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The Pink Persecution: Homosexuals in Nazi Germany and Post-War Society
By Lori Cui, VI Form
Editor’s Note: This research paper was written over the summer in a 10-week intensive program as part of the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies research cohort.
Introduction
Most people do not know that between 10,000 and 15,000 homosexual men died in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Their stories are almost completely erased from history, and their voices silenced if they survived the deadly camps. During the Nazi regime, around 100,000 men were arrested for violating Paragraph 175, the German law that criminalized homosexuality. Despite having one of the highest mortality rates in concentration camps, homosexual men only received formal reparations from the German government in 2001 for their suffering, nearly six decades after the end of the war. By that time, many survivors had passed away or struggled to file for reparations formally. Researchers found that fewer than 10 survivors were alive to see the formal reparations in the 21st century. These prisoners wore pink triangle badges in the concentration camps to differentiate them. Researchers speculate that the prisoner badge was pink as a way to shame the men for their homosexuality, implying that they were feminine because of their sexual preference. Others hypothesize that it was because the word for pink in German was similar to the slang word for homosexual male prostitutes: Rosarote, also called pinks or rosies.
The rise of the Nazi regime caused the downfall of the flourishing LGBTQ+ scene in the Weimar Republic. Berlin, the capital of Germany, was globally renowned for its LGBTQ+ bars for lesbians, gay men, and other individuals curious to explore their sexuality or gender expression. Publications like Der Eigene (His Own Self), Die Freundin (The Girlfriend), and Frauenliebe (Women’s Love) helped LGBTQ+ communities stay connected through publishing ads for meet-ups and events. However, a month after Hitler (the head of the Nazi Party) was appointed chancellor of Germany, he outlawed all LGBTQ+ bars and organizations and jailed many organization directors. As the Nazis gained more power in the Reichstag, they conducted mass raids and arrests of homosexuals. This was justified through homophobic Nazi propaganda carefully orchestrated to paint homosexuals as “degenerates” and the malaise of the “purified Third Reich.”
With primary sources like survivor memoirs and books by researchers who studied the issue post-war, this paper aims to paint a fuller picture of Nazi homophobia and its repercussions. After World War II and “liberation” by the Allied Powers, homosexuals continued to face persecution and discrimination for their sexuality. The homophobic propaganda, “re-education,” and treatment of prisoners in concentration camps by the Nazis left a lasting bigoted legacy in the minds of the German and other European civilians. This naturalized the exclusion of survivors from receiving recognition and reparations and inhibited their ability to rejoin post-war society.
Historical Background
Paragraph 175, the German penal code in the constitution that specifically criminalized sex between two males, was adopted after Kaiser Wilhelm I of Prussia created Germany in 1871. However, the law was rarely enforced. Consenting adults seldom filed complaints and the growing sexual liberation movement in Germany in the early 1900s created a flourishing LGBTQ+ scene. Berlin was known as a “homosexual Eden” around the world, attracting international visitors to witness and enjoy sexual freedom. The acceptance of the Weimar Republic gradually declined as the Nazis rose in political power and promoted homophobic propaganda.
The Nazis labeled homosexuals, specifically homosexual men, as “degenerates” of the Third Reich because they could not produce offspring to increase the population of Germany. Most homosexuals were Aryan men, which the Nazis wanted to keep within the country to build a “master Aryan race” in which all citizens were blond and blue-eyed. However, their “race” did not protect them from being persecuted as homosexuals. For a decade, the Nazis tried to find a cure for homosexuality by using the fertility of Aryan men for reproduction. The Nazis spread homophobic propaganda in their newspapers to millions of readers, such as a conspiracy theory that homosexuality was a contagious disease that could spread to the younger generation. This justified the Nazi’s persecution as they were “containing” the disease.
Interestingly, one of the highest-ranking Nazi officials, who helped push the party to power, was a homosexual. Ernst Röhm was the head of the SA, or the Sturmabteilung, the Nazi paramilitary unit that used violence to suppress political opposition. Röhm was an early supporter of Hitler and one of his closest confidants. Röhm’s homosexuality was not hidden. Hitler knew about his friend’s sexuality and continually made excuses for him. Although the Nazis were homophobic, Hitler defended Röhm in the 1930s by saying that “[Röhm’s] private life cannot be an object of scrutiny unless it conflicts with basic principles of National Socialist ideology” and that an SA officer could only be held accountable for “not performing his official duties.” However, matters changed drastically when Röhm’s opponents within the party framed him for plotting to overthrow Hitler.
