International Journal of Gender and Women‘s Studies December 2019, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 13-21 ISSN: 2333-6021 (Print), 2333-603X (Online) Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. Published by American Research Institute for Policy Development DOI: 10.15640/ijgws.v7n2p2 URL: https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v7n2p2 Silenced No More: Transformation of Female Sexual Violation into Sacred Stories and Sacred Silence Chaya M. Abrams 1 , Ph.D., LPC LAC Abstract Holocaust literature has historically focused on generalized genocide of Jews throughout several decades, with scarce mention of Jewish sexuality, reproductive functioning, or sexual trauma (Chalmers, 2015). This paper addresses silenced female sexual violations that occurred within ghettos and concentration camps during the Holocaust. A background of Jewish sexuality in Germany prior to World War II is examined, as well as the impact of the Rassenschande Laws on violations of the female body and intelligence. The terms traumatic silence and sacred silence are presented and defined by the author and discussed in context of current scholarly ways of understanding silence in posttraumatic response. Observations of silenced sexual violations are discussed through examples from the author‘s visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and conceptualized as sacred stories of Holocaust women. To support this stance, sacred stories of several minority female writers are portrayed in this paper as examples of strength during times of oppression. Through externalization of silenced sacred stories, transformation of female sexual violations from traumatic silence to whole-hearted sacred silence is possible. Implications for re-authorship of traumatic stories into sacred stories are introduced through contemporary western attitudes toward the sexuality and reproductive rights of women. Keywords: female sexual violation, sacred stories, traumatic silence, sacred silence 1. Introduction The majority of Holocaust literature over several decades has focused on generalized genocide of Jews through venues of torture, starvation, gassing, diseases contracted in ghettos, and death at the hands of Nazi killing units, or Einsatzgruppen. An act of Nazi brutality that has been historically silenced, however, is manipulation of Jewish sexuality and reproductive functioning in an attempt to eradicate Jewish existence deemed unfit by Aryan standards of purity (Chalmers, 2015). Specific to this paper, I discuss silenced female sexual trauma that occurred within the ghettos and concentration camps in Eastern Europe. I was drawn to this topic after conducting a recent study that examined how persons having experienced Historical Trauma Response (HTR) connect to sacred stories in psychotherapy (Abrams, 2019). Although the study did not intentionally target an exclusive sample of female trauma survivors, all participants were female and several hailed from marginalized populations. The participants‘ experiences of Historical Trauma and Historical Trauma Response (HTR) opened my eyes further to the complexity of silenced female trauma. Compelled by a quest for more information, I toured Auschwitz-Birkenau and was engulfed by trauma associations so strong, I felt my body contract and hold the echoes of the violations suffered by women of the camp. Following that visit and through subsequent writings, I wish to break the tortured silence of women whose cries permeate my entire being. I lend a gentle hand to the reader in exploration of female testimonies of sexual violations over several decades. 1 Faculty Member, University of Colorado Denver, School of Education and Human Development, Counseling Program Correspondence: chaya.abrams@ucdenver.edu Phone: +1 303-947-3356