Under Fire: Women and World War II

Jaarboek voor Vrouwengeschiedenis #34

by Eveline Buchheim (Editor), Ralf Futselaar (Editor)

Since the 1970s, when the dominance of military histories of the World Wars ended, and social historical histories of conflict rose to prominence, women have come to play an increasingly important role in mainstream stories about the WW II. Women have been portrayed as carers, as victims (notably of sexual violence), but rarely as agents of their own fate. This volume focuses on this last group. In spite of the undeniable suffering and victimization that befell so many women during the war, for others the war also opened opportunities and awakened ambitions. The articles bring together some of the women who took initiatives, of which they sometimes suffered the dire consequences, sometimes enjoyed the fruits.

Contents: Introduction: BUCHHEIM/FUTSELAAR, Female Agency in Times of War MORANT I ARIŇO, 'Falange's female comrades [and] their German and Italian sisters'. Cross-Border Affinities Between Women's Fascist Organizations, 1936-1945 BRADLEY HORTON, Tales of a Wartime Vagabond: Hayashi Fumiko and the Travels of Japanese Writers in Early Wartime Southeast Asia VON BENDA-BECKMANN, Aunts at War. Loss and Guilt in the Autobiographies of Luise and Tini von Benda YAP, Asian and Eurasian Women's Resistance Against the Japanese, 1942-1945 Photo section: GROOT, Photography as Visual Documentary Source on Women and Gender in the Second World War GREVERS, Caught Between Chastity and Depravity. Dutch and Belgian Female Collaborators After the Second World War BUCHHEIM, Victim, Accomplice or Culprit? Marie-Therese Brandenburg van Oltsende's Relations with the Japanese Occupier JONKER, Freddi and Truus, Sisters in Arms. A Double Portrait of Dutch Resistance Fighters in World War II Forum: TSU, Bodies that Could Kill. Female Sexuality in the Twenty-First-Century Anti-Japanese War Film of China Portrait: VAN DEN ENDE, Martha Ben Assa-Van Esso-Polak Showcase: WIERSMA, 'The war's going fine'. World War II Through the Eyes of Ordinary Women

192 pages, Paperback

Published December 19, 2014

About the author

Dr. Eveline Buchheim is onderzoeker bij het NIOD. Haar onderzoeksinteresse ligt op het gebied van oorlog & gender en oorlog & herinnering. Zij publiceerde over de rol van vrouwen in de kolonie, de gevolgen van de oorlog in de Pacific op bestaande gender verhoudingen en over WO II gerelateerd herinneringstourisme. Buchheim werkte als interviewer o.a. voor de Stichting Mondelinge Geschiedenis Indonesië (SMGI). Zij adviseerde over oral history projecten en gaf trainingen over het gebruik van egodocumenten en oral history voor onderzoek. Zij werkt momenteel aan een boek over connecties tussen Japanners en Nederlanders tijdens de Japanse bezetting op Java.