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Paragraph 175 was a German statute that criminalized sexual relations between men. The Nazis revised Paragraph 175 in 1935 to make it broader and harsher.
An official order incarcerating the accused in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp for the "offence" of homosexuality. Germany, July 1944. The Nazis posed as moral crusaders who wanted to stamp out what they labeled as the "vice" of homosexuality in order to help Germany win the racial struggle. They persecuted homosexuals as part of their so-called moral crusade to racially and culturally purify Germany.
A waiter from Düsseldorf who was arrested by the Gestapo for allegedly having sexual relations with other men. Düesseldorf, Germany, 1938. [RW 58-61940] The Nazi regime considered homosexuality a moral vice that threatened the current and future strength of the German people. They carried out a campaign against male homosexuality that included shutting down gay and lesbian meeting places and arresting men under Paragraph 175, the statute of the German criminal code that banned sexual relations between…
Interior designer from Duesseldorf who was charged with homosexuality and imprisoned for 18 months. Duesseldorf, Germany, date uncertain.
Identification pictures of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, who arrived at the Auschwitz camp on June 6, 1941. He died there a year later. Auschwitz, Poland.
Identification pictures of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, recently arrived at the Auschwitz camp. Auschwitz, Poland, between 1940 and 1945.
Identification picture of a prisoner, accused of homosexuality, who arrived at the Auschwitz camp on May 28, 1941. Auschwitz, Poland.
Identification pictures of a bartender from Duisburg who was arrested under Paragraph 175. Duisburg, Germany, August 27, 1936.
Beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime harassed and destroyed lesbian communities and networks that had developed during the Weimar Republic.
The Nazis used color-coded badges sewn onto uniforms to classify prisoners in the camp system and to easily identify the alleged reason for an individual’s incarceration.
The Nazi regime carried out a campaign against male homosexuality and persecuted gay men between 1933 and 1945.
Portrait of a gay couple. Berlin, Germany, ca. 1930. Nazi ideology identified a multitude of enemies and led to the systematic persecution and murder of many millions of people, both Jews and non-Jews. The Nazis posed as moral crusaders who wanted to stamp out the "vice" of homosexuality from Germany in order to help win the racial struggle. Once they took power in 1933, the Nazis intensified persecution of German male homosexuals.
June 28, 1935. On this date, the German government revised Paragraphs 175 and 175a, facilitating the persecution of gay men and men accused of homosexuality.
December 28, 1943. On this date, the Kohouts wrote to the commandant of Flossenbürg with a request to visit their son, a gay man who was imprisoned in the camp.
In 1919 Robert and his brother Karl founded the Nerother Bund youth group in the Cologne region. Like other German youth groups, it aimed to bring youth closer to nature through camping and hiking. Homosexual relationships sometimes developed from the intense adolescent male camaraderie, and the Nerother Bund accepted these friendships, as did a number of German youth groups at the time. 1933-39: Soon after the Nazis took power in 1933, they dissolved all independent youth groups and urged the members to…
Between 1933-1939, Nazi eugenics and racial hygiene led to policies like mass sterilization and criminalizing marriage between Jews and non-Jews.
Portrait of Robert T. Odeman, author and actor who was imprisoned in 1937 for 27 months for homosexuality. In 1942, he was deported to Sachsenhausen concentration camp where he was a prisoner for three years. Berlin, Germany, before 1937.
Learn about the Flossenbürg camp from its establishment until liberation in April 1945, including conditions, forced labor, subcamps, and death marches.
Jews were the primary targets for mass murder by the Nazis and their collaborators. Nazi policies also led to the brutalization and persecution of millions of others.
Karl was born in the north German port of Hamburg. His father was American, and his mother was German. Soon after Karl was born, his father returned to the United States and a little later, his parents were divorced. Karl left school when he was 14 and worked as a shop apprentice. 1933-39: In 1935 an informer told the police about Karl's secret meetings with a 15-year-old youth, and he was arrested under the criminal code's paragraph 175, which defined homosexuality as an "unnatural" act. Though this law…
Karl was born in the small town of Bad Zwishenahn in northern Germany. When he was 2, his family moved to the port of Bremerhaven. His father was a sailor and his mother became a nurse in a local hospital. After his father died, Karl continued to live with his mother. Karl was 20 when he began training as a deacon at his parish church. 1933-39: Karl was 26 when his jealous lover denounced him and he was arrested at his house under paragraph 175 of the criminal code, which defined homosexuality as an…
One of six children, Willem grew up in Amsterdam where his parents were theater costume designers. When Willem was 17, he fought with his parents about his homosexuality. He left home and severed contact with his family. He began writing and painting, and in the 1920s was commissioned to do a mural for the Rotterdam town hall. In 1932 he moved to the countryside near Apeldoorn. 1933-39: When he was 38, Willem met Jan Tijssen, the son of a greengrocer, and they lived together for the next seven years.…
In 1933-1934, the SS seized control of the Nazi camp system. Learn more about the persecution, forced labor, and murder that occurred under SS camp rule.
