DOCSLIB.ORG

GEOGRAPGIES of OPPRESSION a Thesis Submitted to Kent St

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
GEOGRAPGIES of OPPRESSION a Thesis Submitted to Kent St FROM CAMPS TO CLOSETS: GEOGRAPGIES OF OPPRESSION A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By Samuel Henkin August, 2014 Thesis written by Samuel D. Henkin B.A., Miami Univeristy, 2011 M.A., Kent State University, 2014 Approved by ______________________________, Advisor James A. Tyner, Ph.D. ______________________________, Acting Chair, Department of Geography Scott Sheridan, Ph.D. ______________________________, Interim Dean, College of Arts and Sciences James Blank, Ph.D. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures ………………………………………………………………………………………………………v Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………………………………vi Chapters I. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………….……….1 Challenging Social Norms ……………………………………………………………….2 Geographies of Sexuality, Violence and Oppression …………………………6 A Call for ‘Liberation’ ……………………………………………………………………12 Intention of Research ………………………………………………………………...…14 II. (Queer) Positionality, Reflexivity and Bearing Witness …..……………………18 “We’re Here! We’re Queer!...Maybe? ………………………………………...……20 Positionality ……………………………………………………………………………...…21 (Self)(Queer) Reflexivity ………………………………………………………………28 Bearing Witness……………………………………………………………………………35 My Positionality …………………………………………………………………….……42 III. Discourse, Narratives and Memoirs ……………………………..………………….….44 Discourse ………………………….…………………………………………………………45 Narratives and Memoirs ………….……………………………………………………50 Summary …………………………………………..…………………………………………56 IV. Historical Context …………………..……………………………………………………….…58 The German Racial State …………………………………………………………….…60 The German Heteronormative State ………..…………………………………….73 Summary …………………………………………..…………………………………………84 V. Every Day Life and Death …………………………………………………………………...86 Geographies of oppression and the Holocaust ……………………………….87 The Concentration Camp …………………………………………………………..….90 Camp as a Microcosm of the Heteronormative ………………………………97 iii The Transformation of Life into Death: Pierre Seel ………………..……….99 Confronting Death: Heinz Heger ………………………………………..…….….106 Summary ……………………………………………………………………………..…….114 VI. Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………..…..…116 Woks Cited ……………………………………………………………………………….………………..122 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Memorial to victims of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)…………………………………….....35 Figure 2. Entrance Gate to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)………………………………………...41 Figure 3. Remnants of Crematorium (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)…………………………………………41 Figure 4. Inside Barrack 39 (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)…………………………………………41 Figure 5. Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp “Roll Call” field (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)……………………………………….41 Figure 6. Entrance house at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)………………………………………115 Figure 7. Remains of “Execution Cite Z” and Crematorium (Photo by Samuel Henkin, 2009)………………………………………115 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without the incredible mentorship of Dr. James A. Tyner I would not be the scholar I am today and this thesis would not exist. Your encouragement and invaluable feedback are more appreciated then could ever be expressed in words. I look forward to many more years of collaboration, long-winded discussions and the occasional venting session. I would also like to acknowledge the support from my committee members Dr. Scott Sheridan and Dr. Chris Post, whose guidance in and out of the classroom has been nothing short of incredible support. I also want to extend my gratitude to those faculty, staff and fellow students who make Kent State Geography so great. My acknowledgment page would not be complete without expressing my unwavering and unconditional love for my family who encourage me to chase my dreams and fulfill my life ambitions. Most importantly their support of my life choices ensures that the closet doesn’t envelop me once more. I fight for equality, hope and optimism for them. vi 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction “May they never be forgotten, these multitude of dead, our anonymous, immortal martyrs” (Heger, 1980, 118). The timing of the research conducted here is not by coincidence or chance but rather the result of a concerted effort in which to affirm my commitment to radical social revolution. The subsequent presentation of research will without a doubt be disruptive and subversive resisting a multiplicity of dominant forms of normativities. Embedded within the theories, conceptions, understandings and methods posited in this research is a manifesto of sorts that admittedly transcends all demands for social change; serving as a life-affirming message against the various forms of inequality, oppression, and violence faced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans-Identified, and Queer (LGBTQ)1 individuals. In anticipating sentiments of selflessness in the purposes supporting this research, I must admit some selfishness. The timing of this research also happens to coincide with my eagerness and paradoxically my trepidation to understand my complex life experiences, of being a 1 LGBT or LGBTQ is a regularly used essentialized classification system that represents gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-identified (transgendered), and queer (Q also denotes questioning) individuals of various sexual orientations and gender identities. LGBTQ can have a normalizing effect that obscures the differences between gender, identity and sexuality. Although I use LGBTQ throughout this proposal I recognize its limitations and the fixity it maintains. 