Prior to the Third Reich, Berlin was considered a liberal city, with many gay bars, nightclubs and cabarets. There were even many drag bars where tourists straight and gay would enjoy female impersonation acts. There had also been a fairly significant gay rights movement under Magnus Hirschfeld around the turn of the century. The advancements of the gay community were soon erased, however, with the coming to power of the Nazi Party. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms that refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially but not exclusively in the American sense of the word... A gay bar is a drinking establishment which caters primarily to gays or lesbians. ... For a solid object moving through a fluid or gas, drag is the sum of all the aerodynamic or hydrodynamic forces in the direction of the external fluid flow. ... Heterosexuality refers to a set of genetic, chemical and behavioral conditions which lead to an overall attraction to members of the opposite sex in an erotic manner. ... Drag queens Luc DArcy and Jerry Cyr and friend at Montreals 2003 Divers/Cité pride parade Drag queens are performers - usually gay men, sometimes transgendered women - who dress in drag, clothing associated with the female gender, usually highly exaggerated versions thereof. ... The gay rights movement is a collection of loosely aligned civil rights groups, human rights groups, support groups and political activists seeking acceptance, tolerance and equality for non-heterosexual, (homosexual, bisexual), and transgender people - despite the fact that it is typically referred to as the gay rights movement, members also... Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (Koburg, May 14, 1868 - May 14, 1935) was a prominent German physician, sexologist, and gay rights advocate. ... The Nazi swastika symbol The National Socialist German Workers Party ( German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei), better known as the NSDAP or the Nazi Party was a political party that was led to power in Germany by Adolf Hitler in 1933. ...

Nazi ideology held that homosexuality was incompatible with National Socialism because gays did not reproduce and perpetuate the master race. For the same reasons, onanism was also considered harmful to the Reich, but treated lightly. The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Since its coining, the term homosexuality has aquired multiple meanings. ... Reproduction is the creation of one thing as a copy of, product of, or replacement for a similar thing, e. ... The master race (German: Herrenrasse, Herrenvolk) is a concept in Nazi ideology, which holds that the Germanic and Nordic people represent an ideal and pure race. It derives from nineteenth century racial theory, which posited a hierarchy of races placing African Bushmen and Australian Aborigines at the bottom of the... Masturbation is the manual excitation of the sexual organs, most often to the point of orgasm. ...

Once vibrant Eldorado gay night club in Berlin after being shut down, displaying banners promoting "Hitler List 1".

Ernst Röhm, a man Hitler perceived as a potential threat, and the leader of the SA, the Nazi Party's first militia, was discreetly gay, as were some other top leaders of the SA, such as Edmund Heines. Image File history File links The banner says: Wählt Hitler Liste 1 — Vote Hitler, List 1. ... Ernst Röhm Ernst Röhm (or Roehm) (November 28, 1887, Munich; July 1, 1934, Munich-Stadelheim prison, murdered) was a German military officer and commander and co-founder of the Nazi Sturmabteilung or stormtroopers. // Early Nazi years Röhm served as a career officer with the Bavarian Army during... Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889–April 30, 1945) was the Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and Führer und Reichskanzler (Leader and chancellor) of Germany from 1934, to his death. ... The Sturmabteilung (SA, German for Storm Division and is usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers) functioned as a paramilitary organisation of the NSDAP – the German Nazi party. ...

Hitler initially protected Röhm from other elements of the Nazi Party which held his homosexuality to be a violation of the party's strong anti-gay policy. However, Hitler later changed course when he perceived Röhm to be a potential threat to his power. During the Night of the Long Knives, a purge of those who Hitler deemed threats to his power, he had Röhm murdered and used Röhm's homosexuality as a justification to subside outrage within the ranks of the SA. After solidifying his power, Hitler would include gay men among those sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust. The Night of the Long Knives (1934) (German, Nacht der langen Messer), also known as Reichsmordwoche (Imperial Week of Murder) or the Blood Purge, was a mass murder (purge) of potential political rivals in the Sturmabteilung (S.A.) paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party. ... A concentration camp is a large detention center created for political opponents, aliens, specific ethnic or religious groups, civilians of a critical war-zone, or other groups of people, often during a war. ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ...

Shortly after the purge in 1934, a special division of the Gestapo was instituted to compile lists of gay individuals. In 1936, Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the SS, created the "Reich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion." 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Gestapo was the official secret police force of Nazi Germany. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Himmler (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... For other uses of the abbreviation SS, see SS (disambiguation) The Schutzstaffel (Protective Squadron), or SS, was a large paramilitary organization that belonged to the Nazi party. ...

