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Pink Triangle Legacies: Coming Out in the Shadow of the Holocaust
Pink Triangle Legacies traces the transformation of the pink triangle from a Nazi concentration camp badge and emblem of discrimination into a widespread, recognizable symbol of queer activism, pride, and community. W. Jake Newsome provides an overview of the Nazis' targeted violence against LGBTQ+ people and details queer survivors' fraught and ongoing fight for the acknowledgement, compensation, and memorialization of LGBTQ+ victims. Within this context, a new generation of queer activists has used the pink triangle―a reminder of Germany's fascist past―as the visual marker of gay liberation, seeking to end queer people's status as second-class citizens by asserting their right to express their identity openly.
The reclamation of the pink triangle occurred first in West Germany, but soon activists in the United States adopted this chapter from German history as their own. As gay activists on opposite sides of the Atlantic grafted pink triangle memories onto new contexts, they connected two national communities and helped form the basis of a shared gay history, indeed a new gay identity, that transcended national borders.
Pink Triangle Legacies illustrates the dangerous consequences of historical silencing and how the incorporation of hidden histories into the mainstream understanding of the past can contribute to a more inclusive experience of belonging in the present. There can be no justice without acknowledging and remembering injustice. As Newsome demonstrates, if a marginalized community seeks a history that liberates them from the confines of silence, they must often write it themselves.
The reclamation of the pink triangle occurred first in West Germany, but soon activists in the United States adopted this chapter from German history as their own. As gay activists on opposite sides of the Atlantic grafted pink triangle memories onto new contexts, they connected two national communities and helped form the basis of a shared gay history, indeed a new gay identity, that transcended national borders.
Pink Triangle Legacies illustrates the dangerous consequences of historical silencing and how the incorporation of hidden histories into the mainstream understanding of the past can contribute to a more inclusive experience of belonging in the present. There can be no justice without acknowledging and remembering injustice. As Newsome demonstrates, if a marginalized community seeks a history that liberates them from the confines of silence, they must often write it themselves.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2022
23 people are currently reading
550 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 12, 2024
I finished this and actually felt like I learned and retained quite a bit. It's a very comprehensive look into queer life in Germany during the Third Reich as well as after. It's also a very comprehensive look into how the symbol of the pink triangle has been adopted by queer groups (and contested by them) for different purposes in different countries in the years since its initial usage in Nazis Germany.
It's not surprising to learn that queer victims were not treated well after the fall of the Nazis, but it is disheartening to read how extensively their suffering was discounted and for how long. Newsome does excellent work explaining why details about queer victims have been hard to find and why the scholarship is so comparatively recent.
Newsome also takes care to highlight how lesbians and other non-gay-men queer folks have been sidelined in a lot of the scholarship and recognition of queer victims. The debates on this topic are heated and fascinating.
Finally, this book does a great job pointing out the power and importance of stories in broadcasting this history. Without individuals sharing their stories (at great risk to themselves), we would not have the knowledge we do about this area of history. And it's not just nonfiction - fictional works as well help to really drive progress, as is made clear when the author discusses Bent, which, personally, is how I first became aware of this history.
It's not surprising to learn that queer victims were not treated well after the fall of the Nazis, but it is disheartening to read how extensively their suffering was discounted and for how long. Newsome does excellent work explaining why details about queer victims have been hard to find and why the scholarship is so comparatively recent.
Newsome also takes care to highlight how lesbians and other non-gay-men queer folks have been sidelined in a lot of the scholarship and recognition of queer victims. The debates on this topic are heated and fascinating.
Finally, this book does a great job pointing out the power and importance of stories in broadcasting this history. Without individuals sharing their stories (at great risk to themselves), we would not have the knowledge we do about this area of history. And it's not just nonfiction - fictional works as well help to really drive progress, as is made clear when the author discusses Bent, which, personally, is how I first became aware of this history.
May 24, 2023
Here are some sections from a much longer review I wrote for AP euro. I was analyzing specific details we were told to look for, so these aren’t necessarily the things that stuck out to me, but they’re what I looked for as I was reading :)) some parts of the review are also meant to summarize, but I didn’t feel like going through and editing my entire review for goodreads, so this is the same thing I submitted as an assignment with a few things cut.
