Women Surviving the Holocaust: The Use of Friendship Anonymous College

When examining testimony from Holocaust survivors, there are common struggles such as deprivation from food, forced labor, the loss of family and friends but also sustainability. Surviving the Holocaust required people to develop coping strategies to withstand the heinous conditions. Female survivors relied on relationships to help acclimate themselves to the events and cope with the Holocaust. The friendships survivors formed while in concentration camps made the difference in an individual’s survival. Biographical testimonies from Gerda Weissmann Klein, Liana Millu, and Charlotte Delbo assist in developing a better understanding of experiences during the Holocaust. While focusing on the relationships survivors made and why they chose to write about them, will serve as a crucial topic in Holocaust representation. Each testimony discloses individual experiences and circumstances from women, but all situations equally rely on their relationships with their friends when recounting their survival. Without these relationships, many women frequently lost the will to push themselves through the agony of surviving in a concentration camp.

Recognizing friendship as a critical role to women's survival is crucial in understanding why...