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The Men With the Pink Triangle: The True, Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps
It has only been since the mid-1970s that any attention has been paid to the persecution and interment of gay men by the Nazis during the Third Reich. Since that time, books such as Richard Plant's The Pink Triangle (and Martin Sherman's play Bent) have illuminated this nearly lost history. Heinz Heger's first-person account, The Men with the Pink Triangle, was one of the first books on the topic and remains one of the most important.
In 1939, Heger, a Viennese university student, was arrested and sentenced to prison for being a "degenerate." Within weeks he was transported to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in East Germany, and forced to wear a pink triangle to show that his crime was homosexuality. He remained there, under horrific conditions, until the end of the war in 1945.
The power of The Men with the Pink Triangle comes from Heger's sparse prose and his ability to recall—and communicate—the smallest resonant details. The pain and squalor of everyday camp life—the constant filth, the continuous presence of death, and the unimaginable cruelty of those in command—are all here. But Heger's story would be unbearable were it not for the simple courage he and others used to survive and, having survived, that he bore witness. This book is harrowing but necessary reading for everyone concerned about gay history, human rights, or social justice.
—Michael Bronski
In 1939, Heger, a Viennese university student, was arrested and sentenced to prison for being a "degenerate." Within weeks he was transported to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in East Germany, and forced to wear a pink triangle to show that his crime was homosexuality. He remained there, under horrific conditions, until the end of the war in 1945.
The power of The Men with the Pink Triangle comes from Heger's sparse prose and his ability to recall—and communicate—the smallest resonant details. The pain and squalor of everyday camp life—the constant filth, the continuous presence of death, and the unimaginable cruelty of those in command—are all here. But Heger's story would be unbearable were it not for the simple courage he and others used to survive and, having survived, that he bore witness. This book is harrowing but necessary reading for everyone concerned about gay history, human rights, or social justice.
—Michael Bronski
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
Heinz Heger
5 books16 followersHeinz Heger was the penname of Josef Kohout, the gay Austrian survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, who later wrote the account "The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps." The original title is "Der Mann mit dem rosa Winkel."
To learn more about the Nazi concentration camp survivor who died in 1994, please read the article by Kurt Krickler found at http://www.ausdemleben.at/heger.pdf. It is in the German language.
To learn more about the Nazi concentration camp survivor who died in 1994, please read the article by Kurt Krickler found at http://www.ausdemleben.at/heger.pdf. It is in the German language.
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March 10, 2024Nie jestem w stanie jej ocenić. To trzeba przeczytać.
Czy istnieje jakaś granica ludzkiego okrucieństwa?
Czy istnieje jakaś granica ludzkiego okrucieństwa?
May 1, 2021
Świadectwo Hagera jest wyjątkowe z kilku względów.
Jest to pierwsza opublikowana historia prześladowania osoby homoseksualnej w okresie nazistowskim.
Jest to także pierwszy głos ofiary, która zdobyła się na odwagę, by opowiedzieć światu o swoim cierpieniu.
Nie będę się tutaj zbytnio rozpisywał, książka dostatecznie wiele wyjaśnia, aczkolwiek chciałbym po prostu zacytować jeden fragment, który winien zastąpić zbędne słowa:
"Coż ja takiego zrobiłem, bym miał tak ciężko za to pokutować? [...] Pokochałem przyjaciela, mężczyznę – i nie był to młodociany, tylko 24-letni, dorosły człowiek! Nie widziałem w tym niczego strasznego czy niemoralnego".
Bardzo smutne jest to, że ocaleli (nie ocaleni) tak długo musieli milczeć. Ignorowano ich cierpienie. Przetrwali piekło, ale nie zostali uznani.
Publikacja świadectwa Hagera była (jest) początkiem żmudnego procesu odzyskiwania pamięci o ofiarach paragrafu 175.
Jest to pierwsza opublikowana historia prześladowania osoby homoseksualnej w okresie nazistowskim.
Jest to także pierwszy głos ofiary, która zdobyła się na odwagę, by opowiedzieć światu o swoim cierpieniu.
Nie będę się tutaj zbytnio rozpisywał, książka dostatecznie wiele wyjaśnia, aczkolwiek chciałbym po prostu zacytować jeden fragment, który winien zastąpić zbędne słowa:
"Coż ja takiego zrobiłem, bym miał tak ciężko za to pokutować? [...] Pokochałem przyjaciela, mężczyznę – i nie był to młodociany, tylko 24-letni, dorosły człowiek! Nie widziałem w tym niczego strasznego czy niemoralnego".
Bardzo smutne jest to, że ocaleli (nie ocaleni) tak długo musieli milczeć. Ignorowano ich cierpienie. Przetrwali piekło, ale nie zostali uznani.
