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Homosexuals in the Holocaust

and how/why they were treated differently. Homosexuals in the Holocaust . What to expect:. A brief history of german homosexuals before Nazi’s rise to power. A detailed description on the prosecution of homosexuals by the Nazi party, and why it was different.

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Homosexuals in the Holocaust

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  1. and how/why they were treated differently Homosexuals in the Holocaust

  2. What to expect: • A brief history of german homosexuals before Nazi’s rise to power. • A detailed description on the prosecution of homosexuals by the Nazi party, and why it was different. It is descriptive, but through that, it supports the argument.

  3. Homosexuals: Before Nazi takeover Discrimination of homosexuals did not start with the Nazi Party. -Ever since the Middle Ages, homosexuals have been put on trial. Germany was harsh against homosexuals: 1871- Article/Section 175 • - Any “unnatural” sexual act between two men is punishable by imprisonment and loss of citizenship

  4. Homosexuals before Nazi takeover (cont.) The Nazi movement, before 1933, attracted many homosexuals because of its: 1. Anti-bourgeois policies 2.Male comradeship in groups like the SS 3. Glorification of masculinity, youth, and beauty. • Many high up leaders, including Hitler, didn’t even find homosexuality as a problem, and used it only in the cases of prosecuting others

  5. The Prosecution 1933: Nazis have power, and gradually begin to persecute homosexuals. Leader: Heinrich Himmler First act: Interrogate Institute of Sexual Research.

  6. Prosecution (the cure) When the prosecution of homosexuals had formally become one of the factors of the Nazi, an idea to “cure” it was studied: • “Re-education”/therapy- The idea that those men who were susceptible to seduction could be put back • …Castration. In many cases, these ideas to ‘fix sexuality’ never worked, and further, more drastic ideas had to be brought up:

  7. The Final Result No special treatment. If the “cures” listed failed, the only other option was deportation to concentration camps. While few, homosexual men were sent to many camps. Specifically, only 10-30% of the 50,00o known homosexual men ever made It to that point.

  8. Treatment in Camps Homosexuals were seen as the lowest group out of all the prisoners in the camps. • They were given the worst labor assignments. -Many Nazis believed that hard labor would “cure” the homosexuality out of them. • Little contact with other prisoners. Both to prevent “spread of homosexuality” and the fact that they were rejected by them. • Sachsenhausen: Showed one of the worst labor treatments.

  9. Lesbians So far homosexual men have been discussed. What about lesbians?: • Article 175 clearly does not convict any two women being together. • The Nazi party stated that the love between two females was alien to the ideal Aryan woman. This is mostly because of the role women had in Germany, and the lack of power.

  10. The Aftermath Unfortunately, freedom from the concentration camps didn’t mean much to several homosexuals. • Many American and British lawyers demanded that homosexuals convicted under Article 175 should finish out their sentence. • Unlike the other prisoners, no financial compensation were given to the majority of homosexual survivors.

  11. It’s rather problematic.. In the sense that, how can one really know if someone is homosexual? • In most cases, you didn’t. In fact, many SS officers, whom were homosexual, got away with it by hiding their feelings. • If someone one proved they didn’t commit those acts, they were generally not prosecuted. Even if they were, it all depended on the situation.

  12. So, in conclusion.. • There was no “capture and kill” strategy for the majority of homosexuals. • The Nazi regime’s goal was not aiming for the total extermination of homosexuals. • “Cure, not kill.” They did have a death penalty, but it was as an exception, not a rule. • Even so, homosexuals were treated and seen as the lowest group. • Discrimination did not start, nor end, with the Nazi regime.

  13. Sources • “Nazis Pink Hell,” Memory and Museum: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Homosexuals. A Separate Category of Prisoner, accessed April 4th-11th, 2014 • Oosterhuis, Harry. “Medicine, Male Bonding and Homosexuality in Nazi Germany,” Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1997): pp. 187-205 • “Lesbians and the Third Reich,” The United States Holocaust Museum, accessed April5th,2014, • http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005478

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