l i sm, or commu n i sm . L i ke men, women c a n be s w ayed by genoc id a l ideolog ies, a nd c a n ac t a s c r i m i na l s a nd per pet rators i n a genoc id a l soc iet y, a s revea led by t h i s volu me ’ s chapters on Ca mbod ia , Na z i Ger ma ny, a nd Sov iet U k ra i ne. Women a re not merely helpless v ic t i m s: t hey c a n t a ke adv a nt age of t he new power st r uc t u res generated by genoc id a l reg i mes a nd engage i n r it u a l s of v iolence. The a nt i-Jew i sh v iolence u n lea shed du r i ng t he R u ssia n Civ i l Wa r of 1918 –2 1 res u lted i n approx i mately t wo hu nd red t hou sa nd deat h s, t h ree hu nd red t hou sa nd or pha ns, ma ssive dest r uc t ion a nd loot i ng of proper t y, a nd e x ten sive rape. Th i s most ly forgotten i n st a nce of genoc id a l v iolence, overshadowed by t he event s of t he Holoc au st t hat took place i n t he sa me ter r itor ies some t went y yea rs later, sees women ac t ively pa r t ic ipat i ng i n et h n ic v iolence.19 The w ives of some of t he at a ma n s, t he leaders of t he Cossack a r m ies du r i ng t he R u ssia n Civ i l Wa r, were eager
e m p or
to sei z e t he proper t y looted by t hei r hu sba nd s du r i ng t he att ack s on t he Jew i sh sett lement s, a nd t hu s encou raged t hem to engage i n v iolence a nd mu rder.20 D u r i ng one of t he a nt i-Jew i sh pog rom s t hat took place i n K iev f rom Oc tober 4 to 7, 1919, a nd resu lted i n t he deat h a nd rape of doz en s of Jew s, a not ice appea red t h roug hout t he st reet s of t he c it y spec i fic a l ly appea l i ng to R u ssia n a nd U k ra i n ia n women, i nc it i ng t hem to play a n ac t ive role i n t he et h n ic c lea n si ng of t he loc a l Jew i sh popu lat ion . The not ice read a s fol low s: “ Women! It i s you r t u r n to do somet h i ng for t he sa ke of ou r su ffer i ng R u ssia , boycott ever y t h i ng t hat i s Jew i sh, a nd spread t h i s idea a s much a nd a s fa r a s you c a n . R emember t h is w i l l be for t hem worse t ha n a l l ot her pog rom s, a nd t hey w i l l leave R u ssia . Do not buy f rom or sel l to t he Jew s . . . Boycott t he Jew s!” 21
Bec au se of t he gender-neut ra l pol ic y of mu rder i n most genoc id a l conte x t s, t he resea rch about t he comple x it ies a nd mu lt i faceted respon ses to dest r uc t ion by women i s st i l l i ncomplete, a s i s t he e x a m i nat ion of se x u a l v iolence per pet rated aga i n st t hem . 22 Fu r t her more, even fewer st ud ies add ress t he quest ion of women ’ s empower ment a nd adv a ncement i n t he m id st of, a nd fol low i ng , persec ut ion . For e x a mple, we k now ver y l itt le about t he women w ho ser ved i n t he Jew i sh Pol ice, au x i l ia r y u n it s organ i z ed i n t he g hettos of E a ster n Eu rope u nder t he aut hor it y of t he Ger ma n occ upiers du r i ng t he Holoc au st . 23 Si m i la rly, no st udy ha s yet d i sc u ssed t he role of women i n t he Juden rat , t he ad m i n i st rat ive agenc y c reated by t he Ger ma n s to cont rol t he Jew i sh popu lat ion i n t he occ upied ter r itor ies . 24 The propen sit y to forget t hese roles played by women stem s a l so f rom t he posit ion of power t hey occ upied i n t he ver y st r uc t u res t hat , forced to cooperate w it h t he Ger ma n s, fac i l it ated t he a n n i h i lat ion of t he Jew s. The gendered memor y of v iolence tend s to a sc r ibe to women t he role of subdued v ic t i m s on ly.25
By br i ng i ng toget her some of t he most prom i nent schola rs i n t he field of genoc ide st ud ies, t h i s volu me e x a m i nes i n st a nces of t went iet h- a nd twenty-fi r st- cent u r y genoc ide t h roug h t he e x per ience, memor y, a nd t rau ma of women . It places women at t he foreg rou nd , e x a m i n i ng t he
dy na m ic s of v iolence u n lea shed i n genoc id a l soc iet ies, a s wel l a s t he role t hat gendered memor y of v iolence play s i n postgenoc id a l soc iet ies . Th i s book st r ives to accompl i sh t wo i nter t w i ned goa l s . Fi rst , it foc u ses on t he i ntersec t iona l it y of women ’ s e x per iences i n genoc id a l a nd postgenoc id a l soc iet ies . Second , it e x plores t he mu lt i faceted roles t hat women c a me to play i n d i fferent genoc id a l conte x t s, a s wel l a s t he roles t hey play i n t he st r ug g le for ju st ice i n contempora r y postgenoc id a l conte x t s . Th i s book i s about women a s su r v ivors, v ic t i m s, a nd per pet rators of genoc ide.
G ender m a tt ere d a nd c ont i nue s to m a tt er: w het her women a re v ict i m s , per pet r ator s , or a gent s i n t he “ g r ay z one , ” t he i r gender ident it y de t e r m i ne s t he i r e x p e r ie nc e . B e i n g f e m a le a nd He re ro, f e m a le a nd R om a , fem a le a nd Tut si, fem a le a nd “ bou rgeoi s ” , or fem a le a nd “ cou nterre volut ion a r y ” c re ate s a double bu rden i n t he c onte x t of w a r a nd genoc ide . 26 More over, w het her t he y a re roote d i n r ac i s m , n at ion a l i s m , or c om mu n i s m , genoc id a l ide olog ie s a l mos t a l w ay s i nter se c t w it h se x i s m
a nd bu i ld on pre e x i s t i n g fou nd at ion s of c u lt u r a l m i sog y ny. Even w it h-
out t he m a s s r ape of t he fem a le member s of t he t a r gete d enemy g roup, s h a me a nd d i sg u s t a re s t i l l appl ie d to t he “ot her ” wom a n w ho be c ome s
a “ w hore” a nd i s t re ate d a s s uc h . To t a k e a s i n g le prom i nent e x a mple ,
a n ac c ou nt of a n i nc ident du r i n g t he R u s s i a n w a r i n C he c h ny a b y jou r-
n a l i s t A n n a Pol it k ov s k ay a te l l i n g l y c apt u re s t he i nter se c t ion s bet we en
m i s o g y ny a nd v iole nc e . I n t he proc e s s of de s t roy i n g a C he c he n v i ll a ge i n De c ember 2 0 01 , t he R u s s i a n sold ier s t u r ne d to e lderl y C he c hen women w it h t he word s “ ‘Bitc h! W hore! ’ . . . [But] ‘ How a m I a “ bitc h ”? ’ one of t hem . . . c r ie s out . . . ‘I told t hem , “ s h a me on you , boy s! . . . W h at i f
some one c a l le d you r g r a nd mot her a bitc h? ’ ” a nd t he sold ier s ay s ‘ The y wou ld n’t , be c au se s he’s R u s s i a n . ’ ” 2 7
V iolence i ntersec t s w it h quest ion s of gender, a lw ay s . One of t he w ay s to better g ra s p genoc ide a s a tot a l soc ia l projec t i s t h roug h a c a ref u l st udy of t he i nter play bet ween se x i sm a nd rac i sm . Th i s volu me prov ides i n sig ht i nto t he cong r u it y of gender i n t he st udy of genoc ide. W het her women become v ic t i m s of rape employed a s a n i n st r u ment of genoc ide, or, ent h ra l led by a spec i fic genoc id a l ideolog y, t hey become ac tors a nd pa r t ic ipa nt s i n v iolence, u si ng it to empower t hem selves a nd rejec t e x i sti ng power st r uc t u res, t hei r st at u s is ma rked by t hei r gender ident it y. These outcomes c a n be f u l ly u nder stood t h roug h t he a na ly si s of t he u n ique
geog raph ic , h i stor ic a l, a nd soc ia l d i men sion s of v iolence u n lea shed i n t he d i fferent i n st a nces of genoc ide covered i n t h i s volu me.
St r uc t u red c h ronolog ic a l ly, a nd i nc lud i ng det a i led h i stor ic a l conte x t s for each spec i fic genoc ide d i sc u ssed , t he volu me beg i n s by foc u si ng on i nd igenou s genoc ides a nd t hei r gendered log ic s . I n t he fi rst chapter, A nd rea Sm it h e x plores t he legac y of t he i nd igenou s genoc ide, a nd t he gender v iolence t hat w a s a n i nteg ra l st rateg y of t he Nat ive A mer ic a n genoc ide. Mov i ng beyond t he d i rec t e x ter m i nat ion of Nat ive peoples, Sm it h a na ly z es t he dy na m ic s bet ween t he colon ia l sett ler soc iet y a nd t he Nat ive peoples i n contempora r y A mer ic a n a nd Ca nad ia n conte x t s, show i ng , i n pa r t ic u la r, t he effec t s t hat t hese have on t he l ives of Nat ive women . Empha si z i ng t he ten sion bet ween add ressi ng i ssues of se x u a l a nd domest ic v iolence i n Nat ive com mu n it ies a nd t he work for t he su r v iv a l of t he g roup a nd it s ident it y, Sm it h e x poses t he gendered genoc id a l log ic s t hat a re ma n i fest i n US a nd Ca nad ia n contempora r y pol ic ies . I n t he second chapter, E l isa von Joeden-Forgey e x a m i nes t he neg lec ted h i stor y of women du r i ng t he Herero genoc ide of 19 04– 07 i n Ger ma n
Sout h West A f r ic a a nd demon st rates t hat gendered power st r uc t u res t hat had cha rac ter i zed Ger ma n dom i nat ion before 1904 d i rec t ly i n fluenced t he e x per iences of Herero women du r i ng t he genoc ide. Von Joeden-Forgey e x plores t he se x u a l i z ed v iolence a nd gendered patter n s i n t he genoc ide i n Ger ma n Sout h West A f r ic a , empha si z i ng t he ma ny si m i la r it ies t h i s genoc ide sha red w it h ot her c a ses of genoc ide i n colon ia l a nd nat iona l conte x t s . A s a n e x a mple, she show s how Ger ma n propaga nd i st s superi mposed i mages of a hy perse x u a l Herero woma n a nd a ma n ic a l ly c r uel Herero ma le sold ier on t he enemy g roup a nd u sed t hese stereot y pes to br ut a l i ze t hem . Fi na l ly, von Joeden-Forgey d isc u sses t he d i fferent su r v iva l st rateg ies prac t iced by Herero women a s t hey faced se x u a l i z ed v iolence a nd ma ss rape i n t he concent rat ion c a mps . By e x plor i ng t he e vent s a nd memor y of t he A r men i a n genoc ide t h roug h t he l i fe of su r v ivor A u rora M a rd iga n ia n, a br iefl y fa mou s ac t ress w ho st a r red i n a fi l m about t he genoc ide, t he t h i rd chapter st ud ies t he gendered e x per ience of t he g roup dest r uc t ion a nd t he gendered pol it ic s of memor y. Don na-L ee Fr ie z e look s at how t he v iolence aga i n st women por t rayed i n t he fi l m i l lu m i nates t he genoc ida l biolog ic a l absor pt ion pract ices com m itted at t he t i me of t he defeat a nd d i ssolut ion of t he O ttoma n