…
The book is well organized in chronological order, with subheadings on different sections. The organization of the book is successful, especially because it does not just work as a book one could read cover to cover, but is also one that could be used for reference on a specific subtopic. The chapters are split into subjects that make sense and contribute to the overall thesis of the book, though some sections were a bit repetitive and had excess material than was needed to get a point across. However, it should be acknowledged how important the level of detail in the book is. Rare primary sources were used to explain the book’s topics. This is invaluable to historians. The book also contained a list of abbreviations for various organizations mentioned in the beginning, which the reader could use for reference. Groups like ACT UP and HAW are mentioned many times throughout the book, and having a reference for what they are is very useful. At the end of the book, there are two appendixes. The first provides a timeline of events related to the book’s subject ranging from 1871 with Germany’s unification to 2021, when the decision was made to permanently memorialize lesbian holocaust victims. The second is a list of memorials for gay victims of the holocaust, listing information such as the name, location, inscription, and more. These appendixes are helpful to many readers. The only thing lacking in the book’s organization was a more comprehensive table of contents. The table of contents listed only chapter headings, while other subheadings were used to divide the chapters into sections in the book itself. I think it would have been beneficial to include these subheadings in the table of contents. If someone were using this book for reference or simply wanted to return back to a particular section after reading it through, this would have been helpful. It also would have provided a comprehensive overview of the specific subjects at first glance. Overall, the book’s organization made sense and positively contributed to the book’s value as a historical source.
Pink Triangle Legacies is, overall, well written. An analysis of the readability of the writing style depends on the context in which you’re viewing the book. While the target audience isn’t directly stated, it seems that it is intended for academics who want an incredibly thorough account of historical events. I want to add that with an analysis of this section, I am likely a younger reader than this book is intended for. It seems to be geared toward college students and historians as opposed to high school students. Even as someone who reads frequently as a hobby, I found this book a challenge to get through due to the fact that it was written at a high reading level. Its difficult text and thorough analyses forced me to grow as a reader and a student. Though it is definitely not an easy read, it is highly informative. It is much easier to comprehend when taking notes, something that the average reader who is casually interested in the topic likely wouldn’t be doing. All in all, it certainly would not be considered light reading, but it is very well written as a scholarly source.
Pink Triangle Legacies was a strong book, and supportive materials such as photos, graphs, and maps were not essential to get its main point across. The few photos included were images of protests, interviewees, and posters. These were used to supplement something mentioned in the text, such as images of a memorial that was described. Throughout the entire book, there was only one graph used that provided a visual aid to Paragraph 175 convictions, showing how they peaked in 1936 under Nazi rule (Newsome, 2022, 69.) However, symbols would occasionally be mentioned in the text, such as the lambda (λ) or yoni, with no visual aid to accompany them. An image of these symbols alongside the text would have been useful. Otherwise, the book was not lacking much in terms of supporting materials. More images didn’t feel necessary for the book’s message, but it would have been interesting to see how this would have changed the book’s overall impact.
I think that Pink Triangle Legacies is a great starting point for this topic. It is extremely thorough in its discussion of queer history. It explains numerous primary sources and interviews of many who experienced these historical events firsthand. It provides a detailed understanding of the topic while still helping the reader recognize that there is much more to learn and it is impossible for one book to teach everything. This duality in understanding is a central part to education as a whole, and Pink Triangle Legacies achieved this. A few of the sources mentioned in the book were intriguing as further reading. One of these books is The Men With the Pink Triangle, an autobiographical account of the Holocaust, written by Josef Kouhout under the pseudonym Heinz Heger. This memoir is mentioned many times throughout the book and is clearly very important to Newsome and his studies as well. Another book mentioned that was interesting was A Letter to Harvey Milk, a collection of fictional short stories by Lesléa Newman about queer life in Nazi Germany. While there were many others, these are the two that stood out the most as further reading. The abundance of detail and sources used in the book is exactly why I think that this book is a great introduction to the subject of gay holocaust persecution.
