PHOTO: Berlin university students carrying away the library from the home of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) on May 6, 1933 for a May 10-11 Nazi book burning, (New York Herald Tribune, May 17, 1933). See previous posts Magnus Hirschfeld Book notes 37 to 39 - final post (11/2/2010) and OSU Foundation Magnus Hirschfeld Fund Agreement (1/4/12)
My German ancestors often talked about escaping Germany in the 1930's as the Nazi's gained power, hut it wasn't until a few decades ago when I heard anything about the history of eugenics and gays in Germany during Nazi times and even later, the Schwules Museum in Berlin.
The mainstream American gay press is taking note. For example, see the articles by James McDonald, "The Lost Pink Triangles: An exhibition of Nazi persecution of homosexuals goes on display in NYC," Advocate Magazine, Aug./Sep. 2015, p. 21 advocate.com posted Jul. 6, 2015, which mentions that this exhibit is now showing at "the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City," and a sister magazine article also by James McDonald, "Traveling Exhibition Explores Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals," out.com posted May 28, 2015 that says, "The story of these victims, commonly known as the Pink Triangles, has begun attracting attention relatively recently . . . their stories have largely failed to penetrate mainstream Holocaust narratives. . ."
The history of this exhibit is included a book by Susan Ferentinos, "Interpreting LGBT History at Museums and Historic Sites," Rowman & Littlefield, Dec 16, 2014, p. 12. Susan Ferentinos notes that the Holocaust Museum opening coincided with the 1993 March On Washington for gay rights and in 1996 the Museum started to develop this traveling exhibit and opened it in 2002 before becoming a traveling exhibit led by the exhibition curator Edward Phillips.
"Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945," United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Traveling Exhibitions ushmm.org page includes a Link to Launch the Online Exhibition that goes to a frame-based interface with the following pages of text and photos:
- 1. INTRODUCTION for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum exhibitions program on "Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945," ushmm.org accessed Sep. 23, 2015
- 2. THE NEW ORDER, 1933-1939
- 3. NAZI IDEOLOGY OF PERSECUTION
- 4. CRACKDOWN, SURVEILLANCE, AND POLICE LISTS - "On May 6, 1933, Nazi student groups and sympathizers ransacked Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute for Sexual Science, Berlin's most visible symbol of sexual reform. Four days later, much of the institute's unique library was destroyed as part of a public book burning to destroy the "un-German spirit." Hirschfeld, then in Paris at the end of a three-year world tour, became an exile. His Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and other sexual rights organizations stopped their work in Germany."
- 5. PARAGRAPH 175
- 6. DENUNCIATIONS, ARRESTS, CONVICTIONS
- 7. "PROTECTIVE CUSTODY" IN CONCENTRATION CAMPS
- 8. PERSECUTION AND THE WAR
- 9. PERSECUTION IN NAZI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
- 10. THE WAR AND THE CAMPS
- 11. "EXTERMINATION THROUGH WORK"
- 12. AFTERMATH
- Curator's comments
- Presentation "For teachers" (PDF)
- Current Exhibitions
- Current Schedule of traveling exhibition "NAZI PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS 1933-1945" (Now showing May 29-November 1, 2015, New York, NY, The Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust)
(Note: The above list of links is to make it easier for me to access their site with my low-vision blindness. The frame Web page design's fixed column makes it hard to use with enlarged text and the menu text sizes do not scale with standard accessibility browser software.)