Publikacja świadectwa Hagera była (jest) początkiem żmudnego procesu odzyskiwania pamięci o ofiarach paragrafu 175.
March 17, 2025
In March 1939, the 22 year old Austrian university student Josef Kohout was escorted away from his home and would not return for six years. He never saw his father again (per suicide from despondency). Josef endured multiple concentration camps wearing the large pink triangle that classified him as the lowest of the prisoners.
This book was written in 1970, prior to the legalization of homosexuality in Austria in 1971, so even after Josef was liberated at the end of the war, he was still persecuted. In Germany, paragraph 175 was repealed in 1969. Only gay men, and no women, were made criminals under paragraph 175 since:
- lesbianism was too alien to be understood
- women were largely excluded from positions of power so no real danger
- lesbians could be used as 'breeders' to increase the Nazi population
A symbol invented by the Nazis, the pink triangle was able to become a modern symbol of gay and lesbian pride only because we are not haunted by concrete memories of those who were forced to wear it in the camps.
It is estimated that there were about 2 million homosexuals in Germany when the roundups began, so there easily could have been several hundred thousand concentration camp prisoners with the pink triangle.
Josef survived by trading sexual favors with guards. This was extremely common with the teen/twenty year old prisoners to help them remain alive by being assigned work details that were less prone to death, and to get access to some better food. The hypocrisy of exchanging homosexual favors is incredible to hear in this memoir.
In its frank and unvarnished language, may this book be regarded as a harsh indictment of the authorities of the Third Reich at the time and of the the bestial methods of the Gestapo and the SS, which ruled the entire police apparatus in National Socialist Germany.
Josef had been accepted by his mother early in life. She warned him to be careful. Josef had a steady lover prior to being taken for his six years of torture.
And what had I done to be sent off in this way? What infamous crime or damage to the community? I had loved a friend of mine, a grown man of twenty-four, not a child. I could find nothing dreadful or wrong in that.
I will not go through all the atrocities inflicted on Josef, or those that he was privy to see. Most of these were done openly in these camps where all the prisoners could see, to drive fear into their minds. Promises given that castration would allow them to become assimilated into society when victory was won were lies. Some sadly chose this option.
Even after liberation, Josef's request for compensation for the years of concentration camp was rejected. Homosexuals were still treated very inhumanely after the war.
This is an incredibly important book. The author, Heinz Heger was the pen name of Hanns Neumann. Publication of this book met obstacles. Josef and Hanns names were NOT used since exposing them could end their careers. But this truth needed to get out.
A solid 5* historical and crucial book to read.
This book was written in 1970, prior to the legalization of homosexuality in Austria in 1971, so even after Josef was liberated at the end of the war, he was still persecuted. In Germany, paragraph 175 was repealed in 1969. Only gay men, and no women, were made criminals under paragraph 175 since:
- lesbianism was too alien to be understood
- women were largely excluded from positions of power so no real danger
- lesbians could be used as 'breeders' to increase the Nazi population
A symbol invented by the Nazis, the pink triangle was able to become a modern symbol of gay and lesbian pride only because we are not haunted by concrete memories of those who were forced to wear it in the camps.
It is estimated that there were about 2 million homosexuals in Germany when the roundups began, so there easily could have been several hundred thousand concentration camp prisoners with the pink triangle.
Josef survived by trading sexual favors with guards. This was extremely common with the teen/twenty year old prisoners to help them remain alive by being assigned work details that were less prone to death, and to get access to some better food. The hypocrisy of exchanging homosexual favors is incredible to hear in this memoir.
In its frank and unvarnished language, may this book be regarded as a harsh indictment of the authorities of the Third Reich at the time and of the the bestial methods of the Gestapo and the SS, which ruled the entire police apparatus in National Socialist Germany.
Josef had been accepted by his mother early in life. She warned him to be careful. Josef had a steady lover prior to being taken for his six years of torture.
And what had I done to be sent off in this way? What infamous crime or damage to the community? I had loved a friend of mine, a grown man of twenty-four, not a child. I could find nothing dreadful or wrong in that.
I will not go through all the atrocities inflicted on Josef, or those that he was privy to see. Most of these were done openly in these camps where all the prisoners could see, to drive fear into their minds. Promises given that castration would allow them to become assimilated into society when victory was won were lies. Some sadly chose this option.
Even after liberation, Josef's request for compensation for the years of concentration camp was rejected. Homosexuals were still treated very inhumanely after the war.
This is an incredibly important book. The author, Heinz Heger was the pen name of Hanns Neumann. Publication of this book met obstacles. Josef and Hanns names were NOT used since exposing them could end their careers. But this truth needed to get out.
A solid 5* historical and crucial book to read.
April 16, 2011
This was a long-awaited read for me. It was a read I had to prepare myself for, before I could actually read it. I'm a scholar of WW2 and Holocaust literature and have a large collection of material, but for a topic dealing even more closely with myself and being, I had to take time to ground myself.