1 2 gay man. The very concepts, identities and relations I seek to deconstruct and understand are intrinsically embodied and simultaneously shape my life. The challenge to remain cognizant and open to share my lived experiences as a gay man throughout this research has been overwhelming, eye opening, and at times heart wrenching. By engaging my own ontological and epistemological complexities I am choosing to bear witness to my story and the stories of those individuals who have imparted knowledge in my life, like the men and women, whose memoirs serve as the foundation of this research and call for radical social revolution. Challenging Social Norms Around the world ‘LGBTQ Rights’ are proliferating under the rainbowed flag of equality, social justice and human rights empowering individuals and facilitating unrealized sexualities, sexualized desires, behaviors, relations and spaces that were only previously imagined. As this research was being conducted 2013 was being hailed the “the gayest year in gay history”, the “banner year” and landmark year” for LGBTQ rights worldwide. In the United States and elsewhere, marriage equality has become a discernable social force driven by transforming societal ‘norms’. Tens of thousands celebrated in the capitals of and across New Zealand, Uruguay, Brazil, England/Wales and France as same-sex marriage became federally legal and recognized. 17 U.S. states legalized same-sex marriage in 2013 with seemingly more to follow along this course. Millions of individuals displayed support for the U.S. 3 Supreme Court’s ruling that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional by using social media outlets, like Facebook, to post the red equality symbol representing marriage equality. Without a doubt these “landmark” decisions have afforded some with an opportunity to engage their sexuality on new levels and for many LGBTQ individuals these pronouncements have offered an aura of hope; a feeling of liberation. I cannot deny the immense gratification ascertained after being a part of and witnessing these historic moments in LGBTQ history: “It is the moments in which we help each other to see that we live for. What did I see? I saw something different, possibly another way of being. A life that resisted the external attitudes and behaviors mimicked in the world around me and embraced my intimate internalizations. And what did they see? The way I lived my life, a life I had not chosen, forcing them to recognize my suffering, a greater suffering shared by so many” 2(Henkin). Nevertheless, these celebrations of transforming social norms coincide with oppression, persecution and violence experienced by LGBTQ individuals worldwide. I do not wish to diminish the meaning of these celebrations surrounding the proliferation of marriage equality but we must envision a movement of social radical change where LGBTQ rights move beyond marriage. Marriage as a highly regulated and disciplined social institution cannot protect the LGBTQ spectrum3 against violence. As Spade states, “Even though norms are incorporated into various 2 Throughout this research document I am engaging my positionality as a gay man by including personal experiences, excerpts from my journal, and my own coming out letter. 3 I will be using the term “spectrum” instead of the commonly used term “community” because “community” is representative of a highly controlled social institution that is constructed in terms of inclusivity and exclusivity. 4 spaces and institutions inconsistently and applied arbitrarily, they still achieve the overall purpose of producing security for some populations and vulnerability for others” (2011, 24). Violence, persecution and oppression of LGBTQ individuals in space will continue regardless of their marital status. Thus, it is essential to engage in research that examines the legacies of oppression and violence to better understand the lived experiences of the LGBTQ spectrum so that stronger social movements can arise that protects all LGBTQ lives. Everyday
Load more

Recommended publications
  • LGBT Lesson Plans
    Dealing with Homophobia and Homophobic Bullying in Scottish Schools Toolkit Resource for Teachers Lesson Plans Inclusive education is concerned with the quest for equity, social justice and participation. It is about the removal of all forms of barriers of discrimination and oppression and it is about the well- being of all learners. (Professor Len Barton, Institute of Education, University of London) School helps you understand and stop racism, sexism etc. so why not homophobia? (Female, 14 years) Dealing with Homophobia and Homophobic Bullying 1 Lesson plans: summary table Please get posters and info in my school and make it better for me and other people. All schools should talk about different relationships so that it’s better and we don’t get bullied. (Female, 12 years) LGBT issues were not included in PSE at my school even although the teachers knew that there were LGBT young people at my school. (Male, 17 years) The purpose of these lesson plans is to provide suggestions and examples that teachers might draw on to address homophobia and homophobic bullying in the context of the values, purposes and principles of Curriculum for Excellence. These plans could meet aspects of a range of curriculum areas, including a number of experiences and outcomes grouped under the Health and Wellbeing. They are also part of a wider resource looking at whole school ethos, policies and approaches to preventing and dealing with homophobic incidents and a number of other toolkits addressing discrimination and equality issues. These lesson plans are not intended to be prescriptive but to support teachers to challenge and deal with the issue of homophobia confidently and sensitively and contribute to the development of the four capacities in young people.