On June 28, 1935, the Night of the Long Knives, Hitler and the SS (Schutzwaffel), conducted a purge within the Nazi party. They arrested leaders of the SA and Röhm on false charges. Hitler would declare that Röhm’s sexuality was a part of the reason for his execution a few days later. He also called for a complete cleanse of homosexuality within the Nazi Party after the purge, calling for the expulsion of “ludicrous monkeys.” In Germany, many homosexuals had ignored the homophobic Nazis and their rise to power because they believed that Röhm’s position would protect them from persecution. After the Night of the Long Knives, however, Hitler justified purging homosexuality, an “undesirable trait” as the moral thing to do. One year after Röhm’s execution, the Nazis rewrote Paragraph 175 to be stricter, criminalizing homosexual “insinuations” and using gossip as evidence for someone’s homosexuality. From the loose wording of “criminally indecent” activities to specifying homosexual prostitution and a minimum three-year jail sentence for violating the penal code, the days of gay Berlin and Germany were over.
To better portray the homophobic policies of the Nazis and the post-war developments of the criminalization of homosexuality, Figures 1 and 2 show a timeline of events.
Figure 1: A Timeline of Events in Germany Relating to Homosexuals (1871-1940)
Figure 2: A Timeline of Events in Germany Relating to Homosexuals (1941-2001/modern-day)
(more…)The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Housing Market: Government Influence
By Anna Xing VI Form
The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Housing Market: Government Influence
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as a part of the History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students.
Student-Submitted Note: As the final product of my History Research Fellowship class, this paper examines the rise and fall of the Chinese housing market over the past 25 years and the government’s role in it. It first provides an overview of the birth of the market, then dives into the boom and bust of the market, and finally contrasts how foreign and Chinese state-owned medias report on the market.
“You have to enter a lottery to buy an apartment?” This was my reaction when my parents told me about how competitive the housing market was in my hometown of Hangzhou, China in 2020. This Chinese eagerness to invest in housing, however, did not appear overnight. Back on January 10, 2011, China Daily reported that “a man beaten into a coma during a fight between hopeful homebuyers and a developer in Hangzhou is rushed to the hospital.”
(more…)The 2008 Financial Crisis: Examining the Causes of Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy
By Roy (Jung-hun) Baeck, VI Form
The 2008 Financial Crisis: Examining the Causes of Lehman Brothers Bankruptcy
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as a part of the History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students.
Student-Submitted Note: As part of the History Research Fellowship, I conducted research on the history of financial and housing regulations up to the 2008 Financial Crisis and the impact it made to one of the Wall Street firms, Lehman Brothers, and more.
The following are headlines from The New York Times between September 10 and September 15, 2008.
A Battered Lehman Fights for Survival
Pressure grows on Lehman as shares slide again
Shares Continue Decline as Lehman Looks for Buyer
U.S. demands that Wall Street save Lehman
Lehman’s Fate Is in Doubt as Barclays Pulls Out of Talks
Lehman in Bankruptcy; Merrill to Be Sold; A.I.G. Struggles
On September 15, 2008, the Wall Street firm Lehman Brothers filed for the largest bankruptcy in the history of the United States. At a market value of nearly $46 billion at its peak, the firm’s glory ended with $613 billion of debt and over 25,000 unemployed people. To this day, historians consider the collapse of Lehman Brothers as the turning point of the 2008 financial crisis, causing turmoil in the already struggling United States and eventually worldwide.
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, considered the centerpiece of the crumpled US financial market, illustrates the United States government’s poor effort to maintain a sustainable economy and a successful financial sector. A history of excessive emphasis on homeownership and unreasonably extensive housing policies resulted in the US housing market bubble. The bubble, integrated with the lack of regulations on financial derivatives and Wall Street’s substantial firms making reckless investments in the securities market, created the most impactful market crash of the 21st century.
(more…)Faith and Negligence: Christian Perceptions and Interactions with Chinese Immigrants in 19th Century America
By Steven Zhang, VI Form
Faith and Negligence: Christian Perceptions and Interactions with Chinese Immigrants in 19th Century America
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as a part of the History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students.