Whether you are just a passing person who might wish to learn about what homosexuals suffered in concentration camps (and there were fewer comparatively and earlier in the Nazi regime directly), or someone who is looking for a wider view of all inmates who were interred or murdered, this memoir can provide views into life in the camps, especially for certain populations. What is does beyond that is provide a glimpse into the ugly aspects of "male" life, and the unique, sexual brutality so-called "straight" men have perpetrated against homosexuals who've expressed or more openly or innocently (depending on your perspective) their attraction and love of those of their own gender.
I don't even know quite how to express it, but I literally was brought to the floor, unable to move, weeping, remembering how one can be forced to do things just to survive, and knowing the ones who forced you to debase yourself so horribly were so-called "straight" men who went/go home to their wives or girlfriends, who don't think twice about using someone. That is the perspective Heinz Heger lived and endured on top of the diabolical, sickly human mechanisms of the Nazis and those who benefited from their regime.
I wanted to know more of his personal feelings when he described seeing thousands of prisoners of all kinds not just be "liquidated", but when he directly saw the evidence: the coursing of blood from trenches full of recently shot bodies instead of his only stating how the villagers near the camp complained of the local streams being tainted with blood, but I understand why his account involved only that. Sometimes you can only recount abstracts like that, because looking too directly into the memory will take you back, and you know, in your present life that you couldn't endure that.
Not a "speciality" book. Not just for gays or other LTIIQ people. If you are going to read Holocaust books, include this one as well. Be aware and outraged that homosexuals were targeted and murdered just like other groups, just because they believed and lived a certain way....BUT the vast majority were NEVER compensated as were other survivors. They were pushed aside and discriminated against, and even had officials discount their memories, an even more debilitating experience than survivors whose stories were commiserated with. So in effect, these men were violated over and over, not just by perpetrators, but by those who supposedly were there to liberate and help them as they did other concentration camp inmates. They were discriminated against JUST like what continues against gays today in a variety of countries across the world.
For more information and photo of Heinz Heger, whose real name was Josef Kohout, please visit my review/interview site Flying With Red Haircrow.
Whether you are just a passing person who might wish to learn about what homosexuals suffered in concentration camps (and there were fewer comparatively and earlier in the Nazi regime directly), or someone who is looking for a wider view of all inmates who were interred or murdered, this memoir can provide views into life in the camps, especially for certain populations. What is does beyond that is provide a glimpse into the ugly aspects of "male" life, and the unique, sexual brutality so-called "straight" men have perpetrated against homosexuals who've expressed or more openly or innocently (depending on your perspective) their attraction and love of those of their own gender.
I don't even know quite how to express it, but I literally was brought to the floor, unable to move, weeping, remembering how one can be forced to do things just to survive, and knowing the ones who forced you to debase yourself so horribly were so-called "straight" men who went/go home to their wives or girlfriends, who don't think twice about using someone. That is the perspective Heinz Heger lived and endured on top of the diabolical, sickly human mechanisms of the Nazis and those who benefited from their regime.
I wanted to know more of his personal feelings when he described seeing thousands of prisoners of all kinds not just be "liquidated", but when he directly saw the evidence: the coursing of blood from trenches full of recently shot bodies instead of his only stating how the villagers near the camp complained of the local streams being tainted with blood, but I understand why his account involved only that. Sometimes you can only recount abstracts like that, because looking too directly into the memory will take you back, and you know, in your present life that you couldn't endure that.
Not a "speciality" book. Not just for gays or other LTIIQ people. If you are going to read Holocaust books, include this one as well. Be aware and outraged that homosexuals were targeted and murdered just like other groups, just because they believed and lived a certain way....BUT the vast majority were NEVER compensated as were other survivors. They were pushed aside and discriminated against, and even had officials discount their memories, an even more debilitating experience than survivors whose stories were commiserated with. So in effect, these men were violated over and over, not just by perpetrators, but by those who supposedly were there to liberate and help them as they did other concentration camp inmates. They were discriminated against JUST like what continues against gays today in a variety of countries across the world.
For more information and photo of Heinz Heger, whose real name was Josef Kohout, please visit my review/interview site Flying With Red Haircrow.
August 8, 2023
Josef Kohout aka Heinz Heger had it easy as a holocaust survivor.
Before anyone picks up the pitchforks, I mean in the context of what he witnessed in the camps. The hierarchy of the camp went as followed politicians, criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, and Jews.
After the war, homosexuals were not recognized as victims of Nazi persecution.
Let that really sink in. They were tortured and died in concentration camps but were not victims of Nazi persecution. So it wasn't just Nazi ideology for the persecution of homosexuals but just fulfillment of the laws already placed under Paragraph 175.
