During the Holocaust many people were targeted including homosexual men. The estimated amount of homosexuals involved in the holocaust ranges from 5,000 to 15,000. They faced persecution not only from German soldiers but also from other prisoners living in the concentration camps. Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men were arrested as homosexuals, and of those 100,000 men, 50,000 were officially sentenced.
Where did homosexuals live?
Homosexuals targeted by the Nazis lived all over Germany. Homosexuals would meet in many of the gay and lesbian bars in the cities allowing them to be open and meet new people.
Why were they targeted?
The Nazis believed that male homosexuals were weak, epicene men who could not fight for the German nation. Homosexuals couldn’t produce children; therefore, they were unable to increase the German birthrate. Since they could not produce they were a racial danger because they could not contribute to the Aryan race. The Nazis believed women were not only inferior to men but also dependent on them by nature. Since they believe that these women were dependent on men they considered lesbians to be less threatening than male homosexuals. The Nazis did not target lesbians because they believed lesbians could still carry out a German woman's primary role: to be a mother of as many "Aryan" babies as possible. The Nazis did not classify lesbians as homosexual prisoners, and only male homosexual prisoners had to wear the pink triangle.
Laws Against Homosexuals
When the Nazi party came to power Paragraph 175 was put in place. This law was adjusted to include further punishment for homosexual men and the code was used as the main tool to arrest both known homosexuals and men suspected of homosexual a...
... middle of paper ...
...the concentration camps.
The Nazi version of Paragraph 175 remained the same until the law was revised in 1969 to decriminalize homosexual relations between men over the age of 21.The continued legal and social prohibitions against homosexuality in Germany delayed the acknowledgement that homosexuals were victims of Nazi persecution.
In June 1956, West Germany's Federal Reparation Law for Victims of National Socialism declared that imprisonment for homosexual acts in concentration camp did not qualify an individual to receive compensation.
Homosexuals murdered by the Nazis received their first public memorial in a speech, speech by West German President Richard von Weizsäcker in 1985. Finally in 1990, Germany abolished Paragraph 175. Although the abolishment of Paragraph 175 occurred homosexuals continue to be treated poorly in Germany and around the world.
Himmler thought homosexuals, just like Jews, were weak, decadent and unpatriotic. And he strongly believed their existence threatened the German folk community, mainly because they did not procreate, Himmler was in fact the one who had all German males convicted of homosexual crimes transferred from prison straight into concentration camps. That is when the badges came to action, Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David and homosexuals, rapists, etc were forced to wear the Pink Triangle. From 1933-1944 between 50,000 and 63,000 men were convicted on charges of homosexuality alone. By 1935 every gay German knew that if he was caught, he risked being shipped to a concentration camp. Now, gays were not as easily identified as Jews and gypsies, Many survived the Third Reich undetected.
...was not the biggest concern of the Nazi Party because male homosexuals would not be reproducing.
The documentary Paragraph 175 covers the topic of homosexuals in Nazi Germany, stories of them being arrested, and their lives before and after the camps. It is an emotional film, filled to the brim with memories both happy and sad. The film is narrated by Rupert Everett and is directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman telling the stories of homosexuals in Nazi Germany. Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman are also known for a film called The Celluloid Closet, a film which came out five years earlier, and is about Hollywood’s depictions of homosexuals. In fact, the pair directed several films together, including Lovelace (2013), The Battle of Amfar (2013), and Howl (2010). In the film, we follow Klaus Müller, a historian, as he interviews several men and a few women
Many laws supporting homosexuals have been created since 1992, but the breakthrough happens in the 21st century. During 2011 the former president
The Nazi Political Movement in Germany, in the 1930s and 1940s, involved one of the most virulent anti-homosexual campaigns in world history. In the 1950s and 1960s, another less well known anti-homosexual campaign, known as the Lavender Scare, raged in Washington, DC. Though, the Nazi movement is much more well known, both movements used similar tactics and involved comparable people.
