Maren Roger 
Wartime Relations 
Intimacy, Violence, and Prostitution in Occupied Poland, 1939-1945

During the Second World War, all contact between German soldiers and Polish women – considered an ’inferior race’ – was officially banned. Sexual encounters frequently took place, however. Some were consensual, while others were characterised by brutal violence, and women often sold their bodies as a means of survival. The army and SS constructed purpose-built brothels for their soldiers, but also banned and frequently punished lovingrelationships. In Wartime Relations, Historian Maren Rger gives a powerful account of these encounters and describes the actions of the army and the SS in regulating relations between soldiers and civilian women. Rger provides new and important insights into everyday life during the occupation, Nazi racial policy, and the fatesof the women involved.