Himmler had initially been a supporter of Röhm, arguing that the charges of homosexuality against him were manufactured by Jews. But after the purge, Hitler elevated Himmler's status and he became very active in the suppression of homosexuality. He exclaimed, "We must exterminate these people root and branch... the homosexual must be eliminated." (Plant, 1986, p. 99).

A gay couple: victims of the Holocaust

Hitler believed that homosexuality was "degenerate behavior" which posed a threat to the capacity of the state and the "masculine character" of the nation. Gay men were denounced as "enemies of the state" and charged with "corrupting" public morality and posing a threat to the German birthrate. About one million gay men were victimized by the Nazi regime. Gays were not initially treated in the same fashion as the Jews, however; Nazi Germany thought of German gay men as part of the "Master Race" and sought to force gay men into sexual and social conformity. Gay men who would not conform and switch sexual orientation were sent to concentration camps under extermination through work campaign. Two friends in Berlin. ... Sexual orientation is the sex or gender of people who are the focus of a persons amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and spontaneous feelings, the gender(s) one is primarily oriented towards. ...

Nazi persecution of gay men was carried out primarily through harsh enforcement of anti-gay laws, under which about 100,000 were arrested. 50,000 were sentenced to prison terms, with an unknown number committed to mental hospitals. Hundreds of gay men were castrated under court order. Some persecuted under these laws would not have identified themselves as gay. Such "anti-homosexual" laws were widespread throughout the western world until the 1960s and 1970s, so many gay men did not feel safe to come forward with their stories until the 1970s when many so-called "sodomy laws" were repealed. Castration, gelding, neutering, orchiectomy or orchidectomy is any action, surgical or otherwise, by which a biological male loses use of the testes. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ... A sodomy law is a law which makes certain sexual acts into sex crimes. ...

Estimates vary wildly as to the number of gay men killed in concentration camps during the Holocaust ranging from 15,000 to 600,000. Reason for the wide variances are whether the researcher counted people who were both Jewish and gay, and reasons for arrival in death camps are non-existent in many areas. See pink triangle. The pink triangle (rosa Winkel) was a symbol used by the Nazis to identify male prisoners in concentration camps who were sent there because of their homosexuality. ...

Infamous Nazi doctor Carl Vaernet who conducted medical experiments on gay prisoners

Gay men suffered unusually cruel treatment in the concentration camps. It can be attributed to the harsh view of the SS guards toward gay men, as well as to the homophobic attitudes present in Nazi society at large. The marginalization of gay men in Germany was reflected in the camps. Many died from harsh beatings, some of them caused by other prisoners. And Nazi doctors often used gay men for scientific experiments in an attempt to locate a "gay gene" to cure any future Aryan children who were gay. museum of government entity File links The following pages link to this file: History of gays during the Holocaust Categories: Public domain images ... Homophobia, from Greek όμοιος (homos), same and φόβος (fobos), fear, literally means fear of the same. In this instance the term homo is a reference to homosexuals. ... This stylistic schematic diagram shows a gene in relation to the double helix structure of DNA and to a chromosome (right). ...

An account of a gay Holocaust survivor, Pierre Seel, details life for gay men during Nazi control. In his account he states that he participated in his local gay community in the town of Mulhouse. When the Nazis gained power over the town his name was on a list of local gay men ordered to the police station. He obeyed the directive to protect his family from any retaliation. Upon arriving at the police station he notes that he and other gay men were beaten. Some gay men who resisted the SS had their fingernails pulled out. Others were raped with broken rulers and had their bowels punctured, causing them to bleed profusely. After his arrest he was sent to the concentration camp at Schirmeck. There Seel stated that during a morning roll-call the Nazi commander announced a public execution. A man was brought out, and Seel recognized his face. It was the face of his eighteen-year-old lover from Mulhouse. Seel then claims that the Nazi guards stripped the clothes of his lover and placed a metal bucket over his head. Then the guards released trained German Shepherds on him, which mauled him to death. The notion of the gay community is complex and slightly controversial. ... The intestine is the portion of the alimentary canal extending from the stomach to the anus and, in humans and other mammals, consists of two segments, the small intestine and the large intestine. ... Country of origin Germany Classification and breed standards The German Shepherd Dog (known also as the Alsatian or Schäfer(hund)) is an intelligent breed of dog. ...