When the blame for the Holocaust is brought to mind, many immediately think to blame the Nazis, and only the Nazis. This is not the case, however. The Holocaust was a lesson to humanity, of utmost importance. Only blaming the Nazis for the atrocities is excluding an exceptionally important part of this lesson, which is unacceptable. In Elie Wiesel's book, Night, it is evident that blame be passed to Yahweh, the Jewish people themselves, and the non Jewish Europeans.
The persecution of homosexuals during this age of McCarthy proved exactly how vulnerable they were to attack and discrimination. Out of those persecutions came some of the first organized “gay rights” groups, known as Homophile organizations, the first two being the Mattachine Society and the Daughters of Bilibis (who focused their efforts on Lesbian rights). Founded in 1950 by Harry Hay, the...
The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...
Many members of the LGBT community sent to Conversion Camps are mainly minors, who are later diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or depression. Psychiatrist Dr. L. Spitzer, who once supported a study on Conversion Therapy, has since denounced the practice and apologized (hrc.org). While many people who are not from the LGBT Community accept its members, there is still a high majority of people who reject and discriminate against the LGBT Community.
The Holocaust targeted mainly Jews and also included gypsies, poles, the disabled, Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, non-Aryan people, and others. Camps were set up in conquered countries and treated the prisoners like slaves, forcing them to do work for the benifit of people supporting the Nazis. About 15 thousand camps were created durring this time, including labor camps, concentration camps, and extermination camps. Stereotypes about the targeted groups supported reasons to eliminate those specific types of people so that Germany could be a strong nation again. The events in the Holocaust were made legal so that people in from other countries wouldn't suspect that something horrible was going on in Germany, for a while.
What is genocide? “Genocide is a deliberate, systematic destruction of racial cultural or political groups.”(Feldman 29) What is the Holocaust? “Holocaust, the period between 1933-1945 when Nazi Germany systematically persecuted and murdered millions of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many other people.”(Feldman 29) These two things tie into each other.The Holocaust was a genocide. Many innocent people were torn apart from their families, for many never to see them again. This murder of the “Jewish people of Europe began in spring 1941.”( Feldman 213) The Holocaust was one of the most harshest things done to mankind.
But Nazi Germany imprisoned Jews, homosexuals, and etc. Hitler believed that the homosexuals were parasites, an estimated 55,000 were executed. The German government didn’t apologize till 2002. Other reasons for people being brought to the concentration camps were, Jehovah’s witnesses, criminals, political prisoners, and Antisocial/ Romany. Jehovah’s witnesses were imprisoned because they refused to do any military services, so they were sent to the concentration camps.
6.5 million Jews were sent to concentration camps during the holocaust. Jews were put through a lot during the holocaust, from the time they got picked up to the time they were brutally killed. The holocaust has to be the most horrific and cruel true story known to man. The Nazis had no heart or sympathy for the Jews. The Nazis thought and felt they were better than the Jews and that they were a disgrace to mother earth. Germans put the Jews through Hell and back. The stages of the holocaust was that the Jews would be picked up, then sent to the ghettos, then lastly to the concentration camp to be tortured and/or killed
During the holocaust there was much discrimination going on but not only with the jews but also with homosexuals, Jehovah’s witnesses. Even though 17 million people died in the holocaust 6 million of them were jews. The holocaust came to its name by the greek words ‘holos’ (whole) and ‘kaustos’ (burned) which is describe as a sacrificial offering burned on an altar. Hitler thought that the jews, Gypsies, and the homosexual are going to ruin the chance for him to have the perfect race of pure people. Hitler killed 1.1 million children since they were his biggest fear since they could go up and become a parent and that would mean a new generation of jews and he did not want that. He started the first camo not to kill anyone or start to gather the jews or any other race the first camp that was made was for the political people who opposed him and also for their kids since he did not want more people running for
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic and trying times for the Jewish people. Hundreds of thousands of Jews and other minorities that the Nazis considered undesirable were detained in concentration camps, death camps, or labor camps. There, they were forced to work and live in the harshest of conditions, starved, and brutally murdered. Horrific things went on in Auschwitz and Majdenek during the Holocaust that wiped out approximately 1,378,000 people combined. “There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust.” –Fidel Castro