Changes

__NOTOC__

In Hitler's Germany, the ideal Aryan male was stereotyped as being strong, handsome, fanatical about his appearance, and obsessed with youth. The ideal homosexual was stereotyped as being strong, handsome, fanatical about his appearance, and obsessed with youth. The only overt distinction between these two groups of men was their sexual proclivity; which was not exclusive to one group. Many members of the National Socialist party were openly gay or bisexual which seemed to be of little significance to Adolph Hitler. The “Gay Holocaust”; therefore, was not as a result of Hitler’s supposed homophobia. Rather, the persecution of homosexuals in Germany was primarily rooted in the fascist ideology of pro-natalism.

==== Pro-Natalism ====

Prominent National Socialist lawyer Hans Frank warned the German people in 1935 that the “epidemic of homosexuality was threatening the new Reich.” <ref>Richard Plant, ''The Pink Triangle'' (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1986), 26.</ref> Expanding on Frank's premise, Heinrich Himmler made a speech to SS commanders on February 18, 1937 noting that the two million men lost during the Great War and the reported two million homosexual German men had detrimental effects on German society. Himmler concluded that since four million men were no longer procreating homosexuality was to become a state matter. He pronounced that “All things which take place in the sexual sphere are not the private affair of the individual, but signify the life and death of the nation.”<ref>Ben S. Austin, “Homosexuals and the Holocaust,” Middle Tennessee State University, http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/homobg.html (accessed December 2, 2011).</ref> With such a pronouncement, the SS and local police departments intensified their search for those members of society who they deemed detrimental to the regeneration of the Aryan family. The Reich believed producing pure German offspring was the key to the future success of Germany.

On June 4, 1933, less than six months after Hitler became Chancellor of Germany, the program of “Matrimonial Credits” was introduced. Under this program, parents received 125 marks per child produced.<ref>Plant, 210.</ref> The Reich's propaganda focused on depicting reproduction as a national duty and honored women who produced numerous offspring. If a woman produced either nine total children or seven male offspring she received the Cross of Honour of the German Mother; the highest possible honor bestowed upon women. Pure German women who produced superior children were revered in the Reich, yet those who were likely to produce “inferior” children became victims of the sterilization program and later Aktion T4; the state sanctioned murdering of those deemed unfit to reproduce.

==== Gay Life in Germany ====

During the Weimar Republic of the 1920’s, the gay nightlife was at its peak in Berlin. “Bars for homosexuals” and “cafes where men danced with men” were "accepted as part of the new life.”<ref>Frank Rector, ''The N a z i Extermination of Homosexuals'' (New York: Stein and Day, 1981), 14.</ref> At a time when there were more than 2,000 known male prostitutes, civil servants, sailors, and government officials were among the throngs who frequented the numerous gay bars. One of the leading proponents of the gay liberation movement in Berlin was researcher Magnus Hirschfeld. He opened the Institute for Sexual Research on July 1, 1919 and tried numerous times to get a bill to the Reichstag to retract Paragraph 175; a law that defined homosexuality as criminal behavior.

==== Rohm and Himmler ====

Ernst Rohm, the leader of Hitler’s storm troopers known as the SA, was assassinated on June 30, 1934. Rohm was openly homosexual. June 28, 1934 marked the beginning of a five day event known as “The Night of Long Knives” or the “Blood Purge.” This hideous endeavor was sanctioned by Hitler after he received erroneous information from Heinrich Himmler that Rohm was trying to usurp power from the Fuhrer. Himmler, who was extremely homophobic, despised Rohm as he was his rival for Hitler’s esteem. Himmler also wanted to expand the fledgling SS and in order to do so had to dismantle to powerful SA. The only means by which to do this was for Rohm to be eliminated. As Rohm had long been Hitler’s closest ally and the Chancellor was indifferent to his homosexuality, Himmler had to concoct a scheme to enrage the Fuhrer. He manufactured evidence that supported his claim that Rohm was trying to undermine Hitler’s authority. This was the catalyst needed for Hitler to order Rohm’s assassination. Rohm, along with three hundred other men, was murdered in Munich in the summer of 1934; Himmler became the second most powerful man in Hitler's regime.<ref>Plant, ''The Pink Triangle'', 54-64. These pages contain Plant’s theory on political motivation along with a detailed description of the “Night of Long Knives.” It is important to understand that Rohm’s assassination was politically motivated and not due to his homosexuality.</ref>

==== Treatment in the Camps ====

Homosexuals who were sentenced to suffer in a camp received especially harsh treatment from both the guards and in some cases fellow prisoners. As the pursuit of gay men intensified throughout the 1930’s and early 1940’s, most gay men in German society were afraid of contacting one another for fear of arrest and prosecution. This practice was continued inside the concentration camps; therefore, a cohesive and supportive group network was not formed among gay prisoners as it was within so many other classifications of prisoners. It is arguable that the ensuing feeling of isolation contributed to the early death of homosexuals in concentration camps. Most gay men died within one year of arriving at a camp.<ref>Austin</ref> In Buchenwald they were victims of Dr. Carl Vaernet’s experimentation, which included the implantation of subcutaneous testosterone capsules and castration, and more often than not died as a result.

At other camps, such as Dachau, they were worked to death. They were treated in camps as they were in ordinary society, thus had to endure the name calling and scrutiny at a greater level than other prisoners.<ref>Ruediger Lautmann, “Gay prisoners in Concentration Camps as Compared with Jehovah’s Witnesses and Political Prisoners,” Middle Tennessee State University, http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/lautmann.html/ (accessed December 2, 2011).</ref> While homosexuals had to avoid contact with other male prisoners, those incarcerated for criminal behavior or as political enemies engaged freely in homosexual activity on their specific blocks. Although these camps were said to be for the reeducation of homosexuals, the percentage of deaths among gay men was second only to that of Jewish prisoners. Throughout the entire system of concentration and extermination camps, the death rate among homosexuals was an astounding 53%; political prisoners had a death tally of over 40%, while Jehovah’s Witnesses suffered an almost 35% loss in the camps.<ref>Lautmann</ref>

Perhaps the saddest aspect of homosexual persecution under the Reich was that once the camps were liberated by the Allies, many homosexual prisoners had to remain imprisoned. Paragraph 175 was still in effect and these men who thought themselves to be liberated in 1945, remained prisoners in Germany.