Out of the many groups of people who were targeted by the Nazis for various measures, it was the homosexuals who became the forgotten victims of the regime for many decades after the war had ended.  Not until the 1980s did the process of adequately researching the subject begin and even now in the 2020s much more still needs to be done on the topic.[1]

It all began in 1871 after the German Empire (the Second Reich) was proclaimed following Prussia’s victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871.  That was when Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code declared male homosexuality illegal.  It stated, ‘Lewd and lascivious acts against the order of nature committed between males or between human beings and animals shall be punished by imprisonment.’[2] Even though this law seemed harsh, there were few convictions because people had to be caught in the act to guarantee prosecutors a victory in court.

In the intervening decades before the Nazis came to power, two views of homosexuals prevailed in German society.  Among the more conservative, it was seen as a morally degenerative practice that should be suppressed and punished.  Others had more liberal views of the topic, with some even calling for Paragraph 175 to be repealed.

One of those leading the campaign for homosexuals’ rights was German-Jewish Doctor Magnus Hirschfeld, ‘a leading researcher of sex, sexuality, and gender.  He wrote and lectured widely on these topics, treated and advised patients, and worked to promote the rights of those who did not conform to existing gender or sexual norms.’[3]  Hirschfeld ‘considered homosexuality to be innate, a ‘sexual deviation in nature,’ and thus, not something pathological, criminal, immoral or sinful.[4]  His ideas led to an increasingly positive self-image within the homosexual world.[5]  In 1919, he created the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin.  Magnus Hirschfeld was also a homosexual.

The overall situation improved for homosexuals during the Weimar years (1918-1933).  Their publications and meeting places increased dramatically in number.  In 1932 Berlin alone, 300 bars and cafes that mainly or exclusively catered to homosexuals or lesbians existed.[6]  A level of tolerance that had not seemed possible only a few years earlier pervaded parts of Germany.  All of that was to end after Hitler came to power on 30 January 1933.

For the first nearly year-and-a-half, the Nazis limited themselves to random raids of homosexual meeting places to disrupt them and instill fear.  Some bars and other meeting places as well as gay associations were closed down (with others to follow during the next few years), but the real damage was done in shutting down gay newspapers, journals and publishing houses.  Because newspapers were the primary means of communication in Germany’s gay communities, their loss crippled not only that communication, but solidarity within the community too.[7]

Some arrests were made, with the arrestees often put in ‘protective detention’ and sent to ‘wild camps’ in order to shield them from societal indignation.[8]  The real intention, of course, was to remove them from society even if only temporarily.  In May 1933, Hirschfeld’s Institute was closed and most of his books and clinical files were destroyed. 

This reticence to tackle the issue head on right away may have been due to the fact that the SA’s (Stormtroopers’) leader, Ernst Röhm, was an open homosexual and Hitler could not afford to alienate such a powerful supporter until he had consolidated his own power first.  The Night of the Long Knives, the purge that eliminated Röhm and various other threats, began on 30 June 1934 and was partially justified by ‘the cleansing of society from sexual deviants.’[9]  This signaled an intensification of the war against the homosexuals.

In 1935, the Nazis amended the Criminal Code, adding Paragraphs 175a and 175b to Paragraph 175.  They read as follows:

Confinement in a penitentiary not to exceed ten years and, under extenuating circumstances, imprisonment for not less than three months shall be imposed: (1) Upon a male who, with force or with the threat of imminent danger to life and limb, compels another male to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or compels the other party to submit to abuse for lewd and lascivious acts; (2) Upon a male who, by abuse of a relationship of dependence upon him, in consequence of service, employment, or subordination, induces another male to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or to submit to being abused for such acts; (3) Upon a male who being over 21 years of age induces another male under 21 years of age to commit lewd and lascivious acts with him or to submit to being abused for such acts; (4) Upon a male who professionally engages in lewd and lascivious acts with other men, or submits to such abuse by other men, or offers himself for lewd and lascivious acts with other men.[10]

Paragraph 175b stated,

Lewd and lascivious acts contrary to nature between human beings and animals shall be punished by imprisonment; loss of civil rights may also be imposed.[11]

It is important to note that the new additional sub-paragraphs not only increased the punishment, but also broadened the definition of homosexual acts.  Previously, only intercourse had been punishable, but now any erotic act was criminally actionable.  Naturally, this led to an increased number of arrests as follows:

1934: 948

1936: 5320

1937: 8271

1938: 8562[12]

The Reich Central Office for the Combatting of Homosexuality and Abortion was opened in October 1936.  Registering homosexuals was one of its first tasks.  That set the stage for later arrests.  In addition, it was determined that ‘political opponents and Catholic clergymen could be falsely accused under these laws as a means of suppressing them.’[13]

Himmler called an ominous meeting of SS leaders on 18 February 1937.  During it he stated, ‘two million homosexuals…has upset the sexual balance-sheet of Germany.’  ‘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.’  ‘Homosexual men are enemies of the state and are to be treated accordingly.  It is a question of purifying the body of the German nation and the maintenance and strengthening of the power of the German nation.’[14]

A network of informers helped the police to organize raids on homosexual hangouts and meeting places such as bars and bath houses.  The fact that homosexuals tended to form self-promoting cliques within organizations to help each other out led to the arrests of entire groups at a time.[15]

Himmler escalated things in July 1940 when he ordered ‘all homosexuals who have seduced more than one partner are to be taken into police preventive custody following their release from prison.’[16]  This meant being sent to a concentration camp.  Even though many had already been sent to one starting from 1933, the rate began to increase.  Many of these camps had a labor component as part of the confinement.  There was the idea that ‘encouragement to perform regular work’ would ‘cure homosexual men of their unnatural inclination.’[17]  Castration and re-education were other methods used in the repression of homosexual men.[18]

In total, 10,000-15,000 homosexual men were sent to concentration camps.  Once there, they were forced to wear pink triangles, which easily marked them out to both the camp staff and the other prisoners.  This was the beginning of their personal hells.