Less than a handful of written accounts exist on the pink triangle victims. Crazy to think it was a subject that was ignored and brushed away well into the '90s; the men with the pink triangle received no holocaust restitution payments after the war. And the author of this book lived a quiet life with his partner with this story was tucked away until his death and then published anonymously in the 1970s. Understandably survivors were scared to tell their story because persecution could come again at any time for the men that somehow made it out of the camps, and the danger of who they were continued well after the war. I found the afterword as shocking as the book. These survivors had to endure a literal hell on earth and then somehow jump back into the world, continue to function, and keep going WHILE their neighbors, family, and community still viewed them as criminals.
Josef endured brutality while also witnessing men tortured and killed for being homosexuals in a way that is truly terrifying. Just imagine the worst thing that can be done to man psychologically and physically, and I promise you it's worse than that. I had to put this book down so many times and take a few deep breaths just to keep reading.
I will forever have the imagery of Christmas Day at the camp, truly one of the most horrific things I've ever read.
The only reason Joseph could make it through was because the capos sought after him. The hierarchy worked the same as jail, you can find protection by having a 'relationship' with higher-ups, which he was able to do throughout his time at the camp, eventually finding his own place as a capo himself which he used that power to protect and treat the workers with a level of humanity. Not only were homosexuals killed, tortured, and experimented on, but brothels were set up in the camps to "turn" them into good German men, which led to the sexual torture of women. This brought me down another rabbit hole of the little to no documentation and accounts of women survivors who were trafficked and raped at over 500 brothels inside the concentration camps.
Historians seem to pick and choose the importance of victims because over 35,000 women were sexually abused in these brothels.
Not many books just shake me to my core like this one did so my review feels a little all over the place. five stars.
Before anyone picks up the pitchforks, I mean in the context of what he witnessed in the camps. The hierarchy of the camp went as followed politicians, criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, gypsies, homosexuals, and Jews.
After the war, homosexuals were not recognized as victims of Nazi persecution.
Let that really sink in. They were tortured and died in concentration camps but were not victims of Nazi persecution. So it wasn't just Nazi ideology for the persecution of homosexuals but just fulfillment of the laws already placed under Paragraph 175.
Less than a handful of written accounts exist on the pink triangle victims. Crazy to think it was a subject that was ignored and brushed away well into the '90s; the men with the pink triangle received no holocaust restitution payments after the war. And the author of this book lived a quiet life with his partner with this story was tucked away until his death and then published anonymously in the 1970s. Understandably survivors were scared to tell their story because persecution could come again at any time for the men that somehow made it out of the camps, and the danger of who they were continued well after the war. I found the afterword as shocking as the book. These survivors had to endure a literal hell on earth and then somehow jump back into the world, continue to function, and keep going WHILE their neighbors, family, and community still viewed them as criminals.
Josef endured brutality while also witnessing men tortured and killed for being homosexuals in a way that is truly terrifying. Just imagine the worst thing that can be done to man psychologically and physically, and I promise you it's worse than that. I had to put this book down so many times and take a few deep breaths just to keep reading.
I will forever have the imagery of Christmas Day at the camp, truly one of the most horrific things I've ever read.
The only reason Joseph could make it through was because the capos sought after him. The hierarchy worked the same as jail, you can find protection by having a 'relationship' with higher-ups, which he was able to do throughout his time at the camp, eventually finding his own place as a capo himself which he used that power to protect and treat the workers with a level of humanity. Not only were homosexuals killed, tortured, and experimented on, but brothels were set up in the camps to "turn" them into good German men, which led to the sexual torture of women. This brought me down another rabbit hole of the little to no documentation and accounts of women survivors who were trafficked and raped at over 500 brothels inside the concentration camps.
Historians seem to pick and choose the importance of victims because over 35,000 women were sexually abused in these brothels.
Not many books just shake me to my core like this one did so my review feels a little all over the place. five stars.
April 11, 2018
"Co to za świat i co to za ludzie, którzy decydują za dorosłego człowieka, kogo i jak wolno mu kochać? Czy to nie zahamowani seksualnie i obarczeni kompleksem niższości ustawodawcy zawsze najgłośniej krzyczą o „zdrowych odruchach narodu”?"
Po prostu czytajcie.
Po prostu czytajcie.
July 27, 2016
Przetłumaczona pierwszy raz na polski pozycja niemiecka z lat 70-tych. Trudne świadectwo podwójnego wykluczenia.