E mpi re. S he a l so d i sc u sses M a rd iga n ia n ’ s e x per iences of st a rdom a nd e x ploit at ion i n Hol ly wood a nd her persona l e x per ience a s a fema le v ic t i m of genoc ide. Fr ie z e a rg ues t hat recent schola rly a nd a r t i st ic attempt s to resu r rec t M a rd iga n ia n ’ s muted na r rat ive voice encou rage new k now ledge about gender-spec i fic dest r uc t ion a s c r uc ia l to u nderst a nd i ng genoc ide. The cont r ibut ion by Olga Ber tel sen i s one of t he fi rst schola rly attempt s to st udy t he Holodomor, t he st ate- eng i neered fa m i ne promoted by St a l i n i n t he U k ra i n ia n Sov iet Soc ia l i st R epubl ic i n 193 2 –33, t h roug h t he e x per iences of U k ra i n ia n women . Draw i ng f rom t he field s of a nt h ropolog y, ps ycholog y, biolog y, a nd med ic i ne, Ber tel sen a na ly z es new a rch iv a l mater ia l to shed l ig ht on t he gendered a spec t s of t he Holodomor a nd e x a m i ne women ’ s respon ses to t he fa m i ne t hat took t he l ives of more t ha n fou r m i ll ion people. She show s t hat t he col lec t ive e x per ience of st a r vat ion not on ly dest royed women ’ s suppor t net work s, so prom i nent i n t rad it iona l pea sa nt soc iet y, but a l so i n h ibited t hei r abi l it ies to adv a nce t hem selves phy sic a l ly, mora l ly, a nd i ntel lec t u a l ly, forc i ng t hem i nto i solat ion a nd delu sion . I n chapter 5, Ma r ion K apla n measu res t he i mpor ta nce of employ i ng gender as a resea rch tool i n t he field of Holocaust st ud ies. Foc usi ng on Ger ma n Jew r y, K apla n rem i nds us t hat gender made a sha r p d i fference i n t he dest i ny of Jews a nd i n t he su r v iva l st rateg ies t hat women a nd men adopted i n t he contex t of v iolence. K apla n a lso considers t he mecha n isms of gender role reversa ls: women ta k i ng on t rad it iona l ly ma le roles bot h i n pr ivate a nd publ ic a nd t ra nsfor m i ng t hei r ow n fema le ident it ies i n t i mes of cr isis. Fi na l ly, ex plor i ng t he relat ionsh ip bet ween gender a nd memor y i n a r ich body of memoi rs, d ia r ies, a nd letters, K apla n a rg ues t hat gender plays a role i n how t he Nazi era is remembered. Gender i n for ms t he memor y of v iolence a nd t he dest i n ies a nd decisions made by t hose ta rgeted for a n n i h i lat ion.
I n chapter 6, Wendy L ower foc u ses on Ger ma n women i n t he Na z i E a st , e x a m i n i ng t hei r back g rou nd , behav ior a nd ident it y, pa r t ic ipat ion i n t he ter ror promoted by t he Th i rd R eich, a nd t hei r choice to ac t ively suppor t Na z i fa sc i sm . By a na ly z i ng t he d i fferent roles played by Ger ma n fema le per pet rator s some of t hem mot her s, w ives, a nd d aug hter s L ower show s how t hese women bec a me a n i nteg ra l component of t he SS -led mach i ner y of dest r uc t ion, i n pa r t ic u la r i n t he k i l l i ng field s i n t he i mper ia l sett i ng of t he ea ster n ter r itor ies . W h i le Ger ma n women may not have obt a i ned for ma l posit ion s of power at t he h ig hest level s of t he Th i rd
e m
R eich, t hey u lt i mately promoted Na z i rac ia l pol ic ies i n Ger ma ny a nd t he occ upied ter r itor ies a nd sha red w it h men i n t he t a sk of ma ss mu rder.
I n chapter 7, M ichel le K el so e x a m i nes t he e x per iences of R oma n i g i rl s i n R omanian-cont rol led Tra n sn i st r ia du r i ng World Wa r I I . S how i ng t hat t he i ntersec t ion s of et h n ic it y, gender, a nd age played a c r uc ia l role i n t he w ay R oma n i g i rl s e x per ienced t he genoc ide, t h i s st udy i s one of t he fi rst schola rly attempt s to revea l t he forgotten e x per iences of R oma n i g i rl s a nd
women sent to per i sh i n Tra n sn i st r ia i n 194 2 . Ba sed on e x ten sive i nter-
v iew s w it h R oma n i su r v ivors, K el so ’ s a na ly si s of t he g i rl s ’ resi st a nce st rateg ies a nd t hei r st r ug g les to su r v ive a nd ma ke sen se of t hei r e x per iences i n t he m id st of dest r uc t ion a nd t rau ma br i ngs to l i fe t he si lenced voices of a ma rg i na l i z ed et h n ic g roup. Th i s or ig i na l st udy open s t he possibi l it y for a deeper u nderst a nd i ng of t he st i l l la rgely neg lec ted R oma n i genoc ide. Ba sed on pr i ma r y resea rc h c a r r ied out i n t he I nter nat iona l Cr i mes Tr ibu na l of Rwa nda (ICT R), I nter nat iona l Cr i mes Tr ibu na l (Ba ng ladesh) (ICT of Ba ng ladesh), a nd t he I nter nat iona l Cr i m i na l Cou r t (ICC), Bi na D’Cost a ’ s cont r ibut ion to t h i s volu me e x a m i nes women ’ s e x per iences of se x u a l v iolence a nd tor t u re i n t he Ba ng ladesh L iberat ion Wa r of 19 7 1, w hen more t ha n t wo hu nd red t hou sa nd women were raped a nd tort u red . S he foc u ses i n pa r t ic u la r on t he process of si lenc i ng rape v ic t i m s a nd suppressi ng t hei r memor ies of se x u a l a nd gender-ba sed v iolence by aw a rd i ng women w ho were raped i n w a r t i me a nd a fter i ndependence w it h t he t it le of birangona, or w a r heroi ne. I n t he fi na l pa r t of t he chapter,
D’Cost a e x a m i nes t he broader conte x t s of women ’ s advoc ac y i n t he reg ion i n red ressi ng rape a nd se x u a l v iolence. Here she d i sc u sses t he gendered pol it ic s of memor y a nd t he w ay s i n w h ich women ’ s na r rat ives about t he w a r c r i mes of 19 7 1 have been e xc luded f rom t he offic ia l con st r uc t ion of a nat iona l h i stor y a nd of a ma sc u l i ne Benga l i ident it y. By s uppressi ng women ’ s e x per iences of se x u a l v iolence du r i ng t he w a r, t hei r bod ies have aga i n been t a ken by force, t h i s t i me i n t he i nterest of t he nat ion a nd t he const r uc t ion of a t r iu mpha nt h istor ic a l na r rat ive i n postgenoc ida l soc iet y. I n her a na ly sis of t he roles of women i n t he K h mer R ouge com mu n ist reg i me t hat took hold of Ca mbod ia f rom 1975 to 1978, Tr ude Jacobsen shows how ma ny fema le pa r t y members were att rac ted to t he new s y stem a nd its ideolog y by t he prom ise of empower ment, adva ncement, a nd equa l it y w it h t hei r ma le cou nter pa r t s. However, a s Jacobsen show s, t here were clea r
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Man at Solitaria felt the responsibility of his position; he decided to run the whole railroad himself.
