Traveling exhibit explores Nazi persecution of gays

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. - In Nazi Germany, some gay men were castrated and prosecuted under draconian laws prohibiting homosexuality. Others were subjected to crude medical experiments designed to "correct" their sexual orientation. Gay men in concentration camps were singled out with distinctive pink triangle badges and assigned backbreaking labor that often killed them.

A traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum uses photographs, documents and artwork to chronicle the Nazis' arrests and persecution of tens of thousands of gay men from 1933 to 1945.

The exhibit, which is on display through the end of the month at the University of Rhode Island, gives voice to what its curator describes as "one of the lesser-known stories of the Nazi era."

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HISTORY: Homosexuals and the Holocaust

Soon after taking office on January 30, 1933, Hitler banned all homosexual and lesbian organizations. Brownshirted storm troopers raided the institutions and gathering places of homosexuals.

On September 1, 1935, a harsher, amended version of Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code, originally framed in 1871, went into effect, punishing a broad range of "lewd and lascivious" behavior between men. In some cases, castration was performed.

An estimated 1.2 million men were homosexuals in Germany in 1928. Between 1933-45, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested as homosexuals, and of these, some 50,000 officially defined homosexuals were sentenced. Most of these men spent time in regular prisons, and an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 of the total sentenced were incarcerated in concentration camps. Excerpts from Vera Laska, an eye witness.

How many of these 5,000 to 15,000 "175ers" perished in the concentration camps will probably never be known. Historical research to date has been very limited. One leading scholar, Ruediger Lautmann, believes that the death rate for "175ers" in the camps may have been as high as sixty percent.

All prisoners of the camps wore marks of various colors and shapes, which allowed guards and camp functionaries to identify them by category. The uniforms of those sentenced as homosexuals bore various identifying marks, including a large black dot and a large "175" drawn on the back of the jacket. Later a pink triangular patch (rosa Winkel) appeared.

After the war, homosexual concentration camp prisoners were not acknowledged as victims of Nazi persecution, and reparations were refused. Under the Allied Military Government of Germany, homosexuals were forced to serve out their terms of imprisonment, regardless of the time spent in concentration camps. The 1935 version of Paragraph 175 remained in effect in the Federal Republic (West Germany) until 1969, so that well after liberation, homosexuals continued to fear arrest and incarceration.

German blog: America's Gay Fixation

Sometimes I think most of the gay-bashing, right-wing politicians in the US are self-loathing, closeted homosexuals. Craig's vilification by his fellow Republicans contrasts sharply with their treatment of his fellow Repulican Senator David Vitter of Lousiana, who admitted to paying (female) prostitutes for sex. Vitter can continue his political career after he asked for forgiveness and pledged to "give his life to Jesus."

"Why do you think Americans care so much about an “issue” that ignites so little controversy in Europe? Why are we alone in the developed world in our intense distress about the fact that a minority of people are erotically attracted to members of their own their own sex rather than to the opposite sex? "

"Is the power of fundamentalist religion, again unique in the developed world, the only explanation for the American fixation on gays as a threat to traditional values? Perhaps this also has something to do with traditional images of American masculinity—the Marlboro Man, the rugged cowboy who would never have dreamed of engaging in the kind of activities described in the movie “Brokeback Mountain.” "

Meanwhile the Republican Party will try to regain traction among American conservative voters by continuing its anti-gay crusade.

http://www.dialoginternational.com/dialog_international/

Nazi persecution of homosexuals 1933-1945

I ran across the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum online and found this great presentation.


Nazi persecution of homosexuals 1933-1945:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/hsx/