November 21, 2017
“Muy poco se ha escrito sobre el hecho que junto con los millones de seres humanos que Hitler aniquiló cruelmente por motivos “raciales”, cientos de miles de personas fueron torturadas con sadismo hasta la muerte por el mero hecho de tener sentimientos homosexuales. Muy pocos han dado a conocer hasta a hora que la locura de Hitler y sus acólitos no iba dirigida solamente contra los judíos, sino también contra nosotros los homosexuales, en ambos casos con el propósito de la “solución final”, al aniquilamiento absoluto de estos seres humamos”
La verdad es que ha resultado muy interesante adentrarse en uno de los episodios menos conocidos de los campos de exterminio. No es de los más duros que he leído (quizá sea porque el autor narra el testimonio de otra persona, Joseph K., el auténtico superviviente) pero si hay momentos que no resultan nada agradables…
La verdad es que ha resultado muy interesante adentrarse en uno de los episodios menos conocidos de los campos de exterminio. No es de los más duros que he leído (quizá sea porque el autor narra el testimonio de otra persona, Joseph K., el auténtico superviviente) pero si hay momentos que no resultan nada agradables…
August 9, 2021
“Today, people have long stopped talking about the sufferings and killings of the Nazi concentration camps, and no longer want to be reminded of them, but we, the ex-prisoners, will always remember what we suffered.”
This book is a must-read. Just beware that it contains slurs and vivid descriptions of torture, etc.
Josef Kohout tells his story (documented by his friend Hans Neumann/“Heinz Heger”) in The Men with the Pink Triangle as one of the many gay men imprisoned and tortured by Nazis during WWII. He informs readers of how he was brought into the camp, prisoner hierarchy, methods of torture used against them, and how he strategically fought for his life, having sexual encounters with more powerful men in exchange for protection against starvation, deadly labour, and more.
Josef and the other prisoners endured unfathomable suffering, and it didn’t quite end after the war. Gay survivors left the camps not as victims, but as criminals, and were denied compensation until
very recently in 2017. From my understanding, some gay men were liberated from these camps just to end up getting arrested again for the “crime” of homosexuality.
Like many gay survivors, Josef passed away in the 90s without any financial compensation from the government and was largely ignored by neighbours and collegues as he tried to rejoin society.
“My request for compensation for the years of concentration camp was rejected by our democratic authorities, for as a pink-triangled prisoner, a homosexual, I had been condemned for a criminal offense, even if I'd not harmed anyone. No restitution is granted to "criminal" concentration-camp victims.”
“But why are we homosexuals still treated so inhumanely, why are we still persecuted and imprisoned by the courts, just as in Hitler's time?”
Due to the history of suppressing queer voices, many people still don’t know the community was targeted. Unfortunately I was pretty ignorant before reading this book too. I knew they were imprisoned, but not to this degree.
Josef’s story is very difficult to read, but very important. This is the outcome of dehumanizing people and why we need to be checking and challenging our biases constantly.
“But whether we gays live in Vienna or anywhere else, we can live as decent a life as we want, but the contempt of our fellow humans, and social discrimination, is the same as it was thirty or fifty years ago. The progress of humanity has passed us by.”
To end on a happier note: while researching Josef, I discovered he met his partner a year after leaving the camps and they stayed together until he passed away. I hope they lived a very happy life in those 48 years together.
July 13, 2022
I just wanted to clarify: I do not rate holocaust stories when I pick stars. How can someone judge someone's death story? All I judge is the tools of the story. And then I sit here and try to get the mental pictures out of my head. This book had been on my TBR list for ages, and it took me about that long to get it purchased at ThriftBooks. I had never of the pink triangles. I knew all of the others. Why were the pinks never listed? Is the world still that backwards? I mean that community isn't going anywhere! And I couldn't be happier!
February 6, 2019
Molto bello come libro! Lo consiglio a tutti!
Il libro parla del esperienza nei campi di concentramento di un giovane, ma la particolarità di questo libro è il fatto che non parla della solita storia del ebreo rinchiuso ma parla di un ragazzo gay rinchiuso per il suo orientamento sessuale.. quindi una tematica poco conosciuta e poco diffusa in italia.
Il libro è scritto molto bene ed è estremamente scorrevole...ti prende già dalla prime pagine e non ti annoia mai....in poche parole un libro da leggere tutto d'un fiato!
Il libro non è solo una storia autobiografica, ma un vero e proprio libro storico che ti insegna molte cose come nomi, date ecc..
Questa che ho letto io è la nuova edizione del 2019 della casa editrice Sonda , che non posso non elogiare per l'ottimo lavoro fatto, questo perché il libro è rilegato molto bene, si presenta con una copertina rigida rivestita da una sovra coperta molto bella, in più è stato aggiornato anche l'introduzione di Giovanni dell'orto che l'ha resa più attuale.
Unico neo il fatto che è un Po corto, il libro è di circa 180pagine ma la storia vera e propria è di circa 150/160pagine.
CONSIGLIATISSIMO!!
