| Summary: | This dissertation explores the circumscribed choices local women on German-occupied territory of Soviet Ukraine made during World War Two and the way they were interpreted following the liberation of their villages, towns, and cities by the Red Army. The choices of local men and women were circumscribed not only by their 'racial' categorization and the Nazis' racial hierarchy, which categorized Slavs as Untermenschen, but also by their gender. Women were barred from participating in armed collaborationist units or from holding leading positions in local collaborationist administrations due to their gender and the Nazis' gender policies. But because they were often considered noncombatants women also had more room to maneuver when compared to local men who were invariably judged by their martial role. Although their choices were circumscribed, local women nevertheless had a variety of choices at their disposal, including the decision to cultivate intimate relationships with local collaborators or representatives of the German occupation. The way their subsequent actions were evaluated both during and after the war was determined by evolving Soviet expectations of 'proper' behavior for men and women during wartime.
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