Class Year
2023
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2020
Department 1
History
Abstract
Homosexual communities successfully formed prominent subcultures during the Weimar Republic for a multitude of reasons: scientific research and educational outreach to the public about the inborn nature of homosexuality, less strict media censorship laws, and a vague anti-sodomy law that was difficult to enforce led police to often prefer tolerance over prosecution. The Third Reich brought about a deep cultural shift that would prove incredibly harmful to the homosexual communities. While at first, homosexuals had not been a targeted group largely thanks to Hitler’s personal friendship with a gay Nazi named Ernst Röhm, the latter’s sexuality became the center of a targeted media attack against the Nazis and Röhm was eventually killed. After that, it became convenient for the Nazis to scapegoat homosexuals and use their prosecution and persecution to appease the Nazis’ morally conservative supporters. Furthermore, Heinrich Himmler’s personal agenda against homosexuals aligned with Hitler’s vision of a homogenous society.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
Recommended Citation
Minzer, Abigail, "Homosexuality During the Transition from Weimar Republic to Third Reich" (2020). Student Publications. 907.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/907
Included in
History of Gender Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Social History Commons
Comments
Written for History 218: Modern Germany