Of course, he recognized that there would be opposition to this scheme on the part of the president and directors of the road, and the division superintendent,—especially the superintendent,—the Man knew the division superintendent. But that railroad must be run right. As a first step in that direction the Man saved up money and laid in a large supply of canned meats; he also secured two forty-four caliber revolvers and half a dozen boxes of cartridges.
Of course, the management of the Great Western Railroad didn’t know what was going on in the mind of the Man—especially as he carried on most of his communication with human beings by telegraph. It didn’t care much, either, as long as he kept awake eighteen hours a day and watched the side-track and told them how it was occupied. Consequently, no one knew of his intention of operating the road, and no one knew or probably ever will know why he chose such an unpleasant day for starting it.
It wasn’t unpleasant in the sense that it was rainy—it was merely hot. Along down the track the heat rose in great zigzags, where the yellow sun beat down and baked a crust over the surface of Indiana. There was not a breeze in the air, not a sound except the occasional call of a quail from some distant rail fence, or the cry of a seventeenyear locust in a dead tree. On the sunny side of the station at Solitaria the thermometer took its stand at 118 degrees, and refused to be moved, and the air was a semi-solid mass of cinders.
The Man at Solitaria made up his mind he would shut down his railroad at six o’clock. He laid in a good supply of water and loaded up his revolvers; then he shut up the station and made a kind of barricade of old ties around his telegraph instrument, and sat down inside and waited.
No. 64, the fast freight from the West, was due at 6.10 o’clock to draw up on the siding. No. 24, the fast express from the East, was due at 6.17. At 6.03 the Man telegraphed the station east that the freight was on the side-track and the main line was clear. The freight was not yet in sight. At 6.13 it reached the station, hurrying to make
up lost time, and ran off the track; some one had turned the switch half way. The big engine jumped the rails, crashed up on the station platform, and stopped, without being overturned; three cars went off with it. The brakemen came running up along the train, and the engineer and fireman climbed down out of the cab, swearing and looking for the operator. Just then the express could be heard rushing along from the east, and two brakemen started up the track to head it off, on the dead run. At 6.16 the train appeared in sight. When she came around the curve and saw the freight she just stiffened right out and slid. It wasn’t quite soon enough, however She struck the freight cars just before she came to a stop, smashing a cylinder and nearly jerking the heads off the passengers. All the windows and doors of the coaches flew open with a slam, and the train hands and passengers began to swarm out like hornets out of a hornets’ nest. The trainmen started forward on the run to see what was the matter and to look up the operator and find out what he was trying to do.
The Man opened a window in front of the station, with a revolver in his hand, and told them that what he was trying to do was none of their business. He was operating this damned road now, and he wanted them to understand it. Besides, he didn’t want them on his platform. By way of emphasis, he fired a couple of shots as close to their feet as he could without hitting them. They got off, and he shut down the window with a bang. Somebody went around and tried a window in the rear, and he fired two shots through the glass. It was just as well they didn’t try it again, for he would have nailed them the next time.
Then the trainmen went off to a respectful distance and discussed the situation, and the passengers retreated behind the coaches. The Man sat down and telegraphed that the express had gone by, but that No. 64 had a hot box on the side-track, which might keep it there for some time, so that No. 31, the westbound freight, had better be sent along. He would hold No. 64 for it. So No. 31 came along. It nearly paralyzed the passengers of the express train when they heard it on the line, but the brakemen stopped it all right in time to prevent it from landing on the back of the coaches.
By this time the station at Solitaria presented an unwonted and active scene. Three trains were huddled up around the place, two of them tangled together in a heap. The engine of No. 64 stood up inquiringly on the station platform, like a big dog waiting to be let in. The trainmen and the passengers still stood around and discussed ways and means and swore at the Man and the infernal heat. Several times they had tried to approach the Man, but the Man at Solitaria was unapproachable. A big passenger from the West had declared he would go up, anyway, as a little thing like that had a comparatively mild effect on his nerves, and a small passenger from the East had tried the effect of kind words and moral suasion; but the big six-shooters of the Man had an equally discouraging effect on both.
In fact, the exhilaration of running a railroad was beginning to exercise a strange fascination on the Man at Solitaria. This was only natural, after all. The way he ran things was a good deal like firing railroad trains at a mark, with the certainty of hitting it, if nobody interfered. He recognized, however, that there was need of great discretion and intelligence in the matter. The train despatcher was already making the telegraph instrument chatter like a sewingmachine, asking the station to the west what had become of the express, which, of course, the station west didn’t know.
The Man sent word down the line that a brakeman had come into the station and said there was a big wreck at a culvert three miles west. It was a bad wreck, with a great many killed, and the wrecking train should be sent at once. The train could run right by his station to the place, as the line was clear. In fifteen minutes the wrecking train was drawing out of the Centerville station, seventeen miles east, with all the doctors that could be raised in the vicinity, and coming down the line sixty miles an hour in a halo of hot cinders. If it hadn’t been for a line of brakemen stationed up above the curve, there would have been a great opening for young doctors in Centerville. As it was, the train stopped so short on the curve that the front trucks of the engine ran off and the one passenger coach was jolted full of a mixture of frightened doctors and medicine vials.
By this time the Man had been operating the road for an hour and a half, and the excitement of the thing was growing intense, especially among the disgruntled officials he had superseded. Trains were beginning to stack up at the stations east and west, waiting for developments, and the train despatcher was beating such a devil’s tattoo on his instrument, trying to find out what was going on, anyhow, that the Man used up a great deal of patience and ingenuity trying to shoot him. As for the division superintendent, who had come on the wrecking train, his hair was rapidly growing white. But, as long as he could not effect a compromise with the Man, there was nothing he could do. The Man was engaged at present furnishing information on Solitaria to the outside world, and it was futile to try to conceive what his rich imagination would prompt him to do next. On the other hand, the freight engine on one side and the engine of the wrecker on the other cooped up the only able engine on the track, and made advance or retreat impossible as long as the wrecker couldn’t turn to and haul itself up on the track. But the Man refused to compromise. The division superintendent finally gave it up and started overland for the next telegraph station, ten miles away.