This book provides a great contribution to the overall historical discussion of this subject. As mentioned throughout the book, the story of LGBTQ+ people and the pink triangle has long been silenced. Scholarship on the topic is relatively new compared to other holocaust sources and oftentimes, gay people are pushed into the category of “other victims” in holocaust education. This book is the first to analyze the historical impacts of the pink triangle from a transnational perspective. It is an ode to brave queer people everywhere, of all ages and experiences. In a contemporary context, it provides something that is much needed, connecting young queer people to their history. In our modern era, LGBTQ+ rights are still being challenged every single day. Awareness of queer existence is rising and becoming less taboo, but still voices are silenced and history is brushed aside. This book brings these discussions into the light, especially in more mainstream media as one of the most anticipated LGBTQ books of the year (Newsome, 2022.) A young readers’ edition of this book written on an easier reading level for middle grade or young adult audiences would be a wonderful way to bring younger queer people into the conversation of this history. Young LGBTQ people are the pioneers of the future and in order to shape that future, knowing our historical roots is essential. The pink triangle is a symbol that embodies history and education, suffering and pride, shackles and liberation. It is being forgotten as a symbol today, but this book is a call to action not to allow queer voices to be silenced. It is an inspiration. That is why I enjoyed Pink Triangle Legacies.
…
The book is well organized in chronological order, with subheadings on different sections. The organization of the book is successful, especially because it does not just work as a book one could read cover to cover, but is also one that could be used for reference on a specific subtopic. The chapters are split into subjects that make sense and contribute to the overall thesis of the book, though some sections were a bit repetitive and had excess material than was needed to get a point across. However, it should be acknowledged how important the level of detail in the book is. Rare primary sources were used to explain the book’s topics. This is invaluable to historians. The book also contained a list of abbreviations for various organizations mentioned in the beginning, which the reader could use for reference. Groups like ACT UP and HAW are mentioned many times throughout the book, and having a reference for what they are is very useful. At the end of the book, there are two appendixes. The first provides a timeline of events related to the book’s subject ranging from 1871 with Germany’s unification to 2021, when the decision was made to permanently memorialize lesbian holocaust victims. The second is a list of memorials for gay victims of the holocaust, listing information such as the name, location, inscription, and more. These appendixes are helpful to many readers. The only thing lacking in the book’s organization was a more comprehensive table of contents. The table of contents listed only chapter headings, while other subheadings were used to divide the chapters into sections in the book itself. I think it would have been beneficial to include these subheadings in the table of contents. If someone were using this book for reference or simply wanted to return back to a particular section after reading it through, this would have been helpful. It also would have provided a comprehensive overview of the specific subjects at first glance. Overall, the book’s organization made sense and positively contributed to the book’s value as a historical source.
Pink Triangle Legacies is, overall, well written. An analysis of the readability of the writing style depends on the context in which you’re viewing the book. While the target audience isn’t directly stated, it seems that it is intended for academics who want an incredibly thorough account of historical events. I want to add that with an analysis of this section, I am likely a younger reader than this book is intended for. It seems to be geared toward college students and historians as opposed to high school students. Even as someone who reads frequently as a hobby, I found this book a challenge to get through due to the fact that it was written at a high reading level. Its difficult text and thorough analyses forced me to grow as a reader and a student. Though it is definitely not an easy read, it is highly informative. It is much easier to comprehend when taking notes, something that the average reader who is casually interested in the topic likely wouldn’t be doing. All in all, it certainly would not be considered light reading, but it is very well written as a scholarly source.
Pink Triangle Legacies was a strong book, and supportive materials such as photos, graphs, and maps were not essential to get its main point across. The few photos included were images of protests, interviewees, and posters. These were used to supplement something mentioned in the text, such as images of a memorial that was described. Throughout the entire book, there was only one graph used that provided a visual aid to Paragraph 175 convictions, showing how they peaked in 1936 under Nazi rule (Newsome, 2022, 69.) However, symbols would occasionally be mentioned in the text, such as the lambda (λ) or yoni, with no visual aid to accompany them. An image of these symbols alongside the text would have been useful. Otherwise, the book was not lacking much in terms of supporting materials. More images didn’t feel necessary for the book’s message, but it would have been interesting to see how this would have changed the book’s overall impact.