Introduction
On one night in 1887 in San Jose, California, fires clawed at the sky. Smoke billowed from collapsing roofs of Chinatown apartments and stores, and winds sent trees into frenzies. Amidst this chaos, mothers, their clothes coated in ash, hustled their coughing children to safety. The origin of the fire, which uprooted the lives of approximately 1,400 Chinese residents, remained shrouded in mystery. However, clues to this destruction emerged in a solitary photograph that captured the aftermath of the devastation. In it, hundreds of white working men stood watching the destruction of one of San Jose’s Chinatowns (Figure 1).
Figure 1: The Burning of San Jose’s Chinatown
While the facts of this case are still obscure, the San Jose City Council a hundred years later would unanimously vote a resolution to apologize to Chinese immigrants and their descendants for the role the city played in “systemic and institutional racism, xenophobia, and discrimination.” Today such a terrifying act might be widely condemned, but at the time it was merely one of many incidents of anti-Chinese violence that went relatively unnoticed. In fact, the burning of San Jose Chinatown in history is often eclipsed by similar, anti-Chinese acts, such as the more devastating Santa Ana Chinatown fire. These incidents, lost in a history of anti-Chinese violence, marked the peak of hostility in the late 1800s.
(more…)Second-Wave Feminism Through Music
By Maddie Bazinet, VI Form
Second-Wave Feminism Through Music
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as a part of the History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students.
Songs, artists, and the underlying implications of their music undoubtedly impact the everyday lives of individuals in contemporary society. Humanity consumes music to derive feelings from the lyrics and composition, and develop curiosity as to how and why the artists made the choices that they made. Moreover, musicians create their art to come to terms with their personal feelings and thoughts, and further expand their opinions on issues within themselves or greater society that remain pressing. One of these ongoing societal and cultural concerns, that also impacted and continues to influence American individuals at the emotional level, is the perception of women and their role in society. During and before twentieth-century America, stereotypes surrounding what it means to be a woman governed United States culture, and sustained an influence on how the media portrayed the female image. Today, the feminine image continues to be dynamic, and develop nuances of different lifestyle choices, giving women the opportunity to grow into their genuine personas. Despite perilous stereotypes of women as subjects to men, from specific political groups within contemporary American society, prominent figures in various industries and their diverse representations of typical femininity, empower the current generation of women. However, this inspiration originated in earlier versions of American society, which worked to create a concrete definition of feminism and transparency surrounding the steps for future gender equality. Similar to contemporary culture, popular figures during early feminist eras represented these values through their work, intending to empower women, and transmit a message that was consequential to them.
The beginning feminist movement in the United States surfaced between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Primarily, the first wave of feminism focused on obtaining suffrage for women, especially as a competitive environment surrounding urbanization, industrialization, and the mobilization of politics began to emerge. At the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848, the first wave of feminism promoted significant change, as three hundred men and women gathered to rally for the cause of gender equality. The movement gave voice to now well-renowned figures of feminism like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Sojourner Truth, who sought to examine the differences in perception between men and women, politically and socially.1 Overall, the first wave of feminism in the United States focused on providing women with equal opportunities to contribute politically, and thus, socially in America—specifically with the right to vote.2
(more…)Politics, Religion, and Gender Views during the Regime of Emperor Wu: Analysis of the interrelationships between Mahayana Buddhism, Emperor Wu, and Female Representations through the lens of art and literature
By: Helen Qing, VI Form
Politics, Religion, and Gender Views during the Regime of Emperor Wu: Analysis of the interrelationships between Mahayana Buddhism, Emperor Wu, and Female Representations through the lens of art and literature
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as a part of the History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students.
Student-Submitted Note: This research paper explores and analyzes the mutually beneficial relationship between the regime of Emperor Wu, the first and only female emperor of ancient Chinese history, and Mahayana Buddhism. The paper then explores the change in the representation of both secular and religious female figures in Buddhist arts and texts. The paper navigates through ancient Buddhist sutras, murals, sculptures, arts, and historic documents.
During the Tang Dynasty(618 AD ~ 907 AD), there was a woman named WuZhao (See Figures 1 and 2) who married her deceased husband’s son and became the one and only female sovereign in the long river of ancient Chinese history. In 637 AD, at the age of 14, because of her beauty and family background, Wu Zhao became a concubine of Emperor Taizong. In 649 AD, Taizong died, and along with other childless concubines, Wu Zhao shaved her hair and became a Buddhist nun in the GanYe Temple with other concubines. However, unlike most former concubines, her life had just begun.
One year after TaiZong’s death, his son, “Emperor Gao Zong, went to the temple to offer
incense and met Wu, and they wept together for Taizong. Gaozong was astonished by her beauty when they had first met in the Imperial court and since his father’s death paid regular visits to the temple in hopes of encountering the widow,” WuZhao. Gaozong had recently lost interest in Empress Wang, the queen, as she bore no children and turned attention to concubine Xiao who bore him three children. To distract the Emperor’s attention from concubine Xiao, Empress Wang encouraged Wu to cease shaving her hair and start to dress up every day. With the interest of the Emperor and support from Empress Wang, Wu Zhao was soon invited by the emperor to return to the palace after their encounter in the temple. Wu Zhao was given the title Zhaoyi, the highest- ranked concubine than the empress.
Transpacific Scholars: A Journey Through the Boxer Indemnity
By: Daniel Guo, VI Form
Transpacific Scholars: A Journey Through the Boxer Indemnity
Editor’s Note: This paper was completed as part of a History Research Fellowship, a one-semester course available to sixth form students, where students write a historical research paper about their chosen topic.
Over the past two decades, the number of Chinese students in the United States has seen a remarkable surge, growing from a modest original number of around 20,000 students in 1991 to an enormous student body of more than 300,000 in 2021. Since 2009, Chinese students have consistently represented the highest portion of international students, making up nearly a third of all international students in American colleges and universities. These Chinese students choose to pursue a wide range of subjects and academic disciplines such as engineering, English, and law in the many different educational institutions that the United States offers, including prestigious universities such as Harvard and Yale. However, due to recent geopolitical tensions between China and the United States, the drive for Chinese students to study in the United States has diminished, with many turning to other prestigious schools in the United Kingdom and Europe instead.
This shift away from Chinese students in the United States is not just unique to the Chinese perspective: a Pew Research Center survey indicates that 55%, a majority of Americans surveyed, support limiting Chinese students studying in the United States. One in five Americans strongly supports limiting Chinese students in the United States. This situation is seemingly targeted specifically towards Chinese students, as the majority of Americans view international students favorably, with 80% of Americans expressing a positive opinion towards them.
(more…)Suffering in Chinese Buddhism and Italian Christianity: Comparison Between Northwestern Chinese Mogao Grottoes and Italian Christian Artworks
By Sherry Mi, IV Form
Suffering in Chinese Buddhism and Italian Christianity: Comparison Between Northwestern Chinese Mogao Grottoes and Italian Christian Artworks
Student-Submitted Note: I conducted this individual research in the Summer. Inspired by my pre-COVID travels to the Mediterranean region, I became greatly interested in European art history while constantly being influenced by Chinese art and culture. My research is a response to my childhood wonder about religious art.
INTRODUCTION
Visual art is one of the easiest ways to communicate, while the spread of a religion depends on the diffusion of its beliefs, which solely depends on communication. For this reason, artists have created countless religious works in the past millennia. Furthermore, the use of religious symbols increased as religions, usually including scriptures, holy figures, and taboos, were systematized. Symbols convey essential religious ideas to the viewers, including suffering.
In my 2020 visit to the Mogao Grottoes in Northwestern China, I also noticed that Buddhist stories of sacrifice and suffering were also one of the most depicted images. Religious beliefs, I conjectured, supplement images of suffering, delivering an important lesson about pain to the followers: Why is pain present? How can one cope with it? Notably, religious art only represents the opinions of its artist, probably on behalf of society, but not God. Opinions may change over time.
I soon discovered that these images were produced inconsistently as the religion evolved. I recorded my discoveries in Buddhist and Christian art in the following analysis. As the religion developed, religious art deviated from images of suffering. The reduction of such images hinted at a transformation of the invisible relationship between religion and society.
What force could drive this palpable change? I noticed similar trends in the development of Chinese Buddhist and Italian Christian art: images of suffering were abundant for one historical period, but declined as the next period began. I also wondered if Buddhist and Christian artists interpreted suffering similarly by making similar artistic choices. This analysis is a possible answer.
(more…)
LEO 