Il libro parla del esperienza nei campi di concentramento di un giovane, ma la particolarità di questo libro è il fatto che non parla della solita storia del ebreo rinchiuso ma parla di un ragazzo gay rinchiuso per il suo orientamento sessuale.. quindi una tematica poco conosciuta e poco diffusa in italia.
Il libro è scritto molto bene ed è estremamente scorrevole...ti prende già dalla prime pagine e non ti annoia mai....in poche parole un libro da leggere tutto d'un fiato!
Il libro non è solo una storia autobiografica, ma un vero e proprio libro storico che ti insegna molte cose come nomi, date ecc..
Questa che ho letto io è la nuova edizione del 2019 della casa editrice Sonda , che non posso non elogiare per l'ottimo lavoro fatto, questo perché il libro è rilegato molto bene, si presenta con una copertina rigida rivestita da una sovra coperta molto bella, in più è stato aggiornato anche l'introduzione di Giovanni dell'orto che l'ha resa più attuale.
Unico neo il fatto che è un Po corto, il libro è di circa 180pagine ma la storia vera e propria è di circa 150/160pagine.
CONSIGLIATISSIMO!!
November 3, 2008
Horrifying. Simply horrifying is the best way to describe this book. Told by one of the few known homosexual surviors of Nazi concentration camps, and one of the even fewer brave enough to tell his story, this book details Heger's six years in a concentration camp. The abuse--physical, mental, and sexual--is unbelievable. It's traumatic to simply read about his experience and the things that he witnessed. What I found most jaw-dropping is the constant abuse heaped upon the prisoners for being gay, but then most of the abusers are having gay sex at the exact same time (similar to prisons today), but think nothing of it because they are "normal" men. Ugh. Nightmares are certain to result from this reading, but I maintain that it's a very important story to read.
May 28, 2022
3.5
Kwestia homoseksualistów w obozach koncentracyjnych często jest pomijana, a warto zauważyć, że byli oni traktowani tak samo okrutnie jak Żydzi i Romowie. Ciężka książka i bardzo szczegółowa.
Kwestia homoseksualistów w obozach koncentracyjnych często jest pomijana, a warto zauważyć, że byli oni traktowani tak samo okrutnie jak Żydzi i Romowie. Ciężka książka i bardzo szczegółowa.
June 23, 2023
The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps by Heinz Heger is an incredibly tough to read and it will stick with you. This lesser known part of history must be known. I actually cried several times while reading it.
June 10, 2023
✨️This book, "The Men with the Pink Triangle" by Heinz Heger, is profoundly moving and heartbreaking. It presents a poignant and emotionally challenging narrative, shedding light on the unimaginable cruelties inflicted upon individuals who simply had homosexual feelings during Hitler's regime. These individuals, confined in concentration camps, were forced to wear the pink triangle as a means of distinguishing them as homosexuals from other prisoners. They endured unspeakable tortures at the hands of their captors, yet their stories were largely forgotten even after liberation.
It is disheartening to realize that, even after almost 90 years, persecution and social discrimination based on sexual orientation continue to persist. As a collective humanity, we have not made significant progress in this regard. We have yet to fully acknowledge that sexual orientation is an intrinsic part of our human identity. Each and every individual should be entitled to the freedom of self-expression, the freedom to embrace their true selves, and the freedom to experience and express their emotions without fear or judgment. Love should transcend all boundaries and limitations. No person should ever be subjected to persecution simply for living their life authentically.
I hope policymakers and individuals with puritanical or instinctive moral judgments will take the time to read this book. It is impossible to remain untouched or unaffected by the profound inhumanity endured by the characters within its pages.
In solidarity with and in celebration of Pride Month, this book serves as a compelling reminder of the collective endeavors and the historical hardships endured in the pursuit of equality. Although the journey may be arduous, there remains a glimmer of hope that one day these tireless efforts will payoff. 👊✨️🌈
It is disheartening to realize that, even after almost 90 years, persecution and social discrimination based on sexual orientation continue to persist. As a collective humanity, we have not made significant progress in this regard. We have yet to fully acknowledge that sexual orientation is an intrinsic part of our human identity. Each and every individual should be entitled to the freedom of self-expression, the freedom to embrace their true selves, and the freedom to experience and express their emotions without fear or judgment. Love should transcend all boundaries and limitations. No person should ever be subjected to persecution simply for living their life authentically.
I hope policymakers and individuals with puritanical or instinctive moral judgments will take the time to read this book. It is impossible to remain untouched or unaffected by the profound inhumanity endured by the characters within its pages.
In solidarity with and in celebration of Pride Month, this book serves as a compelling reminder of the collective endeavors and the historical hardships endured in the pursuit of equality. Although the journey may be arduous, there remains a glimmer of hope that one day these tireless efforts will payoff. 👊✨️🌈
May 19, 2025
Such an important read. The author manages to pack so much detail into a rather short book. I highly encourage anyone who is able (SA trigger warning considered) to read this book.
