German camp brothels in World War II In World War II , Nazi Germany established brothels in the concentration camps ( " Lagerbordell " ) to create an incentive for prisoners to collaborate , although these institutions were used mostly by Kapos , " prisoner functionaries " and the criminal element , because regular inmates , penniless and emaciated , were usually too debilitated and wary of exposure to SS schemes . In the end , the camp brothels did not produce any noticeable increase in the prisoners ’ work productivity levels , but instead , created a market for coupons among the camp VIPs . The women forced into these brothels came mainly from the Ravensbrück concentration camp , except for Auschwitz , which employed its own prisoners . In combination with the German military brothels in World War II , it is estimated that at least 34 , 140 female inmates were forced to serve as prostitutes during the Third Reich . History and operation . The first camp brothel was established in Mauthausen / Gusen in 1942 . After 30 June 1943 , a camp brothel existed in Auschwitz , and from 15 July 1943 , in Buchenwald . The one in Neuengamme was established in early 1944 , Dachau ' s in May 1944 , Dora - Mittelbau ' s in late summer , and Sachsenhausen ' s on 8 August 1944 . There are conflicting dates for the camp brothel in Flossenbürg : one source claims summer 1943 ; another states it was not opened until 25 March 1944 . The camp brothels were usually built as barracks surrounded by a barbed - wire fence , with small individual rooms for up to 20 women prisoners , controlled by a female overseer ( " Aufseherin " ) . The sex workers were replaced frequently due to exhaustion and illness , and were usually sent away to their deaths later . The brothels were open only in the evenings . No Jewish male prisoners were allowed as patrons . Those with access to the customer lineup ( Aryan VIPs only ) , had to sign up for a specific day and pay two reichsmarks for a 20 - minute " service " based on a predetermined schedule . The prostitutes were matched with their clients by an SS - man . The " market " for the " prize - coupons " was routinely cornered by the common criminals who wore the green triangles ( hence the " green men " denomination ) . There is evidence ( somewhat controversial ) that in some of the brothels , women might have had tattoos inscribed on their chests saying " Feld - Hure " ( Field Whore ) . Some of them underwent forced sterilizations as well as forced abortions , often resulting in death . The subject of camp prostitution was alluded to in survivors ' memoirs at least as early as 1972 , when the first edition of Heinz Heger ' s book was published . However , the subject remained largely taboo in studies of Nazism until the mid - 1990s , when new publications by female researchers broke the silence . Sometimes the SS enticed women into becoming sex workers by promising them better treatment or reductions of their indefinite sentence . This caused anger or envy among some female inmates . Nina Michailovna , Russian camp prisoner , reported : “ When we found out that a girl in our block was chosen , we caught her and threw a blanket on her and beat her up so badly that she could hardly move . It wasn ’ t clear if she would recover . They just wanted to have a better life and we punished them this way . ” Homosexual prisoners and camp brothels . In addition to using camp brothels as a means to control inmates , encourage collaboration , and prevent riots and escapes , Heinrich Himmler also intended them to be used as a means of teaching pink triangle prisoners " the joys of the opposite sex " , i . e . , as " therapy " for their homosexuality . Heger claims that Himmler directed that all gay prisoners were to make compulsory visits to the camp brothel once per week as a means of curing them of their same - sex attraction . Cultural references . German concentration camp brothels were re - enacted in fictional Nazi exploitation films made in the 1970s such as " Ilsa , She Wolf of the SS " , " Last Orgy of the Third Reich " , " Love Camp 7 " , " SS Experiment Camp " and " Nazi Love Camp 27 " . Examples of Israeli fictional literature on the subject include writer ' s Yehiel De - Nur alias K . Tzetnik ' s book " The House of Dolls " and Stalag fiction genre . Czech author Arnošt Lustig wrote a novel " Lovely Green Eyes " ( ISBN 1559706961 ) , which tells a story of a 15 - year old Jewish girl forced to serve as a prostitute in a German camp brothel during World War II .