    [Show full text]
  • Paris by Brett Farmer Openly Gay Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë in Front Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, Glbtq, Inc
    Paris by Brett Farmer Openly gay Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë in front Encyclopedia Copyright © 2015, glbtq, Inc. of the Louvre Museum in Entry Copyright © 2004, glbtq, inc. 2006. Photograph by Reprinted from http://www.glbtq.com Wikimedia Commons contributor Jastrow. One of the world's most iconic cities and an influential hub of Western culture, Paris is Image appears under the also a major international glbtq center. Its popular Anglophone nickname, "gay Paree," Creative Commons was coined originally in response to the city's fabled notoriety for hedonism and Attribution ShareAlike License. frivolity, but it could as easily refer to its equal reputation for other kinds of "gayness." Early History As France's capital and most populous city, Paris has long been a natural draw for those seeking to escape the traditional conservatism of provincial France. Michael D. Sibalis notes that Paris's reputation as a focus for queer life in France dates back as far as the Middle Ages, citing as evidence among other things a twelfth-century poet's description of the city as reveling in "the vice of Sodom." Medieval Paris was not exactly a queer paradise, however. Throughout the Middle Ages numerous poor Parisians were regularly convicted and, in some instances, executed for engaging in sodomy and other same-sex activities. Things improved somewhat by the early modern period. While their exact correspondence to contemporary categories of glbtq sexuality is open to debate, well-developed sodomitical subcultures had emerged in Paris by the eighteenth century. Some historians, such as Maurice Lever, claim these subcultures formed a "homosexual world .
    [Show full text]
  • Jean Cocteau's the Typewriter
    1 A Queer Premiere: Jean Cocteau’s The Typewriter Introduction Late in April 1941, toward the close of the first Parisian theatre season fol- lowing the Defeat, Jean Cocteau’s La Machine à écrire (The Typewriter) opened, then closed, then reopened at the Théâtre Hébertot. Written in the style of a detective drama, the play starred the actor generally known—at least in the entertainment world at the time—as Cocteau’s sometime lover and perpetual companion, Jean Marais, as identical twin brothers. The re- views are curiously reticent about what exactly occurred at the Hébertot, and historians and critics offer sometimes contradictory pieces of a puzzle that, even when carefully put together, forms an incomplete picture. The fragments are, however, intriguing. Merrill Rosenberg describes how, on the evening of April 29, 1941, the dress rehearsal (répétition génerale), sponsored “as a gala” by the daily Paris-Soir and attended by various “dig- nitaries,” caused in the Hébertot’s auditorium a demonstration by members of the Parti Populaire Français (PPF). This disruption prompted Vichy’s ambas- sador to Paris, Fernand de Brinon, to order the withdrawal of the production (“Vichy’s Theatrical Venture” 136). Francis Steegmuller describes the disor- der that greeted the Typewriter premiere and the revival of Les Parents Terribles (at the Gymnase later that year): “stink bombs exploded in the theatres, and hoodlums filled the aisles and climbed onto the stage, shouting obscenities at Cocteau and Marais as a couple” (442).1 Patrick Marsh too notes that these plays “were seriously disrupted by violent scenes fomented by fascist sym- pathizers and members of the Parti Populaire Français” (“Le Théâtre 1 2 THE DRAMA OF FALLEN FRANCE Français .