In the meanwhile matters were coming to a desperate crisis in the parade before the station at Solitaria. It was growing dark. Under the circumstances there was cause for excitement, although there was a line of brakemen, armed with lanterns, stretched out half a mile either way. It was generally agreed that the lamps in the cars should be left unlighted in deference to the opinion of the women, who thought lights would afford too good a mark, supposing the Man should decide to turn his attention to a little target practise. The engineers and express messengers lit theirs, however, and the headlights on the two middle engines were started, and threw a yellow glare on the cars before them. The Man paid no attention to matters of this kind, so long as he saw they did not interfere with his plans for operating his road.
About this time a couple of brakemen put their heads together and, getting in back of the tender of the express engine, began to fire chunks of coal through the window at the Man when he was telegraphing. They figured that it would make the Man mad and that
he might exhaust his ammunition upon the tender It did set him going for awhile, and the sound of smashing glass, the crack of the revolver, and the spat of the bullets up against the tender roused considerable interest, especially among the women. Then the Man made up his mind not to shoot any more; they couldn’t do him much harm, anyway, from behind the tender, and he decided to devote no more of his official time to them. So they knew no more about his supply of ammunition than before. Besides, the thing was beginning to be too much for the women in the cars, who got an idea from the noise that something was going on or was about to, and the conductors called the brakemen off. They were afraid they might get the Man too much excited.
As it got darker, however, the ideas of the men on the outside began to crystalize. About everything possible had been tried and failed. At 8.30 o’clock a determined minority decided to go gunning for the Man. It seemed a rather inhuman thing to do, but there was no knowing what was going to turn up. It was really a case of selfdefense. Accordingly a messenger was sent across the fields to a farmhouse for a shotgun.
At this time a ridiculous thing happened. The Man went to sleep. This seems incredible until it is remembered that he had been up very late the night before arranging the schedule for his road. As for the men on the outside, they thought at first he was merely leaning forward over his instrument; then some one suggested that he might be asleep, but the crowd was against him, the popular theory being that he was probably playing some trick. The beams of one of the headlights streamed in the front window of the station and showed him very plainly He made an interesting, if not entirely charming picture in the yellow light,—especially his white face and his straggly black hair. If he had made the slightest move the crowd would have seen it; but he didn’t. So after he had lain perfectly still for ten minutes many said that they were comfortably sure that he was really asleep. A young physician who watched him awhile said they couldn’t wake him with a club,—it was one of the peculiar symptoms of what ailed him,—and suggested that now was the golden opportunity for those whose business it was, to gather him in without
the slightest danger to themselves. There was a long and unanimous silence, during which the theory of subterfuge on the part of the Man gained ground. Finally the doctor said he would be one of two men to go in after him; a freight brakeman said he would be the other. They went to the rear of the station and opened a catch in a window where a piece of coal had broken out a light, raised the sash, and crawled in. The crowd kept watch of the Man, prepared to yell if he stirred. But he didn’t stir. The two men crawled up behind the barricade, around in front where the headlight streamed in and jumped. Then the crowd came through the front windows, and the Man was gathered in.
Now this is the plain and unvarnished tale of how the Man at Solitaria ran the Great Western Road. There is no probability that he will resume the management. Nevertheless he inaugurated one improvement for which the traveling public should be grateful. The new Man at Solitaria has an assistant.
The Compass of Fortune.
BY EUGENE SHADE BISBEE.
A few days after his return to New York from twenty years’ prospecting in South America, Alfred Leighton found the following letter at his hotel:—
“B
V , T - - -H , April 26, 189—.
“Dear Alfred: A moment ago, to my astonishment and delight, I ran across your name among yesterday’s hotel arrivals. I won’t waste words in telling you what pleasure this news gives me, but write at once to ask you to come up here with bag and baggage, so that we may talk over old times and compare notes as to how the world has used us since we parted thirty years ago.
“Telegraph when you are coming, and I will meet you at the train.
“Yours, as of yore, “M B .”
For a moment after finishing the letter Leighton stood dumfounded, his mind swiftly gathering up the threads of longforgotten experiences and friendships. It was now almost thirty years since he and Melville Barrett had chummed together at college, but the letter and the signature were enough to recall the brilliant, luckless fellow who had been Leighton’s roommate during the latter’s senior year. As nearly as he could remember, Barrett, in spite of his mental gifts, had never got on in the world, and, at last accounts, had gone West where he had dropped out of sight apparently for good
and all. And now, behold, he had turned up again in the character of a landed proprietor! Had Barrett at last struck it rich?
Five hours later when, after a drive in a well-appointed landau through a winding avenue, the carriage stopped at a big colonial mansion, and Leighton was ushered into an imposing hallway, carpeted with oriental rugs and decorated with tropical plants and curios from many lands, his mind recurred to the same question. And during the dinner that followed, served by well-trained servants, in a tapestry-hung dining-room, and the hour spent examining the rare plants in the adjoining conservatory, Leighton found himself varying the question by the mental inquiry,—“How had Barrett struck it rich?”
For an answer to this question he had not long to wait. As the two men sat together before the open fire in the library, over their Havanas and after-dinner, coffee, reviving the experiences of years ago, Barrett suddenly exclaimed, turning to his companion:—
“I suppose you are surprised to find me, at last, a property holder, instead of the luckless, poverty-stricken chap you used to know. Very likely, you’ve been wondering whether I have fallen heir to a fortune.” Then, hardly noticing his friend’s evasive answer, he continued: “I have come into a fortune, but not through the death of friend or relative. In fact, the manner in which it was gained was so extraordinary that neither I nor the friend who shared the adventure have cared to speak about it. And people simply know that, like so many others, we struck it rich in the land of gold. But you, who were the companion of my college days, and so know that I never took any stock in the supernatural, will, I am sure, believe what I have to tell you, especially as I hold the proof. If its duplicate can be produced by human hands, then I am ready to accept any commonplace explanation that the maker may offer.
“The whole thing is as great a mystery to me to-day as when it happened, eighteen years ago. My friend Mitchell and I had been hunting in the mountains of Southern California for a couple of weeks, and were returning by easy stages to the stock ranch where we both were employed. One evening, about the third day of our journey, we made camp in one of the most picturesque spots in all
that beautiful country A deep green valley stretched before us, high, snow-crowned mountains on either side, while far away down the silver stream that flowed through the valley could be seen the undulating country of the grape and orange—a full hundred miles away.
“Mitchell had finished his duties as cook, and we had despatched a delicious supper of broiled venison, potatoes, and coffee, just as the sun was sinking beyond our vision. The camp fire gave forth a cheery glow as we sat and smoked our pipes, recounting the day’s sport; while every now and then the stillness was broken by the deep howl of a gray mountain wolf,—a blood-chilling sound even to an old hunter, and thus altogether different from the bark and yelp of the coyote of the plains. Twenty years ago the Sierra Nevadas were alive with game, and many a time have I sat by the ashes of our fire on a morning early, and thrown stones at an inquisitive black-tail deer, undismayed by his first sight of man. On this evening, however, after we had finished our smoke and looked after our horses and pack-mules, we rolled in our blankets, and, with saddles for pillows and our heavy sombreros covering our faces, were soon asleep.
“My next conscious thoughts were of warmth on my face, and I sat up suddenly to find the sun just above the treetops. Giving Mitchell a rousing slap on the back, I set about getting a fire, at which task he joined me a moment later. Soon we had started a tiny blaze, but the dew-damp wood would not catch according to my fancy and I stooped to blow it. It caught, and I raised my head. As I did so I saw the strangest figure that ever met my eyes.
“At first Mitchell did not see it, for, though near, it stood just behind him. But as my look of amazement caught Mitchell’s eye, with a ‘What the devil is the matter with—?’ he turned his head; and the words died on his lips. What had so astonished me was nothing more nor less than the form of a man, but a man whose like I had never seen nor imagined. In the first place he seemed to be at the very least seven feet high, and, even shrouded as he was by the folds of his odd costume, magnificently proportioned. He was garbed in a flowing gown of white, wound around by a broad crimson sash, into which were stuck two daggers and a long curved sword with a
handle of gold set with jewels; while a huge turban of oriental fashion, snow-white like his gown, crowned his head. Beneath the turban gleamed two eyes, small, but piercingly brilliant, while the lower part of the dark oval face was half hidden by his most remarkable feature, a moustache, jet black, and as long as the horns of a big steer—a comparison which its graceful curves still further suggested. What finally riveted our attention, however, was neither the man’s garb nor his features, but an object that he held in the curve of his right arm.”
“And that was—?”
“Nothing more nor less than a human skull, of a size that seemed to indicate a man of even larger stature than the one before us. All these details flashed upon my mind like an image on the sensitive plate of a camera, but before I could have counted twenty with deliberation, he placed the skull upon the ground, and then, straightening himself up, pointed with one outstretched hand over my head, as though indicating something in the distance. Naturally, we both turned in the direction of that gesture, but seeing nothing unusual in the landscape, faced about again towards the figure. Then we looked at each other in blank astonishment. The man had vanished as completely as a soap bubble bursting in air!”
“Hidden?” said Leighton, laconically.
“Impossible; our camp stood in a perfectly open glade, at least two hundred yards from the nearest tree, so he could not possibly have reached a hiding place in the ten seconds our heads had been turned.
“As we stood there dumfounded, our eyes scrutinizing each other, the plain, the sky overhead, and finally the ground, Mitchell gave a cry of astonishment.
“‘Why, there’s the skull!’ he exclaimed. ‘The man was real after all.’
“Sure enough, there was the skull, lying on the ground scarcely two yards from where we stood. For a moment neither of us stirred. Then with a common impulse we rushed forward and together raised the grewsome souvenir from the ground. At first it seemed much like
any human skull except that it was unusually large, and polished so that its top glistened like a billiard ball. As we turned it around, however, a cry of astonishment broke from both. The eye sockets were not empty, but contained a pair of the oddest sort of eyes. They were perfect in shape and expression, and though carved from what seemed to be deep blue glass, looked almost too lifelike for pleasurable contemplation. But what added to the uncanny effect of the lidless blue orbs was the fact that they moved, being evidently set on some sort of bearing. So weirdly fascinating was the strange object that the sun was high before we could compose ourselves sufficiently to sit down to our morning meal; and even then our conversation was entirely of the skull and of the strange visitor who had come and gone so mysteriously. In comparing notes we found that our remembrance of that visitor’s dress and appearance agreed to the minutest details. Consequently if there had been any delusion it was one in which both had shared. But if the experience had been a delusion, how account for the skull? From time to time we glanced toward the spot where we had placed the uncanny object, half expecting that, too, would vanish. But no. It remained just where we had left it, its top glistening in the sun, its lidless blue eyes gleaming with an almost human expression. As I looked, for perhaps the twentieth time, at the grewsome thing I observed that the eyes were turned toward the left, and seemed gazing fixedly at the hillside above our camp. Seized by a strange idea I arose and turned the skull in the direction of the hill towards which the eyes looked. They stared straight ahead. Then I turned it in the other direction, and, to my astonishment, they looked towards the right. To make sure, I slowly turned it from one side to the other, and all the while the eyes kept their gaze riveted on the same spot. I had called Mitchell to observe the experiment, and he laughingly suggested that the skull was looking for the man who brought it there and then deserted it. But I was more serious. I had an idea concerning this strange phenomenon and was resolved to test the matter to the end. Holding the skull in one hand, I walked forward, every now and then turning the skull, whose eyes always turned in the same direction, as the needle of a compass points toward the north. I had in this manner gradually approached the hill, when it seemed as if the eyes had
actually taken on a more intense gaze, and that that gaze was directed to a particular portion of the rocks which seemed to form a small recess. I moved forward more rapidly, the eyes continuing to stare at this place until I had reached the recess itself. The next moment I found myself within a natural enclosure, surrounded on three sides by precipitous rock, so steep as to be almost barren of vegetation, save here and there a clinging vine. Again I looked at the skull. Beyond a doubt its deep blue eyes were directed towards a particular portion of the rocky wall marked by a small depression, shaped like a diamond. Setting the grewsome thing upon a flat rock, I purposely turned the side of the jaw toward the point where the eye had been directed, and breathlessly awaited the result. Slowly, steadily, those lidless eyes turned until they rested again on the diamond-shaped depression.”
“And Mitchell?” said his hearer, “did this convince him?”
“Not at first, for he remained near our fire, watching my movements still with an incredulous smile. The smile faded, however, when a moment later I called him to my side and saying, ‘Watch the eyes and tell me what you think,’ began turning the skull slowly around on the flat rock. The eyes held their focus on the diamond-shaped incision, and I stood up and confronted my friend.
“‘Well,’ said he, and this time his accent indicated great agitation, ‘I believe you are right, and there’s some mystery here; let’s get to the bottom of it. I’ll go to the camp for an axe.’ Ten minutes later he returned with the only available tool we possessed, and I began hacking feverishly at the rocky wall, keeping the mark upon which the eyes were riveted as our guide. Before long we had a big slice of the rocky soil cut away, and Mitchell had just taken his turn at the work, when his axe suddenly buried itself in what seemed to be a soft shell of rock, the momentum throwing him flat on his face. The next moment a section of the earth, quite six feet each way, gave way, revealing to our astonished eyes a deep excavation. In the bright light of the morning sun which shone full upon it, lighting up its interior to the rear wall, it seemed about fifty feet inward.”
“A sort of cave?” said Leighton.
“Yes, but one made by human hands, as we discovered as soon as we crossed the threshold. The walls were cut and carved in many curious devices, while around the three sides ran a shelf cut in the rock, on which reposed many bones piled in regular heaps. A glance revealed the fact that they were human bones,—we were in some prehistoric sarcophagus. Presently, as our eyes became accustomed to the subdued light, we began to look about us more closely. I was examining a pile of bones at the end farthest from the opening, comparing them with the skull in our possession, when, finding them apparently of the usual size, I tossed a thigh bone carelessly back on the shelf. It struck the pile with more force than I had intended, and they all came tumbling to the floor; but as they fell they revealed what appeared then, and subsequently proved to be, a crystal casket. It was about eighteen inches long by six high, and a foot wide; and, as I took hold of it, it moved with my hand. Carrying it to the opening I set it down in the light. Then, for the first time, I saw that it was filled with a blue substance, whose nature I could not clearly make out, owing to the dust and dirt covering the case. Upon examining the lid I found that it was not hinged but simply set on over the top. A quick jerk brought it away, and there before our staring eyes lay a huge heap of blue stones, all cut, and polished to a dazzling brilliancy.
“‘Sapphires!’ cried Mitchell, and his eyes bulged from his head.
“‘Are you certain?’ I asked, almost breathless from amazement.
“‘Absolutely,’ he said. ‘Look at them,’ and he took a handful of the beautiful stones. ‘You never saw glass like that.’
“I thought as he did, but, being no judge of such things, was not too ready to let my hopes soar, only to be dashed to earth again. There must have been at least two pecks of them, ranging in size from a small pea to stones as big as the end of my thumb,—and all perfectly cut. Suddenly, as we stood gazing incredulously at the gleaming stones, my thoughts flew to the skull, and I ran to fetch it. As I brought it into the light I saw that its gaze was now riveted on the casket, the lidless blue orbs seeming actually to gloat over the piles of blue stones. A new thought flashed through my mind. Could
it be—? Yes—undoubtedly—the eyes that we had thought only bits of blue glass were themselves sapphires, but larger and finer than any in the casket.
“Well, Mitchell and I were practical, first of all. As soon as we had recovered from our amazement we made a thorough search of the cave. Finding nothing more, however, we took ourselves and our precious burdens to the camp, and that very night we started for San Francisco.”
“And the stones proved really sapphires?” said Leighton.
“Sapphires! I should say so. The leading jewelers to whom we showed a few specimens upon our arrival in San Francisco, two days later, pronounced them gems of the first water, and gladly paid us twenty thousand dollars for sixty of the smaller stones. Upon parting company we divided the sapphires equally between us, and since then I have visited every capital of Europe, in each of which the stones have been pronounced flawless.”
“And that’s how you struck it rich?”
“Yes, but so far I have converted less than half of them into money. The remainder I have placed in the casket in a New York safe deposit vault, but the skull—”
As he spoke he gestured toward an ebony cabinet just above his head. There, behind a glass door, stood a huge skull, whose lidless blue eyes, looking out toward the distant city, seemed to pierce every obstacle between itself and the casket of sapphires over which it still kept watch and ward.
A Surgical Love-Cure.
BY JAMES BUCKHAM.
One dull, gray afternoon in November I was sitting in my office in Raymond Square, deeply absorbed in an article in my Medical Journal,—the description of an experiment conducted by a famous French surgeon for the purpose of determining whether sight could be restored to a blind person by engrafting the live nerve of a dog’s eye upon the shriveled and atrophied nerve of the patient’s eye. So engrossed was I in the fascinating details of the experiment that I did not hear the door of my office open, nor was I aware of the presence of a second person until a peculiarly deep-toned, rich, and musical voice broke upon my ear.
“Have I the honor of addressing Doctor Marston?”
I looked up, and saw before me a tall and graceful young man, smooth-shaven, and dressed in the characteristic clerical garb of the Church of England. His face was singularly handsome, of the clearcut Grecian type, and was lighted by a pair of large, thoughtful brown eyes. With the exception of the mouth, the whole face was both intellectual and spiritual; but there was a certain fulness and sensuous curve of the lips which suggested a strongly emotive and possibly passionate nature under this calm and priestly exterior.
“Yes, I am Doctor Marston,” I said, replying to the young clergyman’s question. “Can I be of any service to you?”
“On one condition—possibly,” replied the young man, taking the seat which I indicated, and fixing his thoughtful brown eyes searchingly upon mine. For a moment we sat gazing intently at each other, and then I said, somewhat abruptly:—
“I beg to know the condition, sir.”