Because of their small numbers and varied backgrounds, homosexual men did not form solidarity groups among themselves like all the other prisoners were doing.  This left them without support structures whatsoever, leaving them further vulnerable to abuse and hardship.  The camps also incited groups to work against each other as a means to control such large inmate populations.  Even on an individual level, homosexual men found it difficult to deal with others because ‘other prisoners suspected them of harboring sexual motives if they offered assistance.’[19]  They also thought that ‘the pink triangles were somehow biologically programmed to seek nothing but sexual satisfaction.’[20]

A small number of young homosexual prisoners managed to get extra food rations and lighter work details in exchange for sexual favors for the few homosexual SS staff and Kapos (prisoners who worked for the camp administration to help control the inmate population to get better conditions for themselves).  They became known as ‘dolly boys.’[21]  Naturally, this angered the other prisoners leading to further ostracism.  In addition to this, homosexual prisoners often had no contact with family and friends because those on the outside were often ashamed of the prisoners.  The fear of being considered guilty by association also drove people away from keeping in contact with homosexual men in the camps, thus further isolating them from human society.

Overall, life in the camps for homosexual men was extremely brutal.  One eyewitness at Buchenwald reported, ‘The fate of homosexuals in the concentration camps can only be described as ghastly.  They were often segregated in special barracks and work details.  Such segregation offered ample opportunity to unscrupulous elements in positions of power to engage in extortion and maltreatment.’[22]  Many were worked to death in particularly difficult work assignments in stone quarries and cement works.[23]  A study of the situation at Dachau showed that ‘the prisoners with the pink triangles never lived long.  They were exterminated by the SS quickly and systematically.’[24]

What was the chance of a homosexual man surviving his time in a concentration camp?  According to one study, 80% died within the first year of incarceration.  However, 75% of those who spent 2+ years in the camps somehow managed to survive.[25]

Lesbians

In total contrast to what was happening to homosexual men, lesbian women faced a large degree of indifference that saved them from most of the horrors their male counterparts were suffering.  There were four reasons for this.  The first involved the reproductive process.  Homosexual men largely removed themselves from having families, while lesbians did not do this to the same degree.  Two, lesbianism seemed less widespread in relation to male homosexuality.  Three, lesbian activity was much more difficult for the authorities to detect.  Four, women played a much smaller role in public life; thus, they were more invisible in society overall.[26]

Even though there had been calls for the criminalization of lesbianism throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the Nazis were not interested.  That is because ‘with the destruction of the women’s movement, forcing it into conformity, and the subordination of Nazi women’s organizations to male leadership, the Nazis saw less need to criminalize lesbians.’[27]

However, the Nazis made strong efforts to destroy any form of organized collective lesbian groups and larger identity.  Lesbian meeting places, such as bars, and lesbian magazines were closed down.  This had the intended effect of forcing the ‘dispersal of lesbian women and their withdrawal into private circles of friends.’[28]

How lesbians reacted to life under the Nazis varied.  Many married to avoid suspicion and to avoid losing their jobs.  Others adapted their appearance and wardrobes to fit the feminine image of the time so they would not stand out.  The general idea was ‘to try not to attract attention and to remain as inconspicuous as possible.’[29]

Unfortunately, the measures lesbians took to avoid trouble did not always work out.  Arrests were made, but the majority of them were for reasons other than their sexuality.  For example, some were Jews, others communists, still others more took part in anti-regime activities.  This means that the majority of those that were in prison, or more rarely, in concentration camps, cannot truly be counted as victims of the regime for their sexual orientation.

How many people were affected by the Nazi regime’s war against homosexuality?  Approximately 100,000 men were arrested under Paragraph 175.  53,400 of them were convicted and faced some form of punishment.  Between 5000 and 15,000 were sent to concentration camps, where the majority of them died under horrific conditions.[30]  Very few lesbians faced what the men did and when it did happen, it was almost always for a reason other than their sexuality.

It is interesting to see what happened to Paragraph 175 after the war.  In 1950, East Germany decided to use the narrower 1871 version of the law, keeping 175a but dropping 175b.  It totally stopped enforcing Paragraph 175 altogether in 1957, abolishing it in 1968.[31]  West Germany kept the Nazi-era version of the law unchanged and vigorously enforced it, arresting 100,000 men up to 1969 and convicting 59,000 of them under the law.  It started to reduce enforcement of Paragraph 175 in 1969 and finally abolished it in 1994 when the two Germany’s united into the Federal Republic of Germany.[32]

Sources

Pine, Lisa. Hitler’s ‘National Community:’ Society and Culture in Nazi Germany. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.

The following website has five articles.  The endnotes are written as HE followed by which article number was used.

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/series/gay-men-and-lesbians-under-the-nazi-regime

1: What Groups of People did the Nazis Target?

2: Paragraph 175

3: Gay Men

4: Lesbians

5: Magnus Hirschfeld

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[1] NC p.187

[2] Ibid.

[3] HE 5

[4] NC p.188

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] HE 3

[8] NC p.188

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid., pp.188-189

[11] Ibid., p.189

[12] Ibid., p.189

[13] Ibid., p.189

[14] Ibid.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid., p.190

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.

[22] Ibid., p.191

[23] Ibid.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Ibid., pp.190-191

[26] Ibid., p.191

[27] Ibid., p.192

[28] Ibid.

[29] Ibid.

[30] HE 2

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.