I'm hopeful more research will be done on this topic and more work is done to preserve these stories while there are still survivors left.
I'm hopeful more research will be done on this topic and more work is done to preserve these stories while there are still survivors left.
April 16, 2020
¡Qué fuerte!
Estas historias deben de ser contadas pero sobre todo tienen que ser leídas.
Estas historias deben de ser contadas pero sobre todo tienen que ser leídas.
September 12, 2020
Trudno mi coś o tej książce napisać. Uważam, że każdy powinien ją przeczytać, zwłaszcza teraz patrząc na to co dzieje się w kraju.
July 4, 2017
Mam nieco mieszane uczucia co do tej książki. Jest niewątpliwie ważnym świadectwem, a jeszcze ważniejsze jest to, że w końcu ukazała się w Polsce. Jednak sam sposób opowieści wydawał mi się trochę pozbawiony emocji. Wszystko niby opowiedziane jest dość szczegółowo, ale narracja jest nieco emocjonalnie oderwana od opisywanych wydarzeń. Może to kwestia przeżytej traumy, a może czegoś innego. Niewyobrażalne jest dla mnie to, co robiono osobom nieheteronormatywnym w obozach koncentracyjnych, ale jeszcze bardziej niewyobrażalne - i niewytłumaczalne! - jest dla mnie zamiatanie tego wszystkiego pod przysłowiowy dywan. Zarówno zaraz po wojnie, jak i teraz. Traktowanie osób LGBTQ nadal pozostawia wiele do życzenia. Podobnie jak autorka posłowia w tej książce, mam nadzieję, że ta książka otworzy drogę innym publikacjom na temat tego, co przytrafiało się LGBTQ w najgorszych chwilach historii. "Mężczyźni z różowym trójkątem" to książka, która zasmuca i złości jednocześnie. Przeszłości nie zmienimy, ale postarajmy się, żeby zło się nie powtórzyło.
September 3, 2008
This book opened my eyes in so many ways. I'll be forever thankful to the girl that recommended it. I've read a lot of holocaust memoirs over the years, but none had ever so much as mentioned the atrocities committed against homosexuals.
Like any book dealing with the holocaust, this book is a tough read, and the questions it asks have no easy answers, other than the world is sometimes very, very wrong.
Like any book dealing with the holocaust, this book is a tough read, and the questions it asks have no easy answers, other than the world is sometimes very, very wrong.
July 1, 2015
Está contada de forma objetiva, así que no nos atormentará el corazón...demasiado.
Muy interesante, nos desvela cosas sobre los campos de concentración de las que apenas se ha hablado.
Mi vídeo reseña:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpRL...
Muy interesante, nos desvela cosas sobre los campos de concentración de las que apenas se ha hablado.
Mi vídeo reseña:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNpRL...
December 29, 2022
4 por la edición con muchísimas erratas
June 7, 2024
the sexual/romantic politics between the prisoners was so interesting and surprising to read about.
November 23, 2020
È una storia scritta a quattro mani: Josef Kohut e Hans Neumann. Il primo è il vero protagonista, colui che ha subito il lager in quanto omosessuale, invece Hans è colui che ha raccolto la testimonianza e l'ha trascritta.
È il racconto, senza preamboli, delle sevizie e dei maltrattamenti che subì il giovane Josef nel campo di concentramento. Arrestato in Austria, viene interrogato dalla Gestapo e poi rinchiuso nel lager di Flossenbug.
Forse, e troppo spesso, diamo per scontato che le uniche vittime dei nazisti furono gli ebrei; questa testimonianza ha però il merito di dare voce alle vittime omosessuali per far si che abbiano la stessa considerazione nella storia.
È il racconto, senza preamboli, delle sevizie e dei maltrattamenti che subì il giovane Josef nel campo di concentramento. Arrestato in Austria, viene interrogato dalla Gestapo e poi rinchiuso nel lager di Flossenbug.
Forse, e troppo spesso, diamo per scontato che le uniche vittime dei nazisti furono gli ebrei; questa testimonianza ha però il merito di dare voce alle vittime omosessuali per far si che abbiano la stessa considerazione nella storia.
Read
February 5, 2025"May they never be forgotten,
these multitudes of dead,
our anonymous, immortal martyrs."
This heartbreaking account of one gay man's experience in Nazi concentration camps is brutal, devastating, and surprisingly matter-of-fact in its telling. It's an invaluable record, one of the few of its kind. I'm so grateful to Hanns Neumann (the author) and Josef Kohaut (the man whose experience is told here in the first person) for sharing it with the world—and, across the barriers of time, with us.
🖤
these multitudes of dead,
our anonymous, immortal martyrs."