1945 drawing by a gay prisoner depicting Nazi guards torturing a gay man

Experiences such as these can account for the relatively high death rate of gay men in the camps as compared to the other "anti-social groups". A study by Ruediger Lautmann found that 60 percent of gay men in concentration camps died, as compared to 41 percent for political prisoners and 35 percent for Jehovah's Witnesses. The study also shows that survival rates for gay men were slightly higher for internees from the middle and upper classes and for married bisexual men and those with children. Museum of government entity File links The following pages link to this file: History of gays during the Holocaust Categories: Public domain images ... Museum of government entity File links The following pages link to this file: History of gays during the Holocaust Categories: Public domain images ... Bisexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by aesthetic attraction, romantic love and sexual desire for both males and females. ...

Many cities around the world have erected memorials to remember the thousands of gay men who were murdered during the Holocaust. Major memorials can be found in Berlin, Germany; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and San Francisco, United States. In 2002 the German government released an official apology to the gay community.   Berlin? (pronounced: , German ) is the capital of Germany and its largest city, with 3,426,000 inhabitants (as of January 2005); down from 4. ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,295 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 4°89E - 52°37N Website www. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The European Parliament marked the anniversary of the Holocaust in 2005 with a minute of silence and the passage of this resolution: The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

• "the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where hundreds of thousands of Jews, Roma, homosexuals, Poles and other prisoners of various nationalities were murdered, is not only a major occasion for European citizens to remember and condemn the enormous horror and tragedy of the Holocaust, but also for addressing the disturbing rise in anti-Semitism, and especially anti-Semitic incidents, in Europe, and for learning anew the wider lessons about the dangers of victimizing people on the basis of race, ethnic origin, religion, politics, or sexual orientation."

Women were not widely persecuted under Nazi anti-gay laws, as it was considered easier to persuade or force them to comply with accepted heterosexual behavior. However, lesbians were viewed as a threat to state values and were often branded "anti-social." See black triangle. The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ... Since its coining, the term homosexuality has aquired multiple meanings. ... Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... World map showing location of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... A race is a population of humans distinguished in some way from other humans. ... The concept of ethnic origin is an attempt to classify people, not according to their current ethnicity, but according to where their ancestors came from. ... The Elections and Parties Series Democracy Representative democracy History of democracy Referenda Liberal democracy Representation Voting Voting systems Ideology Elections Elections by country Elections by calender Electoral systems Politics Politics by country Political campaigns Political science Political philosophy Related topics Political parties Parties by country Parties by name Parties by... Sexual orientation is the sex or gender of people who are the focus of a persons amorous or erotic desires, fantasies, and spontaneous feelings, the gender(s) one is primarily oriented towards. ... A lesbian is a homosexual woman. ... black triangle has 3 meanings- A type of UFO-like sighting: see Black triangles. ...

See also

• Karl Gorath
• Kurt von Ruffin
• Albrecht Becker
• Friedrich-Paul von Groszheim
• Heinz Dormer
• Karl Lange
• Paul Gerhard Vogel

Karl Gorath (born 12 December 1912, Bad Zwischenahn, Germany) is a gay man who was arrested in 1938 and imprisoned for the crime of homosexuality at Neuengamme and Auschwitz. ... Kurt von Ruffin (born 1901, Munich, Germany, died 17 November 1996, Berlin, Germany) was a German actor and opera singer who was imprisoned by the Nazis for the crime of homosexuality. ... Albrecht Becker (14 November 1906-22 April 2002) was a production designer, photographer, and actor, who was imprisoned by the Nazi regime for the charge of homosexuality. ... Friedrich-Paul von Groszheim (born April 27, 1906 in Luebeck, Germany) was a German man who was imprisoned by the Nazis for the crime of homosexuality. ... Heinz Dörmer (born 1912, Berlin, Germany) was a gay man who was imprisoned by the Nazis for the crime of homosexuality. ... Karl Lange (born October 28, 1915, Hamburg, Germany) was the son of an American father and a German mother, who was imprisoned by the Nazis for the crime of homosexuality. ... Paul Gerhard Vogel is a German man who was imprisoned by the Nazis for the crime of homosexuality. ...

External Links

• Nazi Persecution of Gays 1933-1945 - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Official Site Of German Government's Memorial For Gay Victims Of The Holocaust In Berlin
• Night of the Long Knives - Murder of Ernst Röhm
• Boston Globe - Gay Holocaust Survivor Speaks
• BBC News - Berlin To Mark Nazis' Gay Victims
• The Independent - Survivors Of A Forgotten Holocaust
• History Of The Gay Men & Lesbian Experience During World War 2
• The Nazi Persecution Of Gays - Annotated Bibliography of Nonfiction Sources
• Pierre Seel - An Account Of A Gay Holocaust Survivor
• Gays & the Holocaust
• Article On Various Experiments Conducted On Gay Men In Concentration Camps