So good - important history that needs to be documented and thought through. To be released after reading.

The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals by Richard Plant

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A powerful introduction to an underdiscussed topic. Details prevailing attitudes in Germany on homosexuality, starting with homophobic statute Paragraph 175 originating during the German unification of 1871; discussing Hitler's murder of SA head Ernst Roehm (who was himself gay), setting up the shift in the balance of power to the SS; and culminating in the violent persecution of gay men both in civil society, and inside the concentration camps.

Author Robert Plant spends significant time on Nazi chief architect Heinrich Himmler, and his rationale for persecution of homosexuals, including a desire to build an Aryan utopia out of essentially eugenicist policies that encourage procreation among men and women.

Plant also details the fraught relations that developed between guards, inmates who acted as go-betweens (who would sometimes proffer food or protection for gay inmates in exchange for sexual favors), and the prisoners.

Plant starts and ends with personal anecdotes of his own life journey: his socialist, Jewish doctor father's early release from prison and avoidance of more severe punishment that would occur during the Reich's later years; his emigration to university in Switzerland and eventually fleeing to the States; and his search for dear friends as part of his research on this history.

Though published in 1986, the text still maintains a sense of urgency and currency, and encourages the reader to investigate further research done on the topic since then. Bravo to Plant for this groundbreaking work.



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To be released as part of the "Color-in-the-Title" Bookbox Bookring/ray #1.

My 1st of 2 choices out of the Color in the Title Bookbox

The text itself is a bit dry, but it does not make his plea for examining the minorities (namely homosexuals) enveloped by the Third Reich's Final Solution any less compelling. Even sadder was the persecution after WWII by the Allies, who pulled them out of concentration camps only to throw them into prisons for "time not served" since being gay was a crime.

On its way to dicentragirl as a trade. Thx for offering up ur books ✌

Received in trade. Thank you!