I think that Pink Triangle Legacies is a great starting point for this topic. It is extremely thorough in its discussion of queer history. It explains numerous primary sources and interviews of many who experienced these historical events firsthand. It provides a detailed understanding of the topic while still helping the reader recognize that there is much more to learn and it is impossible for one book to teach everything. This duality in understanding is a central part to education as a whole, and Pink Triangle Legacies achieved this. A few of the sources mentioned in the book were intriguing as further reading. One of these books is The Men With the Pink Triangle, an autobiographical account of the Holocaust, written by Josef Kouhout under the pseudonym Heinz Heger. This memoir is mentioned many times throughout the book and is clearly very important to Newsome and his studies as well. Another book mentioned that was interesting was A Letter to Harvey Milk, a collection of fictional short stories by Lesléa Newman about queer life in Nazi Germany. While there were many others, these are the two that stood out the most as further reading. The abundance of detail and sources used in the book is exactly why I think that this book is a great introduction to the subject of gay holocaust persecution.
This book provides a great contribution to the overall historical discussion of this subject. As mentioned throughout the book, the story of LGBTQ+ people and the pink triangle has long been silenced. Scholarship on the topic is relatively new compared to other holocaust sources and oftentimes, gay people are pushed into the category of “other victims” in holocaust education. This book is the first to analyze the historical impacts of the pink triangle from a transnational perspective. It is an ode to brave queer people everywhere, of all ages and experiences. In a contemporary context, it provides something that is much needed, connecting young queer people to their history. In our modern era, LGBTQ+ rights are still being challenged every single day. Awareness of queer existence is rising and becoming less taboo, but still voices are silenced and history is brushed aside. This book brings these discussions into the light, especially in more mainstream media as one of the most anticipated LGBTQ books of the year (Newsome, 2022.) A young readers’ edition of this book written on an easier reading level for middle grade or young adult audiences would be a wonderful way to bring younger queer people into the conversation of this history. Young LGBTQ people are the pioneers of the future and in order to shape that future, knowing our historical roots is essential. The pink triangle is a symbol that embodies history and education, suffering and pride, shackles and liberation. It is being forgotten as a symbol today, but this book is a call to action not to allow queer voices to be silenced. It is an inspiration. That is why I enjoyed Pink Triangle Legacies.
August 21, 2023
While not as well-known in the mainstream as the Pride flag, the pink triangle – the Nazi concentration camp symbol for prisoners convicted under Paragraph 175, the German law that criminalized homosexual activity among men – is an enduring and important marker of queer history that morphed from an emblem of shame into a symbol of activism.
With “Pink Triangle Legacies,” W. Jake Newsome has written a definitive account of its history tracing both the socio-political environment in pre- and post-Nazi Germany, and how it gained broader awareness despite the continued prosecution of gay men under Paragraph 175, which prevented many gay concentration camp survivors from sharing their stories.
While Newsome’s text is more academic than narrative, it is a fascinating microhistory of queer oppression and liberation in which he painstakingly pieces together the experiences of a group that historians largely overlooked because of homophobia.
While I was interested in the information – especially Newsome’s exploration of how lesbians and transgender individuals struggle to feel represented in a symbol used almost exclusively for white gay and bisexual men (these groups were typically assigned a black triangle by the Nazis) – the density of what is presented made it difficult for me to keep my brain engaged beyond a few pages at at time.
Newsome clearly did the work – there are nearly 75-pages of bibliography – and I think he sometimes struggled with micro details that overlooked the macro story. But that’s coming from someone who read this for enlightenment and not as a reference of historic record, which is where I think this should ultimately sit on library shelves.
Still, I’m glad I stuck with it as it provided a comprehensive and balanced view of the tumultuous road to making both the past and present of queer history inclusive.
Thank you to the author and Cornell University Press for a gifted copy of “Pink Triangle Legacies.” This exchange of goods has not impacted my review.
With “Pink Triangle Legacies,” W. Jake Newsome has written a definitive account of its history tracing both the socio-political environment in pre- and post-Nazi Germany, and how it gained broader awareness despite the continued prosecution of gay men under Paragraph 175, which prevented many gay concentration camp survivors from sharing their stories.
While Newsome’s text is more academic than narrative, it is a fascinating microhistory of queer oppression and liberation in which he painstakingly pieces together the experiences of a group that historians largely overlooked because of homophobia.
