Social interaction among Jewish women in crisis during the Holocaust: a case study

Analyzes the behavior of ten young women (16-26 years old), who banded together in a non-formal mutual assistance group in the labor camp Plaszow (in 1944 all of them were transferred to Auschwitz). Nine of the ten had an Orthodox religious background; all came from Western Galicia, in Poland. The group was distinct, in some aspects, from other similar mutual assistance groups in the camps; in particular, its members did not separate themselves from other prisoners and they rendered assistance to some non-members. Within the group, mother-daughter-type relations developed, rather than those of sisters. The specifics of the group's behavior may be attributed to three factors: gender, religion, and prewar experience. Based on interviews with the survivors of the group, as well as memoir literature, including the book by one of the survivors, Pearl Benisch, "To Vanquish the Dragon" (1991).