“It is this,” he replied; “that if I entrust my case to you, you will promise to keep it entirely secret, scientifically or otherwise, until after my death, should that occur before your own. And, in any case, you must agree never to reveal my name in connection with the affair.”
For some moments I sat turning over this peculiar proposition in my mind, conscious all the while that the brown eyes were fixed patiently, but anxiously, upon my face. At length I replied:—
“I have never as yet been called upon to undertake a case guarded by such secrecy as you seem desirous to throw about your own, and, to be frank, I dislike to commit myself to any transaction of the sort,—at least, until I know something of the nature of the trouble and the reasons for suppressing any mention of it. This much, however, I will agree to do. If you will describe the nature of your disease, I will then decide whether I ought to accept the case on the conditions imposed. Whether I accept or refuse it, I will agree to keep the matter a total secret, except so far as your own proposition gives me liberty to speak.”
A slight smile flitted over the young clergyman’s face. “Very well,” he said; “I accept your word of honor, as a gentleman should, and will proceed at once to describe the malady which has, perhaps justly, awakened your suspicions. To come at once to the point, then, know that, impelled by your well-deserved reputation as an anatomist, I have applied to you to perform a surgical operation for the cure of love-sickness!”
I started, the suspicion that flitted through my mind mirroring itself unconsciously in my dilated eyes.
“Ah, no!” exclaimed my companion seriously, reading the tell-tale revelation of my face. “I am not insane. My mind is as clear and logical at this moment as it ever was in my life, and the request which I make, a little reflection will prove to you, is not only reasonable, but scientific.
“First, however, let me state to you the circumstances which make me desirous to rid myself of the passion which I have confessed,
thereby anticipating the question which is sure to rise to your lips. You are aware, of course, that the High Church movement in this country, as well as in England, has resulted in the formation of certain brotherhoods of the clergy, bound together by vows more or less approaching in strictness those which govern the clergy of the Church of Rome?”
“I was not aware of the fact,” I replied, as the young clergyman paused for an answer.
“It is indeed so,” he continued. “You will not be surprised, then, to know that by the vows of the Brotherhood of St. Michael, to which I consecrated myself soon after the days of my novitiate, celibacy is as strictly enjoined as upon the priesthood of the Church of Rome.”
“Indeed!” I exclaimed, carried away by some sudden feeling, which I cannot even now defend. “The more fools—”
But here I stopped, the great brown eyes with something like a flash of Olympic lightning piercing and enchaining mine. In another instant the deep, rich voice proceeded:—
“For ten years I have kept every vow of the brotherhood referring to woman, without a single spiritual struggle—wearing these restraints as Samson wore his chains. But something less than six months ago I met a woman—”
The young clergyman paused, throwing his head back against the green baize of the easy-chair in which he sat. For a moment I thought he had fainted, and sprang for a cordial; but, without taking his slowly opening eyes from the ceiling, he motioned me back, and continued, while an indescribably sweet and almost transfiguring smile lit his pale face:—
“A woman, said I? An angel! A vision of transcendent loveliness! She came into my life as a new star comes across the disk of an astronomer’s telescope, shedding its undiscovered light from eternity for him alone. O my Ethel! My angel! My lips yearn toward yours, my arms grope out to clasp you!—My God! What am I saying?”
The young priest sprang from his chair and stood trembling before me. His face was livid with the exercise of some tremendous mental
effort, and I could see that the white nails of his clenched hands were driven deep into the flesh. For a full minute he stood thus, and then his strong frame relaxed, and he sank back into his chair, white as the paper on which I write, and weak as a babe. This time I pressed the cordial to his lips, and he did not refuse it. Presently he looked up with a faint smile, and said, “Now, sir, you see what my malady is. I have no need to describe it any farther.”
I stepped to the window and gazed up into the gray sky, as if looking for a solution of my perplexity. But my mind remained as blank as the dull expanse above the city roofs. Was this man insane, or was he really, as he said, in his right mind? Could the force of a mere amorous passion for a beautiful woman so carry away one of his character unless the man’s mental integrity was impaired? I turned suddenly, in response to the young clergyman’s voice. He had risen, and was advancing towards me.
“Do you believe in phrenology, Doctor Marston?”
“Most assuredly I do not.”
“Will you perform an experiment upon me to test the reasonableness of your doubt?”
“Do you mean by that, will I assume your case surgically?”
“Exactly.”
I turned to the window again. Here was certainly an opportunity to contribute something to the discussion of a vexed scientific question. Are the functions of the brain localized in its structure? So say Gall, and Spurzheim, and not a few other eminent anatomists. Well, every practical experiment looking towards the solution of this question has its value. Here was a strong, vigorous man, evidently possessed by the amative mania. It would be an operation of little difficulty and no great degree of danger to uncover the occipital protuberance at the base of the brain, where phrenologists claim that the organ of love is situated, and then—
“Well, will you take the case?”
The clergyman’s hand was on my shoulder I turned and looked him squarely in the face. “Is it understood that you assume all the risk, and that you do not hold me responsible for the psychological result of an experiment which, so far as I am concerned, is purely physical in its character?”
“Certainly. We will have it so understood.”
“Then you may call at my office to-morrow morning at eleven. Eat a light breakfast, and, as far as possible, avoid excitement of every kind.”
It seemed strange instruction to be giving a clergyman; but the young man understood and nodded approval. In a few minutes he took his departure, and I returned to my Medical Journal—but not to read.
Precisely at eleven o’clock the next morning my singular patient walked into the office. I at once remarked upon his changed appearance. His face looked haggard, and there were heavy, dark rings under his eyes, appearing almost black at the inner corners of the lids.
“I have seen her,” he explained heavily. “She was at All Saints Chapel this morning. It was impossible for me to retire, or I should have done so. I had to fight my desire to look at her, to speak to her. I had to fight like a wild lion, and it has told on me, as you can see. But, thank God, it is over now!”
“I hardly think you are in a fit condition to endure a surgical operation,” I objected.
“For God’s sake, do not put it off any longer, doctor!” exclaimed the young clergyman, clutching my hand. “I would rather die than endure another day of such moral agony.”
“Very well,” I said; “I do not consider the experiment a dangerous one in any case—only exhausting.”
Five minutes later my patient, divested of coat, vest, and collar, lay stretched on the operating table. In five minutes more he was under the influence of ether.
