Lesbians in Nazi Germany

Lesbians in Nazi Germany, unlike homosexual men, were not systematically persecuted.[1] Female homosexuality was criminalized in Austria, but not other parts of Nazi Germany.[2] Because of the relative disinterest of the Nazi state in female homosexuality compared to male homosexuality, there are fewer sources to document the situations of lesbians in Nazi Germany.[1]

Commemoration of lesbian prisoners at Ravensbrück concentration camp by Initiative for Autonomous Feminist WomenLesbians from Germany and Austria, 22 April 2018

Background

In Berlin, lesbian bars and night clubs opened up in the aftermath of the First World War. Notable amongst them was the Mali und Igel, run by entrepreneur Elsa Conrad. Inside the bar, was a club called Monbijou des Westens. The club was exclusive and catered for Berlin's lesbian, intellectual elite; one famous guest was the actress Marlene Dietrich. Each year the club hosted balls with up to 600 women in attendance.[3] A campaign to close all homosexual bars, including lesbian ones, began in March 1933.[4]

Historiography

Historians investigating individual cases have come to varying conclusions.[1] Women in Nazi Germany accused of a lesbian relationship faced a different fate depending on their characteristics. Those who were Jewish, black, or politically opposed to the regime faced imprisonment in a concentration camp or death—sentences that in some cases were likely made more harsh by the victims' lesbian identity.[1] In contrast, historian Samuel Clowes Huneke concludes that lesbians accused of non-political crimes were not treated differently based on being lesbian, and simply being denounced as lesbian typically led to a police investigation but no punishment.[1] Therefore, he suggests "heterogenous persecution" as one way that lesbian experiences in Nazi Germany might be described.[1]

Historian Laurie Marhoefer argues that "Though not the subjects of an official state persecution, gender-nonconforming women, transvestites, and women who drew negative attention because of their lesbianism ran a clear, pronounced risk of provoking anxiety in neighbors, acquaintances, and state officials, and that anxiety could, ultimately, inspire the kind of state violence that [Ilse] Totzke suffered"—imprisonment in Ravensbrück concentration camp.[5]

Memorials

In 2008, there was a controversy over the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism in Tiergarten, Berlin about the initial non-inclusion of lesbians in the memorial. Critics argued that, while lesbians did not face systematic persecution to the same extent as gay men, it was appropriate to memorialize those women who had been sent to concentration camps. A plan to replace the initial video with one that included women faced a backlash from opposing historians, activists, and memorial directors who argued that it would be "falsification" to include lesbians.[6] Despite efforts by some lesbian activists to commemorate lesbians imprisoned and murdered at Ravensbrück, as of 2021 there has not been agreement on the establishment of a lesbian memorial at the camp.[7] Huneke argues that even though lesbians were not systematically persecuted, it may be appropriate to erect memorials because some lesbians in Nazi Germany faced violence and discrimination.[1]

See also

References
  1. Huneke 2021, Conclusions.
  2. Huneke 2021, abstract.
  3. Kraß, Andreas; Sluhovsky, Moshe; Yonay, Yuval (2021-12-31). Queer Jewish Lives Between Central Europe and Mandatory Palestine: Biographies and Geographies. transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8394-5332-2.
  4. Kraß, Andreas; Sluhovsky, Moshe; Yonay, Yuval (2021-12-31). Queer Jewish Lives Between Central Europe and Mandatory Palestine: Biographies and Geographies. transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8394-5332-2.
  5. Marhoefer 2016, pp. 1193–1194.
  6. Marhoefer 2016, p. 1167.
  7. Huneke 2021, first section.

Sources

Further reading
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