    [Show full text]
  • THE PERSECUTION of HOMOSEXUALS in NAZI GERMANY Kaleb Cahoon HIST 495: Senior Seminar May 1, 2017
    THE PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS IN NAZI GERMANY Kaleb Cahoon HIST 495: Senior Seminar May 1, 2017 1 On May 6, 1933, a group of students from the College of Physical Education in Berlin arrived early in the morning to raid the office headquarters of the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin. According to a contemporary anonymous report, the invading students “took up a military-style position in front of the house and then forced their way inside, with musical accompaniment… [and then] they smashed down the doors.”1 Once inside, the same group commenced to ransack the place: they “emptied inkwells, pouring ink onto various papers and carpets, and then set about the private bookcases” and then “took with them what struck them as suspicious, keeping mainly to the so-called black list.”2 Later that day, after the students had left “large piles of ruined pictures and broken glass” in their wake, a contingent of Storm Troopers arrived to complete the operation by confiscating nearly ten thousand books that they subsequently burned three days later.3 This raid was part of an overall campaign to purge “books with an un-German spirit from Berlin libraries,” undertaken early in the regime of the Third Reich. Their target, the Institute for Sexual Research founded by the pioneering German sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, was one of the premier centers of progressive thought concerning human sexuality – most notably homosexuality – in the world.4 This episode raises a number of questions, including why Nazi leaders deemed this organization to possess “an un-German spirit” that thus warranted a thorough purge so early in the regime.5 The fact that Hirschfeld, like many other leading sexologists in Germany, was Jewish and that many Nazis thus regarded the burgeoning field of “Sexualwissenschaft, or the science of sex,” as “Jewish science” likely 1 “How Magnus Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science Was Demolished and Destroyed,” (1933) in The Third Reich Sourcebook, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • Michel Foucault, Jean Le Bitoux, and the Gay Science Lost and Found: an Introduction Author(S): David M
    Michel Foucault, Jean Le Bitoux, and the Gay Science Lost and Found: An Introduction Author(s): David M. Halperin Reviewed work(s): Source: Critical Inquiry, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Spring 2011), pp. 371-380 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/659349 . Accessed: 13/01/2012 13:59 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Critical Inquiry. http://www.jstor.org Michel Foucault, Jean Le Bitoux, and the Gay Science Lost and Found: An Introduction David M. Halperin About fifteen years ago I arranged to meet Jean Le Bitoux in Paris. My intent was to secure the translation rights to his legendary interview with Michel Foucault, “Le Gai Savoir” (“the gay science”). The interview had been conducted on 10 July 1978. Jean Le Bitoux was already by that date a gay activist of some renown. Born in Bordeaux in 1948, he eventually moved to Nice where in 1970 he founded the local branch of the FHAR (Front Homosexuel d’Action Re´volutionnaire or “Homosexual Front of Revolutionary Action”), a radical group that incarnated a 1960s style of Gay Liberation.
    [Show full text]
  • A Bill for Same-Sex Binational Couples, 4 Nw
    Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy Volume 4 | Issue 1 Article 9 2009 Some Suggestions for the UAFA: A Bill for Same- Sex Binational Couples Timothy R. Carraher Recommended Citation Timothy R. Carraher, Some Suggestions for the UAFA: A Bill for Same-Sex Binational Couples, 4 Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y. 150 (2009). http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol4/iss1/9 This Note or Comment is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. Copyright 2009 by Northwestern University School of Law Volume 4 (Winter 2009) Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy Some Suggestions for the UAFA: A Bill for Same-Sex Binational Couples Timothy R. Carraher∗ I. INTRODUCTION ¶1 There are over 36,000 same-sex binational couples living in the United States today.1 Because the courts have ruled that, within the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),2 the term “spouse” does not include individuals in same-sex unions—even those who have been legally married in jurisdictions that recognize same-sex marriage—gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) U.S. citizens are prohibited from sponsoring their same-sex partners for permanent residence in the United States.3 ¶2 In 2000, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced the Permanent Partners Immigration Act (PPIA) to address the issue of binational sponsorship.4 The PPIA would have amended the INA to give same-sex couples an avenue to sponsor their partners in the United States, adding “permanent partner” after references to “spouse,” and “permanent partnership” after references to “marriage.”5 The bill provided a comprehensive definition of “permanent partnership” that included same-sex couples.6 The PPIA never left committee.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holocaust and Genocide in Art & Film
