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Hidden Holocaust?: Gay and Lesbian Persecution in Germany 1933-455
The persecution of lesbians and gay men by the Nazis is a subject that has been constantly debated during the last decade, providing a theme for books, articles, and plays. Until recently the discussion has remained most of the relevant documents were stored in closed East German archives, and access was denied to scholars and researchers. As a result of the unification of East and West Germany, these archives are now open. Hidden Holocaust? , by the German scholars Gnnter Grau and Claudia Shoppmann of Humboldt University in Berlin, is a compilation (with commentary) of these formerly unseen/unpublished documents and is organized as a year-by-year record of the Nazi terror under which gay minorities were forced to live during 1933-1945 and the anti-gay discrimination act under which the Nazis operated was not repealed until 1994, and the Bonn government refused to recognize lesbians and gay men as victims of the Holocaust until the late 1980s. Grau and Shoppmann demonstrate that the eradication of homosexuals was a declared goal of the Nazis even before they took power in 1933, and provide proof of systematic anti-gay campaigns, expose the methods used to justify discrimination, and detail the incarceration, mutilation, and murder of gay men and women in Nazi concentration camps. A chilling but ground-breaking work in gay and lesbian studies.
288 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1994
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November 6, 2016
English / Español
The edition is written in english so this language goes first.
This book is about Homosexual people prosecution in Nazi Germany from 1933 till 1945. It is a bunch of official papers, memos, statements, orders and so on from Nazi authorities about how to handle the homosexual people, wich includes case reports and police files. It also has some letters written by survivors or just civilians that lived the prosecution and that did or didn't survive.
It is a heavy read because of all the legal aspects of the documents and so on, but you can skip that and read it faster. The author/compilator makes a brief introduction for topics to give a socio-historic perspective, so you can understand the papers.
It is such an important read, specially for LGBTQ+ people. We need to learn about all of this. But I also recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about homosexual men and women prosecution (although women were more safe because of sexism, oh the irony), concentration camps and scientific experiments that were done in these prisioners.
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Este libro es sobre la persecusión de personas homosexuales en la Alemania nazi entre los años de 1933 a 1945. Incluye documentos legales, juicios, memorandums, reportes policiales y científicos, discursos, etc. que dieron autoridades nazis con respecto al trato que debia darse a las personas homosexuales. También incluye cartas de personas que sufrieron esas persecusiones y que subrevivieron (o no) a estos eventos.
Es algo pesado por toda la jerga legal que viene en los documentos, pero cuando te acostumbras sólo tela saltas y ya es más rapido. El autor incluye introducciones socio-históricas a cada tema para que sea más sencillo comprender los documentos.
Es una lectura muy importante, sobre todo para las personas LGBTQ+ porque debemos conocer nuestra historia. Sin embargo, lo recomiendo a cualquiera interesado en conocer como era la persecusión de hombres y mujeres homosexuales (aunque las mujeres estaban un poco más a salvo gracias al sexismo, oh la ironía) durante este periodo de tiempo, y cómo eran tratados en los campos de concentracion y los experimentos que se hacían en ellos.
The edition is written in english so this language goes first.
This book is about Homosexual people prosecution in Nazi Germany from 1933 till 1945. It is a bunch of official papers, memos, statements, orders and so on from Nazi authorities about how to handle the homosexual people, wich includes case reports and police files. It also has some letters written by survivors or just civilians that lived the prosecution and that did or didn't survive.
It is a heavy read because of all the legal aspects of the documents and so on, but you can skip that and read it faster. The author/compilator makes a brief introduction for topics to give a socio-historic perspective, so you can understand the papers.
It is such an important read, specially for LGBTQ+ people. We need to learn about all of this. But I also recommend this to anyone interested in learning more about homosexual men and women prosecution (although women were more safe because of sexism, oh the irony), concentration camps and scientific experiments that were done in these prisioners.
_____________
Este libro es sobre la persecusión de personas homosexuales en la Alemania nazi entre los años de 1933 a 1945. Incluye documentos legales, juicios, memorandums, reportes policiales y científicos, discursos, etc. que dieron autoridades nazis con respecto al trato que debia darse a las personas homosexuales. También incluye cartas de personas que sufrieron esas persecusiones y que subrevivieron (o no) a estos eventos.
Es algo pesado por toda la jerga legal que viene en los documentos, pero cuando te acostumbras sólo tela saltas y ya es más rapido. El autor incluye introducciones socio-históricas a cada tema para que sea más sencillo comprender los documentos.
Es una lectura muy importante, sobre todo para las personas LGBTQ+ porque debemos conocer nuestra historia. Sin embargo, lo recomiendo a cualquiera interesado en conocer como era la persecusión de hombres y mujeres homosexuales (aunque las mujeres estaban un poco más a salvo gracias al sexismo, oh la ironía) durante este periodo de tiempo, y cómo eran tratados en los campos de concentracion y los experimentos que se hacían en ellos.
October 26, 2018
It’s hard to rate such a book as it is filled mainly with translated extracts dating back to 1933-1945 but it is a great reference to know and understand more about Germany during the Nazi period and how they treated, looked at and talked about homosexuals.
It’s not an easy read at all in terms of the writing and the content as well. Much of the rules, sentencing and prosecution were applied heavily on homosexual men compared to women as they were seen as the major threat; they were the ones in position of power and status. Women were taken to brothels to force them to return “back to normal” or were simply not taken seriously and forced to continue the “natural way of being” i.e. being straight, married and having kids. Thus most of the extracts here have a deeper look into how homosexual men were horribly treated, experimented on, what were the rules that applied and how did the other countries that Germany occupy deal with them.
There was and still is the fear of what is different and the “feminization of men and masculation of women” as mentioned in one of the extracts and this shatters what they understand and believe in and that causes them tremendous terror.
It’s not an easy read at all in terms of the writing and the content as well. Much of the rules, sentencing and prosecution were applied heavily on homosexual men compared to women as they were seen as the major threat; they were the ones in position of power and status. Women were taken to brothels to force them to return “back to normal” or were simply not taken seriously and forced to continue the “natural way of being” i.e. being straight, married and having kids. Thus most of the extracts here have a deeper look into how homosexual men were horribly treated, experimented on, what were the rules that applied and how did the other countries that Germany occupy deal with them.
There was and still is the fear of what is different and the “feminization of men and masculation of women” as mentioned in one of the extracts and this shatters what they understand and believe in and that causes them tremendous terror.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews