Paragraph 175 (2000)

June 8, 2024 4:49 PM

During the Nazi regime, there was widespread persecution of homosexual men, which started in 1871 with the Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code. Thousands were murdered in concentration camps. This powerful and disturbing documentary, narrated by Rupert Everett, presents for the first time the largely untold testimonies of some of those who survived.
posted by bunderful (4 comments total)

Historian Klaus Müller interviews gay survivors of the Holocaust. He describes growing up in Germany and being unaware of the persecution of homosexuals by the Nazis. “I did not have a last at all,” he says. He realizes that some of these people (fewer than 10, it turns out) must still be alive, and sets off to interview them.

Interviewees describe life in the Weimar Republic, the shifts in policy, arrests, torture, and concentration camps. The overall tone is simple and authentic.

I very much wanted to hug one interviewee in particular, who returned home after the war and never spoke of his experiences to anyone - his mother was completely silent.
posted by bunderful at 7:06 PM on June 8 [1 favorite]

Klaus Müller is a representative for Europe for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
posted by bunderful at 7:10 PM on June 8

*past. He said he did not have a past at all. Dangit.
posted by bunderful at 8:50 PM on June 8

Thanks for this; it's been on my list for years. Free on Kanopy if folks' local library system participates, and also on Criterion.
posted by mediareport at 2:30 AM on June 9 [1 favorite]