While I was interested in the information – especially Newsome’s exploration of how lesbians and transgender individuals struggle to feel represented in a symbol used almost exclusively for white gay and bisexual men (these groups were typically assigned a black triangle by the Nazis) – the density of what is presented made it difficult for me to keep my brain engaged beyond a few pages at at time.
Newsome clearly did the work – there are nearly 75-pages of bibliography – and I think he sometimes struggled with micro details that overlooked the macro story. But that’s coming from someone who read this for enlightenment and not as a reference of historic record, which is where I think this should ultimately sit on library shelves.
Still, I’m glad I stuck with it as it provided a comprehensive and balanced view of the tumultuous road to making both the past and present of queer history inclusive.
Thank you to the author and Cornell University Press for a gifted copy of “Pink Triangle Legacies.” This exchange of goods has not impacted my review.
March 20, 2023
This is a highly informative book! I have the pleasure of knowing Jake through my college program and you can feel his passion for this subject in his writing. I think those in atrocity studies have some knowledge of LGBTQ+ persecution, particularly in Nazi Germany, but not necessarily a detailed knowledge. I felt much more informed after reading this and very much so appreciated the historical and transnational connection between German LGBTQ+ challenges and those in America.
December 13, 2022
I think what stood out most to me about this book is the emphasis it places on telling stories as a historical practice. Newsome does an excellent job guiding the reader through the political and legal contexts of the 20th Century and its impact on LGBTQ+ people, but he also brilliantly captures the lived experiences of people who have worn the pink triangle. One especially feels that connection towards the end of the book when he considers memorials and how those touch on names we have read about throughout the book. While the historical context is certainly important, there is always the danger that in focusing on it, we continue to leave these experiences in the abstract and miss the importance of their stories. As he elaborates so well, for a long time the legal interpretations about the status of LGBTQ+ people prior, during, and after the Holocaust has influenced the ways we are allowed to remember these stories, if at all. In that sense, the focus on personal narratives alongside the historical context offers an extremely appropriate way to recapture and share a history that has been overlooked.
January 18, 2024
I bought this book at Kazerne Dossin in Belgium after visiting their exhibition on the persecution of LGBTQ+ people during Nazi Germany. I'm happy to say that it was a great purchase, as it allowed me to delve deeper into the dark history of the pink triangle, as well as its repurposing of a symbol for queer rights.
Pink Triangle Legacies is a book that summarizes the important activism and history research done by inspirational queer people throughout the decades about the gay victims of the holocaust. Newsome has a thorough and nuanced writing style where he seeks to deliver the whole story as much as he can, and you can clearly tell that he has done his due diligence for research. But like he said, the work is not done yet. His points about there still not being much recognition of lesbians, transgender, and non-binary people's suffering during Nazi Germany are worth mentioning and fighting for.
Overall, if you're interested in queer history and perhaps want to read more about a forgotten victim group of the Holocaust, definitely read this book!
Pink Triangle Legacies is a book that summarizes the important activism and history research done by inspirational queer people throughout the decades about the gay victims of the holocaust. Newsome has a thorough and nuanced writing style where he seeks to deliver the whole story as much as he can, and you can clearly tell that he has done his due diligence for research. But like he said, the work is not done yet. His points about there still not being much recognition of lesbians, transgender, and non-binary people's suffering during Nazi Germany are worth mentioning and fighting for.
Overall, if you're interested in queer history and perhaps want to read more about a forgotten victim group of the Holocaust, definitely read this book!
December 15, 2023
Tracing the evolution of the Pink Triangle as a tool of dehumanization to post WWII, to preserving historical memory and give voice to queer people that have been silenced and ignored.
Silence = Death.
“What does it mean to forget the suffering of an entire community?”
Silence = Death.
“What does it mean to forget the suffering of an entire community?”
August 5, 2023
A scholarly, well written account of German Nazis' treatment of sexual non-conformists and how their successors in the Federal Republic of Germany denied homosexual concentration camp survivors compensation and recognition. For anyone interested in LGBTQ+ history.
April 7, 2023
I appreciated the in-depth analysis of the unique challenges lesbians faced in Nazi Germany
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews