The Persecution Of Homosexuals In Nazi Germany
The Holocaust was the methodical persecution and murder of Jews, carried out by the Nazi regime. In 1933 the Nazis came into power in Germany. Hitler had wanted to create a master race of the Aryan race. They had the belief that they were racially superior to Jews and that they were a threat to their race. But other groups were also deemed inferior, including the Roma, homosexuals and physically disabled. Hitler wanted to exterminate theses groups so he slowly implemented the “final solution”. The Nazi regime began to open forced labor camps and other acts against the Jews as well. Although Jews were mainly targeted there were various other groups that were persecuted as well, such as the Roma, homosexuals and physically/mentally disabled.
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Nazis were trying to “clean” Germany racially according to their morals and homosexuals did not fit their guidelines. The Nazi regime wanted to make the Aryan race dominant but they found that homosexuals could not contribute as they would not have children, and were considered unfit to serve (Persecution of Homosexuals In The Third Reich). Regards to this made homosexuals another target of the Nazi regime. There had been laws against homosexuals for decades already. Paragraph 175 had made homosexuality illegal in 1871 and it later was revised in 1935 by the Nazis. It was made into a harsher version. Before the revising, homosexuals were also included in the Nazi book burning campaigns. During these events in 1933, thousands of books were burned for having “un-german” standards. The following year a special police division is created. It’s duty was to collect lists of suspected homosexual men that have been made for years. In 1936, to “combat” against homosexuality, abortion and its dangers to the birthrate of the aryan population, a Reich central office was created. In 1937-1939 there was an abundance of persecutions involving homosexual men. Within twelve years around 100,000 homosexual men were arrested. Of these numbers, “an estimated 5,000 to 15,000… were incarcerated in concentration camps” (Persecution of Homosexuals). While in the concentration camps, to be easily identified as a homosexual, they had to wear a triangular pink patch. While homosexuals were treated cruelly, disabled people were another populace who were wrongfully done at this
Nazis were trying to “clean” Germany racially according to their morals and homosexuals did not fit their guidelines. The Nazi regime wanted to make the Aryan race dominant but they found that homosexuals could not contribute as they would not have children, and were considered unfit to serve (Persecution of Homosexuals In The Third Reich). Regards to this made homosexuals another target of the Nazi regime. There had been laws against homosexuals for decades already. Paragraph 175 had made homosexuality illegal in 1871 and it later was revised in 1935 by the Nazis. It was made into a harsher version. Before the revising, homosexuals were also included in the Nazi book burning campaigns. During these events in 1933, thousands of books were burned for having “un-german” standards. The following year a special police division is created. It’s duty was to collect lists of suspected homosexual men that have been made for years. In 1936, to “combat” against homosexuality, abortion and its dangers to the birthrate of the aryan population, a Reich central office was created. In 1937-1939 there was an abundance of persecutions involving homosexual men. Within twelve years around 100,000 homosexual men were arrested. Of these numbers, “an estimated 5,000 to 15,000… were incarcerated in concentration camps” (Persecution of Homosexuals). While in the concentration camps, to be easily identified as a homosexual, they had to wear a triangular pink patch. While homosexuals were treated cruelly, disabled people were another populace who were wrongfully done at this