User:Dennis van Vreden/annotationParagraph1752

Paragraph 175

Documentary by historian Klaus Müller

“An unnatural sex act commited between persons of the male sex or by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed.” Paragraph 175, German Penal Code, 1871

East Germany’s version of Paragraph 175 remained in effect until 1968. 
West Germany retained the Nazi law until 1969.

The documentary's main goal is to inform you about the genocide of the gay communities in Europe, with a special focus on Berlin.

It tells us that Berlin was having a Golden Age for homosexuality and freedom in general. Especially since scientist Magnus Herschfeld did a lot of research on sexuality and got very close to repelling the law, until the National-Socialist Party took over and completely destroyed his entire library.

Klaus interviews 7, mostly German, survivors (out of 9 that are known) and gets very intimate with them while they share the thriving Golden years before the war, and step by step showing the change and shifts in their environment. Gad Beck, who is both homosexual and Jewish, explains that within four months his entire classroom had withdrawn from him, all wearing Hitler Jugend Uniforms.

An important part in the documentary that tells why the gay community wasn't afraid in the beginning is because one of Hitler's generals, Ernst Röhm, was well known to be homosexual and Hitler never had anything against homosexuality at first. It wasn't until the Nazi Party was making fun of Hitler being favorable with homosexuals that he found a way to execute Röhm together with 300 suspected enemies of the Reich. Blaming Röhm's homosexuality and adding homosexuals to their list. Soon Gestapo offices would have special departments for the persecution of homosexuals.

The documentary is a continuation of the survivors both sharing their same sex relations during the war as well as explicitly sharing their experiences in the camps where, Pierre Seel explains, homosexuals were at the bottom of the hierarchy and being excessively tortured and experimented with (homosexuals weren't originally meant to be executed by the Nazi's, they were doing slave labour, being tested, experimented with and castrated).

And even though lesbians were spared (they were seen as vessels of reproduction) their social world was completely destroyed. Some lesbians went into exile and some married homosexual men.

After the war, all those persecuted by the Nazis under Paragraph 175 were classified as criminals. At century’s end, not one has received legal recognition as a victim of the Nazi regime.