Dehumanization in the Holocaust: An Analysis of Dehumanization in the Experiences of French Female Victims during the Holocaust

World War II began with the German invasion of Poland in 1939 and was brought to France in 1940 upon the German invasion of France. My thesis will focus on the experience of French, Jewish and non-Jewish women during World War II, who suffered Nazi persecution. I will specifically examine subjects who are both French nationals and immigrants. My work identifies various acts of Nazi dehumanization, from within texts authored by victims, during or after the war. Identifying dehumanization allows me to assess its effects on victims, thus illuminating acts of resistance, which historian Brana Gurewitsch defines as any act which defies the goals of the oppressor. Thus, sheer survival was resistance for a Jewish victim during the Holocaust, given the Nazi goal of eradicating all Jewish persons. My goal is to provide a deeper understanding of the role of dehumanization within genocide, which Holocaust historiography has neglected. Dehumanization, the third of eight stages of genocide, serves a crucial function in the perpetration of mass murder. My thesis will serve a broader interpretation of genocide through the lens of the Holocaust