Solidarity, by Richard Grune (1903–1983), lithograph, 1947. Schwules Museum [Gay Museum], Berlin. Grune was incarcerated for homosexuality by the Nazi state from 1934 to 1945.
As part of the Nazi’s quest to create a “master Aryan race,” Adolf Hitler and his regime sought not only to eliminate Europe’s Jews, but also force social conformity through persecution of other groups, including homosexual men.
A new exhibition opening June 3 at the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance documents the persecution and terror of Germany’s gay population from the rise of the Third Reich through the end of World War II.
Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945, an exhibition curated by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, includes reproductions of 250 historic photographs and documents that examine the reasons, methods and impact of Nazi attempts to eradicate homosexuality within Germany and its annexed territories. The exhibition continues through September 5 at the Museum, 211 N. Record Street in the Historic West End of downtown Dallas.
“By understanding the effects of the Holocaust on a minority group, we hope visitors are sensitized to contemporary issues of intolerance, such as bullying, discrimination and hatred,” said Alice Murray, President and CEO of the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance.
“We are grateful to be working with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in our mission to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, and to teaching the moral and ethical response to prejudice, hatred and indifference, for the benefit of all humanity.”
When Germany’s pursuit of “living space” led to World War II and the conquest of much of Europe, the Nazis undertook the systematic murder of every Jew in Europe. Many other groups were targets of persecution and even murder under the Nazis’ ideology, including Germans with mental and physical disabilities, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma (“Gypsies”), Poles, and Soviet prisoners of war. Millions perished in this state-sponsored tyranny.
Nazi Germany did not seek to kill all of its homosexual citizens. Nevertheless, the Nazi state, through active persecution under a provision of criminal law known as Paragraph 175, attempted to terrorize German homosexuals into sexual and social conformity. Between 1933 and 1945, about 100,000 German men were arrested as “criminal” homosexuals; some 50,000 were convicted and sentenced to prison.
After 1942, the SS, in agreement with the Ministry of Justice, embarked on an explicit program of “extermination through work” to destroy Germany’s imprisoned “habitual criminals.” Thousands of prisoners, including homosexuals, were sent from prisons to camps, and nearly all died within months. Altogether, an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 German men were sent to concentration camps for homosexuality, where an unknown number of them perished.
The 32 panel exhibition will be on display in the Museum’s new Special Exhibit Gallery. Admission to the gallery is free with paid admission to the Museum.
Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 is sponsored in Dallas by Texas Instruments and Congregation Beth El Binah. Media sponsor is Dallas Voice. Community partners include the Gay and Lesbian Fund for Dallas, North Texas GLBT Chamber and Resource Center Dallas.
More information about the exhibit, including a set of Frequently-Asked-Questions, is available at http://www.DallasHolocaustMuseum.org.
About the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
Founded in 1984, the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust, and to teaching the moral and ethical response to prejudice, hatred and indifference, for the benefit of all humanity. The Museum, at 211 N. Record Street in downtown Dallas, has purchased land for a new facility adjacent to the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in the Historic West End of downtown Dallas.
Exhibition information at a glance
Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945
What: U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum travelling exhibit: Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945; includes reproductions of 250 historic photographs and documents that examine the reasons, methods and impact of Nazi attempts to eradicate homosexuality.
When: June 3 to September 5, 2011
Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance
211 N. Record Street
Dallas, Texas 75202
Admission: Free with Museum admission
Adults - $8
Seniors - $6
Students (6 - 18) - $6
Active Military - Through the Blue Star Museums program, Military families with loved ones on active duty will be offered free admission to the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance through Labor Day (Sept. 5, 2011)
Groups of 15 or more - $2 off admission ticket prices ($4 for students, $6 for adults).
