The Shadow of the Special Barracks: Unveiling the Dark History of State-Sanctioned Brothels in Nazi Concentration Camps

What would you do to survive the most hellish conditions on Earth? For hundreds of women in camps like Auschwitz and Buchenwald, the answer was a choice no human should ever have to make.

Forced into “Special Barracks,” these women became tools of a Nazi experiment designed to boost productivity and curb homosexuality among the prisoner population.

They were sterilized, subjected to invasive medical procedures to “beautify” them for their abusers, and forced to endure a rigid schedule of violation monitored by Garrison soldiers.

For decades, this story was hidden, considered too indecent to discuss, until historians finally broke the silence.

These women lived in a bizarre limbo, treated better than the starving masses yet subjected to a soul-crushing loss of dignity that stayed with them forever.

The true scale of this state-run prostitution ring reveals a side of the regime that goes beyond common historical knowledge, showcasing a level of manipulation that used the most basic human needs as a weapon of control. Read the full account of their ordeal and the secrets of the camp brothels. Check out the full post in the comments section.

The history of the Second World War is often told through the lens of grand strategy, massive troop movements, and the visible horrors of the Holocaust. However, beneath the well-documented surface of the Nazi concentration camp system lay a hidden layer of exploitation that remained a taboo subject for over sixty years.

This was the system of the “Sonderbauten”—Special Barracks—which functioned as state-run brothels within the very heart of the machinery of death. Far from being a byproduct of wartime chaos, these institutions were a calculated, mathematically driven initiative designed by the highest echelons of the SS to manipulate the human psyche and maintain control through the exploitation of physical needs.

The Origins of the Special Barracks

The onset of wartime in 1939 brought about a radical reorganization of German society. As the military expanded, Nazi commanders began to worry about the morale of their soldiers and the potential for indiscipline arising from a lack of female companionship. While this issue was largely addressed in occupied territories where local populations were coerced into service, a different and more sinister problem began to emerge within the concentration camps themselves.

Oswald Pohl, the head of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (WVHA), was the primary architect of this new system. Pohl was a man obsessed with efficiency and the total utilization of camp labor. In a detailed note sent to Heinrich Himmler, Pohl argued that male prisoners also suffered from a lack of physical satisfaction, and that offering “female favors” as a reward could serve as a powerful incentive to increase work productivity. Himmler, ever the pragmatist when it came to control, gave the project his enthusiastic approval.

Ruthless Mathematics: The Opening of Mauthausen

In June 1942, the first of these camp brothels was opened at Mauthausen. The project was not approached with any sense of moral hesitation; instead, it was treated as a technical problem to be solved with “ruthless German mathematics.” Pohl and his team calculated exactly how many women would be needed to serve the prisoner population. The initial ratio was staggering: ten girls were chosen to serve between 300 and 500 men.

The system operated with a mechanical coldness. Each woman was expected to satisfy eight men a day, with each man granted exactly fifteen minutes of “privacy.” However, true privacy was a myth. The rooms in these special barracks were designed with peepholes, allowing Garrison soldiers to monitor the entire process. Talking during the act was strictly forbidden, reinforcing the idea that these women were not humans, but mere biological tools provided by the state.

The Selection Process and the “Blood Warden”

The majority of the women forced into this system were brought from the Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp. The selection process was overseen by some of the most notorious figures in the camp administration, including Maria Mandl, known as the “Blood Warden.” Mandl took a personal interest in the development of the system, meticulously vetting women based on age, perceived stamina, and physical appearance.

While the vast majority of these women were ethnic Germans—often categorized as “asocials” by the regime—there were also Polish and even a Romanian woman documented in the records. Before beginning their “duties,” these women were subjected to a grueling “beautification” process.

They were given shots of calcium to improve their bone health and skin, their bodies were scrubbed with special brushes, and they were bathed in disinfectant baths. They were also heavily fed and encouraged to sunbathe to ensure they looked “healthy” for the privileged prisoners who would visit them.

A Tool of Manipulation and Control

The primary goal of the Special Barracks was not the comfort of the prisoners, but the control of the camp population. By introducing these brothels, Pohl successfully established a new hierarchy among the inmates. Visits were restricted to privileged prisoners—Kapos, wardens, and headmen—who had to pay two Reichsmarks for the service. This “innovation” served two purposes: it rewarded those who helped the SS maintain order, and it sowed seeds of deep resentment and division among the general prisoner population.

Furthermore, the introduction of the brothels led to a spike in “bassist qualities” among the prisoners. Reports sent to Pohl noted a significant increase in prisoners slandering one another, reporting imminent escapes, and turning in instigators—all in the hope of earning a visit to the special barracks. The promise of physical satisfaction turned prisoners into informants, effectively using their biological needs as a weapon against their own community.

There was also a racial and ideological component to this system. Jewish prisoners were strictly forbidden from entering the special barracks under any circumstances, a policy believed to have been ordered personally by Himmler. Additionally, the SS used the brothels as a way to “combat” homosexuality within the camps, not out of any moral conviction, but out of a practical desire to prevent the spread of venereal diseases and to force prisoners into heteronormative roles that the state could more easily manage.

The Myth of Release and the Reality of Survival

To keep the women compliant, the SS engaged in a cruel form of ideological manipulation. They were promised that if they performed their duties “honestly and well” for six months, they would be released from the camp. For many women, living in the constant shadow of the gas chambers and the firing squads, this empty promise provided a sliver of hope that made the daily trauma bearable.

In reality, almost none were ever released. However, records suggest that because they were seen as “valuable assets” to the camp’s economic productivity, these women were treated significantly better than the average prisoner. They had better rations, cleaner living conditions, and avoided the backbreaking labor that claimed so many lives. While their ordeal was a profound violation of human rights, the relative physical safety of the brothel meant that the majority of these women survived the war—only to face a lifetime of shame and silence.

Breaking the Silence: The Research of Robert Sommer

For decades after the war, the subject of camp brothels remained a taboo in both East and West Germany. The survivors were often too ashamed to speak, and the broader society was unwilling to confront the reality of state-sanctioned forced prostitution. It wasn’t until 2009 that the veil of secrecy was finally and fully broken by the historian Robert Sommer.

Sommer spent years researching the topic, culminating in his fundamental monograph, Das SGB-Bordell und Konzentrationslager (The Camp Brothel and Concentration Camp). His work, spanning over 450 pages, debunked the long-standing myth that the Nazis were moral crusaders against prostitution. On the contrary, Sommer proved that the regime had legalized, strengthened, and integrated prostitution into their system of terror.

The Special Barracks represent a terrifying intersection of industrial efficiency and human depravity. They remind us that the Nazi regime’s capacity for horror extended into the most intimate aspects of human life, transforming even the most basic human needs into a mechanism of the state. By acknowledging this dark chapter of history, we honor the survivors who were forced to endure the “indecent” secrets of the camps and ensure that the full scope of the regime’s crimes is never forgotten.