Jews were the main target of Nazi hatred. Other individuals and groups considered "undesirable" and "enemies of the state" were also persecuted.
The Nazi regime harrassed and targeted gay men and lesbians. For gay men, this harassment turned into brutal persecution. Browse these articles to learn more.
The Nazi Kripo, or Criminal Police, was the detective force of Nazi Germany. During the Nazi regime and WWII, it became a key enforcer of policies based in Nazi ideology.
Henny's parents met in Germany soon after her father emigrated from the Russian Empire. Henny was the first of the Jewish couple's three children. The family lived in Frankfurt am Main, an important center of commerce, banking, industry and the arts. 1933-39: After the Nazis came to power, they began to persecute Jews, Roma (Gypsies), men accused of homosexuality, people with disabilities, and political opponents. In 1938, as one way of identifying Jews, a Nazi ordinance decreed that "Sara" was to be…
Born Martin Hoyer, Robert took Robert T. Odeman as his stage name when he began a professional career as an actor and musician. A classical pianist, Robert gave concerts throughout Europe, but a hand injury tragically ended his concert career. 1933-39: In 1935 Robert opened a cabaret in Hamburg. One year later the Nazis shut it down, charging that it was politically subversive. Robert then moved to Berlin where he developed a close relationship with a male friend who was pressured to denounce Robert to…
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum opened in April 1993. Explore the history of the nation's memorial to the millions murdered during the Holocaust.
Survivors faced huge obstacles in rebuilding their lives after the devastation of the Holocaust years. Learn about some of the challenges they faced.
Jews were the main targets of Nazi genocide. Learn about other individuals from a broad range of backgrounds who were imprisoned in the Nazi camp system.
Explore a timeline of the history of the Flossenbürg camp in the Nazi camp system from its establishment in 1938 until liberation in 1945.
Gerhard and Margot's mother came from a Protestant family. She met her future husband when she went to work in the telephone exchange at his company. She converted to Judaism in 1920. The couple married in 1920, and in 1923 had their twins Gerhard and Margot. Both Gerhard and Margot would become active in Jewish youth movements, and took on Hebrew names (Gad and Miriam). On February 17, 1943, Gad was ordered to report to the temporary internment camp established at a former Jewish community building on…
As a young boy growing up in Berlin, Harry developed a love for the theater. At 15 he began acting in minor roles at a theater at the Nollendorfplatz. He was also apprenticed to a hairdresser but disliked the work. He spent most of his time with other actors, both at the theater and in nightclubs where gay men gathered. 1933-39: When the Nazis came to power, they closed the gay bars. Some gay men, especially those who were Jewish, were killed by Nazi sympathizers; Harry's friend "Susi," a drag queen, was…
Antisemitism: hostility toward or hatred of Jews as a religious or ethnic group, often accompanied by social, economic, or political discrimination. Appellplatz: German word for roll call square where prisoners were forced to assemble. Aryan: Term used in Nazi Germany to refer to non-Jewish and non-Roma (Gypsy) Caucasians. Northern Europeans with especially "Nordic" features such as blonde hair and blue eyes were considered by so-called race scientists to be the most superior of Aryans, members of a…
Hitler's political opponents were the first victims of systematic Nazi persecution. They were incarcerated without trial and under conditions of great cruelty.
Nazi ideology aimed to promote the myth of an ideal national community and label those who were to be excluded from it as enemies. Propaganda was essential in promoting such myths.
Nazi Germany and its allies established over 44,000 concentration camps and incarceration sites during the Holocaust. Read about the Nazi camp system.
The Nazi regime established the Buchenwald camp in 1937. Learn about the camp’s prisoners, conditions there, forced labor, subcamps, medical experiments, and liberation.
Nazi officials implemented the Jewish badge as a key element in their plan to persecute and eventually destroy the Jewish population of Europe. Learn more
Behind the number of victims of the Holocaust and Nazi persecution are people whose hopes and dreams were destroyed. Learn about the toll of Nazi policies.
View an animated map showing key events in the history of World War II and the Holocaust.
The Nazis carried out genocide against Europe’s Jews and persecuted and murdered other groups based on racial theories. Learn about the history of these murderous ideas.
The Röhm Purge (the “Night of the Long Knives") was the murder of the leadership of the SA (Storm Troopers), the Nazi paramilitary formation led by Ernst Röhm. Learn more.
View an animated map showing key events in the history of the Dachau concentration camp, which was established by the Nazi regime in 1933.
The Gestapo was Nazi Germany’s infamous political police force. It enforced Nazism’s radical impulses and perpetrated crimes against targeted groups. Learn more
SS Chief Heinrich Himmler was chief architect of the "Final Solution." Learn more about Himmler, one of the most powerful men after Hitler in Nazi Germany.
Reinhard Heydrich, Reich Security Main Office chief, was one of the main architects of the “Final Solution," the Nazi plan to murder the Jews of Europe.
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