The Nazis persecuted homosexuals as part of a broader effort to eliminate social groups they deemed weak, undesirable, or dangerous to Germany. Heinrich Himmler directed the persecution, which began with raids on gay bars and clubs in 1933. In 1935, Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code was expanded to criminalize more homosexual behaviors. From 1937-1939, police conducted raids to arrest suspected homosexuals and created networks of informers. Between 5,000-15,000 homosexuals were interned in concentration camps, where they faced abuse, medical experiments, and castration in an attempt to "cure" their sexual orientation. The exact number of homosexual victims in the camps is unknown.
2. THE SILENT HOLOCAUST
Tolerance towards homosexuals in the
Weimar Republic was regarded by many as
a symptom of Germany’s decadence.
The Nazis appointed themselves as moral
“crusaders” who were to stamp out such
“vice” and thus win the “racial battle”.
Persecution ranged from the dissolution of
homosexual organisations to internment in
concentration camps.
3. THE NAZI “REASONS”
The Nazis believed that homosexuals were
weak and effeminate men who could not
fight for the German nation. They would
not produce offspring and therefore they
would not contribute to increase the birth
rate in Germany.
The Nazis claimed that inferior races
produced more children than the
“Aryans”, so anything undermining
Germany’s reproductive potential was
considered a racial danger.
4. STAGES OF A PERSECUTION
SS chief Heinrich Himmler directed the
persecution of homosexuals in the Third
Reich.
On the 6th of May 1933, students led by
the SA (Sturmabteilung) broke into the
Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin and
confiscated its exceptional library.
Four days later, most of its collection of
more than 12,000 books and 35,000
irreplaceable pictures was burnt in Berlin’s
city centre, along with thousands of other
“degenerate” literature works.
5. STAGES OF A PERSECUTION
The destruction of the Institute was the
first step towards eradication of an openly
gay or lesbian culture.
The police closed bars and clubs such as
the “Eldorado” and banned publications
such as “Die Freundschaft” (The
Friendship).
They forced homosexuals to go
underground, destroying their networks
of support.
In 1934, the “Gestapo” ordered the local
police to draw up “pink lists”, used by the
Nazis to chase down homosexuals.
6. On the 28th of June 1935, the Ministry of
Justice revised Paragraph 175 of the
Criminal Code. The revision provided a
legal basis for intensifying the persecution
of homosexuals. The Ministry officials
expanded the category of “criminally
indecent activities between men” by
including any act that could be interpreted
as homosexual. The courts decided that
even intent or thought was sufficient.
STAGES OF A PERSECUTION
7. STAGES OF A PERSECUTION
On the 26th of October 1936, Himmler
formed, within the Security Police, the
Reich Central Office for Combating
Abortion and Homosexuality. Josef
Meisinger, executed in 1947 on account
of his brutality in occupied Poland, was
the head of this new office. The police had
the power to hold in protective custody
those regarded as dangerous to
Germany’s moral fibre. Once liberated,
they could be arrested again and sent to
concentration camps.
8. From 1937 to 1939, the police conducted raids
at their gathering places, confiscated address
books, and created networks of informers and
undercover agents with the purpose of
identifying and arresting suspected
homosexuals.
On the 4th of April 1938, the “Gestapo”
announced a directive indicating that men
convicted for homosexuality could be
imprisoned in concentration camps.
Between 1933 and 1945, the police arrested
about 100,000 men as homosexuals. Most of
the 50,000 convicted by the courts spent time
in regular prisons, and between 5,000 and
15,000 were interned in concentration camps.
STAGES OF A PERSECUTION
9. THE HOMOSEXUAL IN THE CAMPS
Believing that homosexuality was a
disease that could be cured, the Nazis
designed policies to “cure” homosexuals
of their “disease” through humiliation and
hard work. The guards taunted and beat
homosexual prisoners upon arrival, many
times separating them from other
prisoners.
Castration was also used as a way of
curing the “disease”.
10. “There are no known statistics as for
the number of homosexuals who died
in the camps”
