Difference between revisions of "Homosexuals and the Holocaust"
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[[Gay rights]] activists claim that the [[Nazis]] targeted [[homosexuals]] during the [[holocaust]] in a way comparable to the [[Jewish]] population. | [[Gay rights]] activists claim that the [[Nazis]] targeted [[homosexuals]] during the [[holocaust]] in a way comparable to the [[Jewish]] population. | ||
| − | In fact, homosexuals were not exterminated as Jews were, though approximately 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, out of an estimated homosexual population of one million.<ref name=HTRC/><ref name=USHMM/> About 5,000 to 15,000 of these were interned in [[concentration camps]]. Due to the scarcity of records, it is unknown how many of these died in the camps' harsh conditions, though one historian has estimated the death rate to have been as high as 60%.<ref name=HTRC>[http://www.holocaust-trc.org/homosx.htm Holocaust Teacher Resource Centre: Homosexuals]</ref> Other homosexuals were castrated by court order, or forcibly implanted with [[testosterone]] capsules in a medical attempt to "cure" them.<ref name=HTRC/> | + | In fact, homosexuals were not exterminated as Jews were, though approximately 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, out of an estimated homosexual population of one million.<ref name=HTRC/><ref name=USHMM/> About 5,000 to 15,000 of these were interned in [[concentration camps]]. Due to the scarcity of records, it is unknown how many of these died in the camps' harsh conditions, though one historian has estimated the death rate to have been as high as 60%.<ref name=HTRC>[http://www.holocaust-trc.org/homosx.htm Holocaust Teacher Resource Centre: Homosexuals]</ref> Other homosexuals were castrated by court order, or forcibly implanted with [[testosterone]] capsules in a medical attempt to "cure" them.<ref name=HTRC/> A special division of the [[Gestapo]] (Secret State Police) had been set up in 1934, specifically to identify and arrest homosexuals.<ref name=HTRC/> |
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Nazi Germany did not seek to kill all homosexuals. . . [but] the Nazi state, through active persecution, attempted to terrorize German homosexuals into sexual and social conformity".<ref name=USHMM> | According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Nazi Germany did not seek to kill all homosexuals. . . [but] the Nazi state, through active persecution, attempted to terrorize German homosexuals into sexual and social conformity".<ref name=USHMM> | ||
Revision as of 17:12, November 12, 2008
Gay rights activists claim that the Nazis targeted homosexuals during the holocaust in a way comparable to the Jewish population.
In fact, homosexuals were not exterminated as Jews were, though approximately 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, out of an estimated homosexual population of one million.[1][2] About 5,000 to 15,000 of these were interned in concentration camps. Due to the scarcity of records, it is unknown how many of these died in the camps' harsh conditions, though one historian has estimated the death rate to have been as high as 60%.[1] Other homosexuals were castrated by court order, or forcibly implanted with testosterone capsules in a medical attempt to "cure" them.[1] A special division of the Gestapo (Secret State Police) had been set up in 1934, specifically to identify and arrest homosexuals.[1]
According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, "Nazi Germany did not seek to kill all homosexuals. . . [but] the Nazi state, through active persecution, attempted to terrorize German homosexuals into sexual and social conformity".[2]