    32nd Annual Conference on the THE HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE IN ART & FILM April 18–20, 2012 millersville.edu/holocon 32nd Annual Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide & Holocaust Remembrance Week* Millersville University of Pennsylvania April 17–20, 2012 THE HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE IN ART & FILM Director Victoria Khiterer (Millersville University) Advisory Board Lawrence Baron (San Diego State University) David Engel (New York University) Zev Garber (Los Angeles Valley College) Antony Polonsky (Brandeis University) Michael Rubino! (Arizona State University) Committee Members Onek Adyanga (Millersville University) Robert Bookmiller (Millersville University) Dennis Downey (Millersville University) Jack Fischel (Millersville University) Tanya Kevorkian (Millersville University) Administrative Assistants Margaret Eichler (Millersville University) Ryan Barrick (Millersville University) Graduate Assistant Terri Monserrat (Millersville University) CONFERENCE PATRONS Mr. William W. Adams Lancaster Jewish Community Center Mr. William F. Bash Mr. P. Alan Loss Congregation Shaarai Shomayim Dr. and Mrs. Robert A. Matlin Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gleiberman Dr. and Mrs. Bruce H. Pokorney Dr. and Mrs. Clark R. Kaufman Robert and Stephanie Zuckerman Dr. Reynold S. Koppel Steven and Victoria Zuckerman The 32nd Annual Conference is pleased to acknowledge the support of the O"ces of the President and Provost and the University Honors College Special thanks to the Millersville University Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, Honors College Student Association and Hillel Organization. *Thursday, April 19, 2012 is Holocaust Remembrance Day 1 Tuesday, April 17, 2012 7:30 – 9 p.m. WARSAW A Drama in Two Acts by William W. Adams Presented as an “Enhanced Reading” In 1943, a German family in Warsaw, Poland confronts the horror of the Holocaust and faces life-and-death decisions of its own.
    [Show full text]
  • Pink Propositions
    Pink Propositions The Experience of Gay Men in Third Reich Concentration Camps Broc Gantt !1 Broc Gantt HIST:407 Dr. Phillips April 17, 2019 Introduction Hoards of scholarship exists on the Nazi regime and their sadistic concentration and extermination camps, but nevertheless one group seemed to fall through the cracks and go largely unnoticed by academia in the years since the camps were liberated. The men with the pink triangle have been repeatedly looked over and seen by many, it seems, as a group whose history of oppression under this tyrannical regime was something to be whisked aside rather than confronted head on. This practice would be deeply unfair to any group marginalized by such an evil regime, but it is even more unfair that history has focused so little on the experiences of the men who bore pink triangles, given that these men were often treated with a special brand of disgust and contempt by the Nazis. The men who were forced to wear pink triangles were, of course, those identified by the Nazis as “homosexuals”.1 In a system devised by the regime to categorize prisoners based on their alleged offenses, the homosexuals occupied one of the lowest rungs of the ladder; they were beneath violent criminals, political adversaries to the regime, immigrants, “Gypsies”, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and “asocials”.2 Based on 1 Heinz Heger, The men with the pink triangle: the true life-and-death story of homosexuals in the Nazi death camps (Los Angeles: Alyson Books, 1980), 31. 2 Heger, The men with the pink triangle, 31.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Liberation Was Only for Others'
    70 Years After the Liberation 53 ‘Liberation Was Only For Others’: Breaking the Silence in Germany Surrounding the Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals W. JAKE NEWSOME, State University of New York at Buffalo n the spring of 1939, 22-year old Heinz Heger answered a summons by the local Gestapo in his hometown of Vienna. He was alarmed but could not recall breaking any law or Ipersonally offending any of the Nazi officials that seemed to be everywhere after Germany’s annexation of Austria one year earlier. An hour later, Heger stood before the desk of a Nazi bureaucrat, waiting to hear why he had been called to report. Finally, after an eternity of silence, the SS doctor looked up and spoke: ‘You are a queer, a homosexual, do you admit it?’ Without waiting for a reply, the official slammed shut a file on his desk and shipped Heger off to prison. As it turns out, Heger had indeed broken a law, Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code, which strictly prohibited all homosexual activity between men. After he had served his six month sentence, Heger was immediately transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he stayed until his transfer to the Flossenbürg concentration camp a year later.1 Through it all, Heger managed to keepCOPY a journal, and for the entry dated 23 April 1945, there are only two words: ‘Amerikaner gekommen’ (Americans came).2 After liberation, Heger made his way back to his home in Vienna, where he died in 1994 at the age of 77. Klaus Born, a young man from northwestern Germany, also found himself in trouble with the authorities.