This heartbreaking account of one gay man's experience in Nazi concentration camps is brutal, devastating, and surprisingly matter-of-fact in its telling. It's an invaluable record, one of the few of its kind. I'm so grateful to Hanns Neumann (the author) and Josef Kohaut (the man whose experience is told here in the first person) for sharing it with the world—and, across the barriers of time, with us.
🖤
December 26, 2024
An essential read for anyone seeking to understand the horrible experiences of gay people during the Holocaust. The book showcases the unimaginable suffering faced by those imprisoned in concentration camps due to their sexuality. Equally disturbing is the injustice that persisted long after the war, as gay survivors were neither acknowledged nor compensated, and homosexuality remained criminalized in many places. This powerful, eye-opening account serves as both a historical record and a stark reminder of the long road toward justice and equality.
February 29, 2020
Wstrząsające. Opowieść z innej, równie ważnej perspektywy.
Rozszerza wyobrażenie o relacjach panujących w obozie. O ówczesnym prawie (nie tylko niemieckim, ale i austriackim), o seksie zastępczym, o relacjach homoseksualnych wśród wyższych rangą w obozie, bardzo dużo o obozowych kapo, gdyż sam autor nim się stał, o pracy przy wyrabianiu cegieł, o księdzu skazanym z tego samego paragrafu co autor, o próbie przeżycia w zamian za partnerstwo, o współpracy z SS, sugestywnie o karach, torturach na więźniach i ich kontroli, o obozowych burdelach, o wizytach Czerwonego Krzyża w obozie, o zmianach nastrojów SS pod koniec wojny, o wspólnym śpiewaniu kolęd o choince, coś, o czym mało wiadomo - o oznaczonych różowym trójkątem "chłopcach z Polski", wreszcie - o życiu po wojnie, które dla homoseksualistów wcale nie stało się prostsze.
W dodatku te rozgoryczone dywagacje, rozważanie wypowiedzianych przez innych słów (np. na temat "normalności") - bardzo przykre.
Rozszerza wyobrażenie o relacjach panujących w obozie. O ówczesnym prawie (nie tylko niemieckim, ale i austriackim), o seksie zastępczym, o relacjach homoseksualnych wśród wyższych rangą w obozie, bardzo dużo o obozowych kapo, gdyż sam autor nim się stał, o pracy przy wyrabianiu cegieł, o księdzu skazanym z tego samego paragrafu co autor, o próbie przeżycia w zamian za partnerstwo, o współpracy z SS, sugestywnie o karach, torturach na więźniach i ich kontroli, o obozowych burdelach, o wizytach Czerwonego Krzyża w obozie, o zmianach nastrojów SS pod koniec wojny, o wspólnym śpiewaniu kolęd o choince, coś, o czym mało wiadomo - o oznaczonych różowym trójkątem "chłopcach z Polski", wreszcie - o życiu po wojnie, które dla homoseksualistów wcale nie stało się prostsze.
W dodatku te rozgoryczone dywagacje, rozważanie wypowiedzianych przez innych słów (np. na temat "normalności") - bardzo przykre.
February 9, 2012
This is an account of one young gay man's experiences at the hands of the Nazis. It is quite factual but if you read between the lines the horror jumps out at you. There is an appalling account of the murder of one young gay man at the hands of 2 Nazi officers which will remain with me forever.
Much of the book is devoted to the methods he used to stay alive - mainly by becoming the 'companion' of various 'dignitary prisoners' in the camp. He managed to survive for YEARS - an unbelievable feat - and return home.
He is quite bitter - absolutely correctly - at some of the treatment he received after the war and at the non-recognition of the suffering of gay people. The account was written around 1970 - thank God that our generation lives in much more tolerant times.
May horrors like this never recur.
I salute you Mr Heger/Kohout!
Much of the book is devoted to the methods he used to stay alive - mainly by becoming the 'companion' of various 'dignitary prisoners' in the camp. He managed to survive for YEARS - an unbelievable feat - and return home.
He is quite bitter - absolutely correctly - at some of the treatment he received after the war and at the non-recognition of the suffering of gay people. The account was written around 1970 - thank God that our generation lives in much more tolerant times.
May horrors like this never recur.
I salute you Mr Heger/Kohout!
October 13, 2015
Μία ακόμα μαρτυρία για τις θηριωδίες το ναζισμού. Ένα ακόμα "Εάν αυτό είναι ο άνθρωπος". Είναι ένα από τα λίγα ντοκουμέντα, αν σκεφτεί κανείς ότι ακόμα και μετά η ομοφυλοφιλία διωκόταν ή στην καλύτερη στιγματιζόταν όποιος το δήλωνε. Ευτυχώς υπήρξαν και αυτοί οι άνθρωποι που με το θάρρος τους και τη μαρτυρία τους μας άφησαν Ιστορία.
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