A Portuguese edition published by the University of São Paulo Press
The Brazilian edition of The Jewish Women of Ravensbrück Concentration Camp by Dr. Rochelle G. Saidel was published by University of São Paulo Press in 2009, in cooperation with Remember the Women Institute.
The official launch of the book took place in São Paulo, Brazil on November 9, 2009, in commemoration of Kristallnacht. The event was sponsored by the Livraria Cultura bookstore, Congregacão Israelita Paulista Synagogue, and University of São Paulo Press, taking place at Livraria Cultura, Villa-Lobos Shopping Center. The event included a commemoration of Kristallnacht, a presentation by Dr. Saidel, and a book signing.
This is the first Portuguese book about Ravensbrück, about women during the Holocaust, and specifically about Jewish women in this notorious women’s concentration camp. The original English edition of the book was a 2004 National Jewish Book Awards Finalist in both the Holocaust Studies and Women’s Studies categories. The poignant testimonies of the survivors and the tragic stories of those who perished in the camp are set in the context of all of the camp’s female victims, and they provide new perspectives and information about Ravensbrück and its many slave labor satellite camps. Saidel includes accounts of the women’s lives before the Holocaust, their daily struggles to stay alive in the camp, gender issues specific to women, and the survivors’ lives in the aftermath of their experiences. This captivating and thoroughly documented book reclaims and restores the lost voices of the victims and the survivors.
There are a number of connections between this concentration camp and Brazil: Olga Benario Prestes was deported from Brazil to Nazi Germany in 1936, and later sent to Ravensbrück and then murdered. In addition, several survivors whose stories are told in the book settled in Brazil after World War II, and a child survivor has links to Brazil through her father. In addition to these specific references to Brazil, the book is of interest to readers of Portuguese throughout the world who want to learn about Ravensbrück, the Holocaust, and women’s history.