Dr. Magnus HirschfeldHomosexuals
Students will examine why the gay community, particularly the homosexual community was persecuted during the Holocaust. Students will look at the type of persecution they faced. As part of the Nazis’ attempt to purify society and create a "Aryan master race", they condemned homosexuals as "socially Aberrant." Soon after taking office, Hitler banned all homosexual organizations. Greatly weakened and driven under-ground, this subculture had flourished in the relative freedom of the 1920’s, in the pubs and cafes of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Bremen, and other cities.
A. What were some specific acts that the Nazis passed against the gay community?
Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005261
B. Who was Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld?
Homosexuals Brochure - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/2000926-Homosexuals.pdf
C. Explain the Himmler laws against the Homosexuals.
Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005261
Homosexuals Brochure - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/2000926-Homosexuals.pdf
D. Who was Ernst Rohm and what happened to him?
Ernst Rohm - Jewish Virtual Library
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Roehm.html
Homosexuals Brochure - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/2000926-Homosexuals.pdf
E. Describe how Homosexuals were treated before and during the Holocaust.
Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005261
F. Describe how Homosexuals were tortured in concentration camps.
G. Discuss the life of Josef Kohout, a homosexual survivor of the Holocaust.
Personalizing Nazis' Homosexual Victims by David W. Dunlap
http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/Holocaust/personalize-gays.html
H. Discuss how Lesbians were treated in comparison to Homosexuals during the Nazi period.
I. Compile photo archives, including those of groups, mug shots, individual portraits, gay/lesbian bars, public baths, and the raid on the Institute for Sexual Sciences.
Photos: Homosexual Memorials
http://fcit.coedu.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/gallery/Homosexu.htm
Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005261
Be sure to see photographs by clicking on "View Photographs" to right of image.
J. What was paragraph 175?
K. How many Homosexuals were killed during the Holocaust?
Homosexuals Brochure - U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/m/pdfs/2000926-Homosexuals.pdf