    [Show full text]
  • The Persecution of Homosexual Foreign Men in Nazi
    The Foreign Men of §175: The Persecution of Homosexual Foreign Men in Nazi Germany, 1937-1945 A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Andrea K. Howard April 2016 © Andrea K. Howard. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled The Foreign Men of §175: The Persecution of Homosexual Foreign Men in Nazi Germany, 1937-1945 by ANDREA K. HOWARD has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Mirna Zakic Assistant Professor of History Robert A. Frank Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT HOWARD, ANDREA K., M.A., April 2016, History The Foreign Men of §175: The Persecution of Homosexual Foreign Men in Nazi Germany, 1937-1945 Director of Thesis: Mirna Zakic This thesis examines foreign men accused of homosexuality in Nazi Germany. Most scholarship has focused solely on German men accused of homosexuality. Court records from the General State Prosecutor’s Office of the State Court of Berlin records show that foreign homosexual men were given lighter sentences than German men, especially given the context of the law and the punishments foreigners received for other crimes. This discrepancy is likely due to Nazi confusion about homosexuality, the foreign contribution to the German war effort, issues of gender, and because these men were not a part of any German government, military, or all-male organizations. 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to sincerely thank those who were most helpful to me as I researched, wrote, and edited this project.
    [Show full text]
  • Pink and Black Triangles Using the Personal Stories of Survivors
    Ota-Wang,1 Nick J. Ota-Wang The 175ers. Pink & Blank Triangles of Nazi Germany University of Colorado Colorado Springs Dr. Robert Sackett This is an unpublished paper. Please request permission by author before distributing. 1 Ota-Wang,2 Introduction The Pink, and Black Triangles. Today, most individuals and historians would not have any connection with these two symbols. Who wore what symbol? The Pink Triangle was worn by homosexual men. The Black Triangles was worn by homosexual women. For many in Nazi Germany during World War II these symbols had a deep, personal, and life changing meaning. The Pink Triangles and the Black Triangles were the symbols used by the Nazis to “label” homosexual (same sex loving) men and women who were imprisoned in the concentration camps123. For the purposes of examining this history, the binary of male and female will be used, as this is the historically accurate representation of the genders persecuted and imprisoned in the concentration camps and in general by the Nazis during World War II, and persisted in post- World War II Germany. No historical document or decision has been discovered by any historian on why the Nazis chose certain colors of triangles to “label” certain populations. In an email correspondence with the Office of the Senior Historian at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, some insight into why triangles were chosen can be addressed through the Haftgrund or reason for their arrest. 4 The Triangle was chosen because of the similarity to the danger signs in Germany.5 The Nazi party and many Germans did see Homosexuals as a danger to society and the future of Germany.
    [Show full text]
  • The Other Side of the Pink Triangle: Still a Pink Triangle Christine L
    The Other Side of the Pink Triangle: Still a Pink Triangle Christine L. Mueller October 24, 1994 In the SS, today, we still have about one case of homosexuality a month. In a whole year, about eight to ten cases occur in the entire SS. I have now decided upon the following: In each case, these people will naturally be publicly degraded, expelled, and handed over to the courts. Following completion of the punishment imposed by the courts, they will be sent, by my order, to a concentration camp, and they will be shot in the concentration camp, while attempting to escape. -Heinrich Himmler, 18 February 1937 (1) Thus Heinrich Himmler, the man most likely to succeed Adolf Hitler as Fuehrer in 1945, once again escalated the war on sexual behavior that did not conform to male heterosexual supremacy, an ideal he linked to winning the world race war of survival. "A people of good race which has many children has the candidature for world power and world domination. A people of good race which has too few children has a one-way ticket to the grave . ." he admonished the SS in one of his four-hour lectures. (2) Two years earlier, on the anniversary of his successful ambush and murder of Ernst Roehm, SA chief and Himmler's former, deeply hated commanding officer, Himmler had secured Hitler's approval of a revision of the law, unchanged since the founding of a united Germany in l871, that set prison terms for homosexual acts. Paragraph l75a, as it was called until it was repealed in 1968/69 (3), now additionally criminalized eight new acts, attitudes, intentions, and reveries, apart from sex itself, and punished them with draconian sentences of three to ten years' incarceration.
    [Show full text]