I have seen the movie yesterday and was quite moved by it. I did not expect much (because usually I am not the documentary type), but the mixture of old film footage and photos (with some 20s and 30s music) and interviews of a few of the survivors (7 homosexualls, 1 lesbian) was very interesting. The big thing about this movie is to get to know about what happened in that time, because no one spoke about this when we were talking about the second world war in history class. it is unbelievable that the paragraph 175 existed even till 1969. this is a must-see film !
24 Reviews
"I didn't even know why I was being sent to the camps!"
Mikeonalpha997 September 2005
Paragraph 175 is a powerful documentary that deals with a provocative subject. I just wish filmmakers Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein had fleshed out the subject a bit more. While this film about gay men who were persecuted and imprisoned under the Nazi regime, is in many respects absorbing, the film ultimately suffers from an overly narrow and constricted focus.
Perhaps the problem was that there were just not enough men alive today who were willing to talk about their experiences. From the outset, the pool of interviewees was certainly going to be limited, but also limited is the actual archival footage of life in the concentration camps.
Instead the directors have chosen to pepper the film with well-preserved family photographs, and lively footage of gay and lesbian culture blossoming during the days of the Weimar Republic after WW1. Sensitively narrated by British actor Rupert Everett, Paragraph 175 is all about the German penal code, which was originally enacted in 1871, and later used by the Nazis, to outlaw homosexuality.
The penal code stated: "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed," But Paragraph 175 was never really enforced until the Nazi's came to power. This documentary centers on six emotional accounts of the most elderly and frail survivors of the concentration camps who, up until now, have repressed their stories.
There's a Jewish gay resistance fighter who posed as a Hitler Youth member to rescue his lover from a Gestapo transfer camp in an ultimately futile effort; a photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for homosexuality, who upon his release joined the army because of the lack of men in his hometown and he "wanted to be with men." There's a young man who was freed from a sentence at Dachau only to be interned again at Buchenwald, and a Frenchman imprisoned from Alsace, who breaks down after telling of being raped and subject to inhuman torture. Their stories are indeed heart wrenching, because unlike the Jews, they have forced to live quietly, unable to share their horrific experiences for so long.
It is interesting to note that the penal code didn't cover lesbians. The Nazis considered lesbians to be "curable." Women were regarded, as vessels of motherhood - increasing the German population was top priority - therefore, they were exempt from mass arrest. Most lesbians went into exile or quietly married gay men. One woman, who tells her story in the film, was given exit papers and was lucky enough to escape to England.
The statistics are staggering: Between 1933 and 1945, some 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, roughly half of them were sentenced to prison, and from 10,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. The camps were used for re-education, slave labor, castration and sadistic medical experiments. It's believed only about 4,000 survived their ordeal.
The situation didn't improve after the war. Paragraph 175 remained in force until the late sixties, so many gay men were re-imprisoned and subject to repeated persecution. In this respect, Epstein and Friedman should be largely commended for bringing this subject to the attention of the world, and telling these powerful personal stories before the last survivors die. Mike Leonard September 05
Perhaps the problem was that there were just not enough men alive today who were willing to talk about their experiences. From the outset, the pool of interviewees was certainly going to be limited, but also limited is the actual archival footage of life in the concentration camps.
Instead the directors have chosen to pepper the film with well-preserved family photographs, and lively footage of gay and lesbian culture blossoming during the days of the Weimar Republic after WW1. Sensitively narrated by British actor Rupert Everett, Paragraph 175 is all about the German penal code, which was originally enacted in 1871, and later used by the Nazis, to outlaw homosexuality.
The penal code stated: "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of male sex is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed," But Paragraph 175 was never really enforced until the Nazi's came to power. This documentary centers on six emotional accounts of the most elderly and frail survivors of the concentration camps who, up until now, have repressed their stories.
There's a Jewish gay resistance fighter who posed as a Hitler Youth member to rescue his lover from a Gestapo transfer camp in an ultimately futile effort; a photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for homosexuality, who upon his release joined the army because of the lack of men in his hometown and he "wanted to be with men." There's a young man who was freed from a sentence at Dachau only to be interned again at Buchenwald, and a Frenchman imprisoned from Alsace, who breaks down after telling of being raped and subject to inhuman torture. Their stories are indeed heart wrenching, because unlike the Jews, they have forced to live quietly, unable to share their horrific experiences for so long.
It is interesting to note that the penal code didn't cover lesbians. The Nazis considered lesbians to be "curable." Women were regarded, as vessels of motherhood - increasing the German population was top priority - therefore, they were exempt from mass arrest. Most lesbians went into exile or quietly married gay men. One woman, who tells her story in the film, was given exit papers and was lucky enough to escape to England.
The statistics are staggering: Between 1933 and 1945, some 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, roughly half of them were sentenced to prison, and from 10,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. The camps were used for re-education, slave labor, castration and sadistic medical experiments. It's believed only about 4,000 survived their ordeal.
The situation didn't improve after the war. Paragraph 175 remained in force until the late sixties, so many gay men were re-imprisoned and subject to repeated persecution. In this respect, Epstein and Friedman should be largely commended for bringing this subject to the attention of the world, and telling these powerful personal stories before the last survivors die. Mike Leonard September 05
A very professional job by seasoned documentarians
willev15 July 2005
I was a bit put off by some of the negative comments, but it is always interesting to then view a film which is praised by some and despised by one or two. As is often the case, the negative views turn out to be more a reflection of personality rather than of serious critical scholarship.
Putting together this film was hardly a snap. There are only a handful of survivors still alive and living in central Europe, and some refused to appear in the film. I think the film-makers were very successful in capturing the essence of the homosexual experience during the Nazi times and beyond, as reflected in the footage they obtained from the six or seven survivors who were willing to share their stories on camera.
We really don't need any more "education" on Nazi legal machinations or conditions in concentration camps. We ARE interested in the experiences and emotions of these particular people, to see them and hear them, before they are swallowed by the inexorable march of time. The film performs this invaluable service and does it well.
The interviews are interspersed with a general historical summary of events and their effect on the gay community in Germany during the years between the two great wars, and later on. Yes, these parts may resemble a special on the History Channel. Nothing wrong with that!
All in all, a very professional job and a solid achievement.
Putting together this film was hardly a snap. There are only a handful of survivors still alive and living in central Europe, and some refused to appear in the film. I think the film-makers were very successful in capturing the essence of the homosexual experience during the Nazi times and beyond, as reflected in the footage they obtained from the six or seven survivors who were willing to share their stories on camera.
We really don't need any more "education" on Nazi legal machinations or conditions in concentration camps. We ARE interested in the experiences and emotions of these particular people, to see them and hear them, before they are swallowed by the inexorable march of time. The film performs this invaluable service and does it well.
The interviews are interspersed with a general historical summary of events and their effect on the gay community in Germany during the years between the two great wars, and later on. Yes, these parts may resemble a special on the History Channel. Nothing wrong with that!
All in all, a very professional job and a solid achievement.
Not the only film on gay male Holocaust survivors
dawh116 March 2005
I agree that this is an excellent film. One has to admire the willingness of these men to tell their story after so many years. Paragraph 175 remained as a law in the German Penal Code until the 1970s, which is why the gay survivors were not given the same reparations that other survivors received. I saw this film on cable and am planning to get a copy on DVD. However, a previous comment incorrectly stated that this was the first film on this subject in 67 years. There was an earlier film which interviewed gay male Holocaust survivors. The title is "We Were Marked With a Big Red A." I do not see it listed in IMDb, but I have it on VHS. I purchased it in the bookshop at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington. I think that Klaus Müller, who is a consultant to the Holocaust Museum, was also on the crew of this film.
Essential viewing. Holocaust deniers would do well to see this.
pyotr-328 July 2002
Warning: Spoilers
The concentration camp survivors interviewed in this documentary broke my heart... hearing the man who saw his best friend eaten by German Shepards... and the gay man who courageously freed his Jewish lover, only to see his lover act even more courageously by choosing to return to his sick family, to die together with them. These stories are real, they are devastating, and they MUST be seen by everyone.
Harrowing look at persecution
moonspinner5527 August 2005
The golden days of decadent Berlin came to a bloody halt when Hitler's regime took over Germany in the early 1930s and gay men were brought down by simple innuendo and gossip (lesbianism was considered curable, but male homosexuality was "catching"). Early talk of homosexuality in Hitler's ranks precipitated the reinsertion of Paragraph 175, an old anti-sodomy law from the late 1800s, and gays were branded with the lowly Pink Triangle. Forceful documentary on a little talked-about chapter of history has just a handful of elderly witnesses but a superlative presentation of personally-shot footage mixed with telling photographs. Some of the recollections are haunting; the doomed come back to life in these harrowing stories. *** from ****
moving and powerful
jasonghays5 January 2006
This film is fantastic. What a powerful 80 minutes of film. It was so informative and emotional without shoving anything down your throat. The way the delicate and sensitive subject matters were handled was graceful and respectful. Kudos.
It made me feel angry, sad, and compassion for the people that are struggling to voice their stories without making a fiasco out of what happened to them.
Like so many other documentaries, this one did not try and play with my emotion with overly sappy music or editing. It was simple and precise. The music was haunting and had the perfect mood for the piece. The interviews were not overly edited for dramatic effect, but were simple and honest.
I watched it twice. Cried both times. And I feel more educated and compassionate for renting this great film.
It made me feel angry, sad, and compassion for the people that are struggling to voice their stories without making a fiasco out of what happened to them.
Like so many other documentaries, this one did not try and play with my emotion with overly sappy music or editing. It was simple and precise. The music was haunting and had the perfect mood for the piece. The interviews were not overly edited for dramatic effect, but were simple and honest.
I watched it twice. Cried both times. And I feel more educated and compassionate for renting this great film.
*** 1/2 Powerful stuff
Bil-322 May 2001
Touching documentary by the creators of Common Threads: Stories From The Quilt and The Celluloid Closet that interviews survivors of the Holocaust who had been interred in concentration camps for being homosexual. Directors Jeffrey Friedman and Rob Epstein cleverly use real footage and very powerful interviews, all linked by Rupert Everett's narration to tell a very powerful story and make a very difficult, if not always unforgettable, film. It's not as zesty as The Celluloid Closet was, due to its subject matter naturally, nor is it as compelling as their Oscar-winning effort of 1984 The Times of Harvey Milk, mostly due to a somewhat wobbly narrative, but it's definitely a worthy piece of work, especially since the men who do tell their stories onscreen are at turns brave, wry and heartbreakingly vulnerable.
Good documentary about persecuted but not persecutors.
kayael128 September 2021
This documentary consisted an accurate and good depiction of what happened to homosexuals during Third Reich. Story is all presented through interviews with survivors. Yet info beyond those survivors alone is very scarce and mentioned only in passing. You can't really learn about Third Reich's attempted way of dealing with homosexuality from this documentary. This one holds only a minor interest to serious WW2 enthusiasts. However the documentary is good for what it is. A group of surviving homosexual people giving their accounts in an effective and relatable way.
Personal experiences adequately enhanced
xelag20 December 2005
This film is an excellent example of letting people tell their story without embellishing the contextual situation. The extra material added to the interviews is perfectly balanced to put the interviews in their historical and personal context, without unduly expanding the context to overshadow what the (very few) survivors had to tell. Enough information is given about paragraph 175 and it's application during Hitler's reign and after for us to get an insight of its consequences, and the situation of denial of our 'civilised' western countries even today regarding the gay victims of this horror. But the focus is on the survivors' tale, not the context. This technique (too rarely applied) produced an extremely powerful documentary. I have seldom seen such a well balanced work.
Interesting but disappointing
stuthehistoryguy7 August 2004
This film gives us a touching look at several unique, vibrant people who survived the Holocaust-era persecution of homosexuals, but it lacks the substance and historical detail that a good treatment of this subject requires. The stories of the pro-gay Wiemar culture are the best thing about the picture. From them, we get a real sense of what that era was like and what a loss the Nazi ascension represented. When the film considers the Holocaust itself, however, the interviewees' reticence on the topic fails to provide nearly so rich a description of either the camps or the legal mechanisms of Nazi persecution of homosexuals. It is not a bad film by any means, but it does little to educate the viewer, and education on this topic is sorely needed.
A must-see documentary
gonz3013 April 2000
PARAGRAPH 175, which premiered in the US (outside of Sundance) last night at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, is must-see viewing. When one thinks how many documentaries have been made about the Nazi oppression of Jews, Roma (formerly known as Gypsies), and other groups, it is almost inconceivable that it is only in the year 2000, 67 years after the Nazi persecution of male homosexuals started (in 1933), that a documentary on the subject is finally released. It was high time this happened. This documentary about the terrible fate of this population group aims to inform the general public, and does so well. It is aided by the excellent commentary voiced by openly gay actor and part-time Miami resident Rupert Everett. If it is shown anyplace near you, see it. It might be the only opportunity to do so, unless it is later distributed in video or DVD.
"Uncomfortable Memories"
boblipton29 June 2021
Here's a documentary about homosexuals during the Third Reich and their persecution under Nazi Germany, with a voice-over commentary by Rupert Everett.
Paragraph 175 was not not unique to Nazi Germany. It was part of the German Empire's legal code, originally passed in 1871, and it was not repealed until 1994. It had its parallels in many other nation's codes of law; the Nazis stepped up prosecution after the laxity of Weimar Germany, although lesbians were not prosecuted. Instead, they married, often gay men. This movie focuses, albeit not exclusively, on gay Jews in the era, and the language is often surprisingly guarded; old men talk about their memories as "uncomfortable" -- that's a translation of the testimony given in German.
Paragraph 175 was not not unique to Nazi Germany. It was part of the German Empire's legal code, originally passed in 1871, and it was not repealed until 1994. It had its parallels in many other nation's codes of law; the Nazis stepped up prosecution after the laxity of Weimar Germany, although lesbians were not prosecuted. Instead, they married, often gay men. This movie focuses, albeit not exclusively, on gay Jews in the era, and the language is often surprisingly guarded; old men talk about their memories as "uncomfortable" -- that's a translation of the testimony given in German.
Vital film could have been constructed better
leliorisen2 February 2002
While I think that everyone should see this film because of its vitally important subject matter, I feel that because of lax editing and meandering, incomplete story telling, it was much less effective than it should have been.
As just one example, and I have been studying Nazi persecution of homosexuals, the movie briefly refers to a gay man's friend who was killed by German Shepherd dogs in front of 300 people. I read a similar account on the Internet (I suspect it was the same case), in which graphic details were given of the brutality of the crime, details which, if you heard or read about, you would never forget. To just gloss over this compelling tale in the manner the movie does is inexcusable. How can one understand the true horror when it is glossed over.
Additionally, one of the major points of this film should be how many gay concentration camp victims were still treated as prisoners after the war, specifically because of Paragraph 175. It is barely a footnote in the movie. This is inexplicable to me.
What is good is having a record of living survivors of gay detention during the Holocaust. It remains the reason for seeing this movie. But the narrative is very meandering and a few of the lingering close-ups of some of the survivors breaking down almost feels exploitative.
Bottom line: because of the important subject matter and the live interviews the film needs to be seen. I just wish it had been made more coherently. A film with this type of material will always be powerful. It could have been far more so had it been made by better filmmakers.
As just one example, and I have been studying Nazi persecution of homosexuals, the movie briefly refers to a gay man's friend who was killed by German Shepherd dogs in front of 300 people. I read a similar account on the Internet (I suspect it was the same case), in which graphic details were given of the brutality of the crime, details which, if you heard or read about, you would never forget. To just gloss over this compelling tale in the manner the movie does is inexcusable. How can one understand the true horror when it is glossed over.
Additionally, one of the major points of this film should be how many gay concentration camp victims were still treated as prisoners after the war, specifically because of Paragraph 175. It is barely a footnote in the movie. This is inexplicable to me.
What is good is having a record of living survivors of gay detention during the Holocaust. It remains the reason for seeing this movie. But the narrative is very meandering and a few of the lingering close-ups of some of the survivors breaking down almost feels exploitative.
Bottom line: because of the important subject matter and the live interviews the film needs to be seen. I just wish it had been made more coherently. A film with this type of material will always be powerful. It could have been far more so had it been made by better filmmakers.
Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.
cogitoergosum-19 December 2005
If you are gay, lesbian, or simply sympathetic to the lives and struggles of gays and lesbians, you must watch this film.
It is the story of gays and although briefly, lesbians, during the early Pre-WWII years and also during the war.
Although I had heard of the "pink triangle" used by the Nazi's during the war, I had never heard any information about victims of Nazi persecution against homosexuals. Ever. Until now I was in the dark.
I shall forever be grateful to the producers, director, and survivors who shared their deeply personal stories, each unique, yet all with a common thread; one of having survived as homosexuals and lesbians during the Nazi era in Germany.
The stories are real, the people are real, and the emotions which are displayed and which will be brought forth in you, are real. It is impossible to be a human being, and not be struck deep inside by the faces and stories of these people.
Remarkably, even some of the survivors eventually became members of the German Army during the war themselves, so in no means is this a whitewashed film nor is it seen only through rose colored glasses.
This is documentary cinema at its very finest. Emotional, insightful, raw, and human in every sense of the word.
Do not miss this film!
It is the story of gays and although briefly, lesbians, during the early Pre-WWII years and also during the war.
Although I had heard of the "pink triangle" used by the Nazi's during the war, I had never heard any information about victims of Nazi persecution against homosexuals. Ever. Until now I was in the dark.
I shall forever be grateful to the producers, director, and survivors who shared their deeply personal stories, each unique, yet all with a common thread; one of having survived as homosexuals and lesbians during the Nazi era in Germany.
The stories are real, the people are real, and the emotions which are displayed and which will be brought forth in you, are real. It is impossible to be a human being, and not be struck deep inside by the faces and stories of these people.
Remarkably, even some of the survivors eventually became members of the German Army during the war themselves, so in no means is this a whitewashed film nor is it seen only through rose colored glasses.
This is documentary cinema at its very finest. Emotional, insightful, raw, and human in every sense of the word.
Do not miss this film!
Yes, it can still happen here today
jakob136 April 2019
The Second German Reich penal law criminalized relations between the same sex, in Paragraph 175 of the Penal Code. The Nazis firmed it up, and it remain on the book until 1966 in East Germany and 1967 in West Germany.
A half-century after the defeat of Nazi Germany, historian Klaus Mueller searched out survivors of Nazi prisons. Few were alive or willing to tell their story, and those that did, to varying degrees told of the horrors and joys of being gay in Nazi and Weimar Germany and thereafter.
One survived the death camp at Mathausen for more thab 8 years; another released early from prison joined the Wehrmacht, so he could be among men, although he refrained from sexual relations. Still another spoke chillingly of a singing forest: there the Nazi torturers hung homosexuals handcuffed to trees, where they were beaten or died slowly of a painful crucifixion. A Frenchman from occupied Alsace rounded up went to a cavalry where his torturers shove wooden sticks up his anis, and even in his 70s he suffered and bled from his wounds that wouldn't heal. The seemingly more cheerful, a German Jew, survived the war hardly unscathed. His Protestant relatives hid him, but he was bold as brass and full of courage, even donning a Hitler Youth uniform to rescue a young lover, who at the last moment couldn't leave his family to a horrible death that he shared at Auschwitz. The film opens with his 'cheery' retelling that under the bombing of Berlin, he had sex with a German soldier as they held each other for dear life fearful that death awaited them.
He ended up in Palestine post war, fought for Israel and in 1979 returned to Germany to work with the small Jewish community there. And yet, like all survivors, or many perhaps, a happy face drowned out the unthinkable memories of Nazis, starvation, inhuman treatment and sheer sadism.
Homosexuals, especially Christians, became human guinea pigs: operations, castration and worse. A lone lesbian, safely in Britain tells of her 'miraclous' escape. Lesbians were, according to Nazi philosophy, were recuperable vessels, for their eggs, when impregnated, could furnish Aryan children for the Third Reich.
The defeat of Whilhelmian Germany in 1917, open up forces of liberation and repression. Weimar Berlin became the Mecca of homosexuality and free sex; it also bred the extreme right that rebelled against defeat and licenctiousness.
The 1997 film 'Bent' provides a vivid tableau of Gay Berlin. On the other hand, Hilter's Brown Shirt headed by the homosexual Ernst Roehm, led a group of thugs killing homosexuals, Communists Socialists and anyone opposed to Hitler's Nazi Party.
Visconti's 'The Damned', in a deeply intense segment, shows the 'Night of the Long Knives', the massacre of Roehm and his homosexual horde.
The five or six witness in Paragraph 175 are now dead, but their words resound with a heaviness of a history that seems forgotten. But has the persecution of homosexuals stopped. Recently the Sultan of Brunei has revived Shaaria law, calling for beheading or sutting off of limbs for those that engage in same sex relations. ISIS were no different where they held power. And the rise of the Alt Right and revival of Fascism have enough example of murders, bombings and the like. So, the page of history in many ways has flipped backwards, it seems, in spite of Gay Liberation, soon to celebrate the 50 anniversary of The Stonewall Rebellion.
Mueller's film lies in the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. It should be seen often and in schools and public venues, the more especially since humans sense of history is drenched in amnesia.
A Heart wrenching true account of the forgotten..
gmalkinnz25 February 2015
This one made me cry, you can see the pain in their eyes when they are telling you of what happened to them.
I would HIGHLY recommend this to ANYONE to watch. If nothing else but to understand..
5 out of about 100,000 survived and I am sure (unfortunately) that there are less today, this gives us an insight as to the hell these men faced for being themselves.
Historian Klaus Müller has opened my eyes as to what was done during WW2, given us a piece of history not to forget.
10 out of 10 from me!!
I would HIGHLY recommend this to ANYONE to watch. If nothing else but to understand..
5 out of about 100,000 survived and I am sure (unfortunately) that there are less today, this gives us an insight as to the hell these men faced for being themselves.
Historian Klaus Müller has opened my eyes as to what was done during WW2, given us a piece of history not to forget.
10 out of 10 from me!!
What do we own, if not humanity?
vampirock_x28 March 2007
Although there have been other homosexual films involving this issue, they had them broken down and rebuilt to fit a film. This one is different in that it presents the thing as a whole. The story-telling is direct, yet it's different from the heaviness and cruelty of "Night & Fog". Instead of focusing on the holocaust, this one is humanity-oriented. It's touching, but it's no less strong when I dwelled on the contrasts.
All the interviewees of as old as around ninety are survivors from the concentration camp during WWII. Each old man or woman who went through all the twisted time has a heartbreakingly romantic memory to tell. Some were indifferent. Some were tearful. Some were furious. It was incredibly amazing that even after all those years they managed to keep the subtlest details of the forbidden love and the dark holocaust.
Since the first time I laid my eyes on the cover of Penguin version's "Maurice", I grew obsessed with those nostalgic black & white and autochrome photographs, which this documentary contains a lot. When the inadequacy of photographic technology left us these photos of brotherly love, it's even more bittersweetly touching. Each weather-beaten photo has a iridescent moment behind it. The everlasting intimacy and beauty in these photos already suggested love is universal.
Their lives go on. They may not last long. They may just bury the memories, but they shouldn't regret --- judging from their facial expression while they were recalling their love at first sights and my imagination of a certain hilarious party in a certain club on a certain street in the night of the 1920's Berlin of chaos and liberation.
They are unique. They were, are and shall be envied by all, for which they've paid their price. How could they not be proud of themselves and at the same time torturous? As for all those who deny the history, they lost the last piece of emotion. And I'm sorry, if not furious anymore, for that.
I'm grateful to these film makers for attending to this precious, lost part of human history. I'm grateful that we're told. We're told to be open-minded and, if possible, to feel humanity.
All the interviewees of as old as around ninety are survivors from the concentration camp during WWII. Each old man or woman who went through all the twisted time has a heartbreakingly romantic memory to tell. Some were indifferent. Some were tearful. Some were furious. It was incredibly amazing that even after all those years they managed to keep the subtlest details of the forbidden love and the dark holocaust.
Since the first time I laid my eyes on the cover of Penguin version's "Maurice", I grew obsessed with those nostalgic black & white and autochrome photographs, which this documentary contains a lot. When the inadequacy of photographic technology left us these photos of brotherly love, it's even more bittersweetly touching. Each weather-beaten photo has a iridescent moment behind it. The everlasting intimacy and beauty in these photos already suggested love is universal.
Their lives go on. They may not last long. They may just bury the memories, but they shouldn't regret --- judging from their facial expression while they were recalling their love at first sights and my imagination of a certain hilarious party in a certain club on a certain street in the night of the 1920's Berlin of chaos and liberation.
They are unique. They were, are and shall be envied by all, for which they've paid their price. How could they not be proud of themselves and at the same time torturous? As for all those who deny the history, they lost the last piece of emotion. And I'm sorry, if not furious anymore, for that.
I'm grateful to these film makers for attending to this precious, lost part of human history. I'm grateful that we're told. We're told to be open-minded and, if possible, to feel humanity.
It wasn't only Jews!
lastliberal16 April 2007
I would imagine that 99% of those questioned would think that only Jews were killed in the Nazi death camps. In fact, gypsies, homosexuals, politicals, and Jehovah's Witnesses were also given special stars and faced extermination.
There are only about 10 homosexuals left from this tragedy, and they interviewed eight for this special film. It was incredible and moving and, if you are not touched by their stories, then you are cast in stone.
The film did mentioned that this punishment was reserved primarily for men, but they did not explain why. I wouldn't take anything away for that, but it should have been discussed as they had many lesbians in the movie. Did they just want to show nude women? Gratuitous monties? I remember my visit to Dachau and the memories I have of this shame on humanity. This film will have to hold me until I can get to the Holocaust Museum in Washington to see more. It is not to be missed and everyone should be checking HBO to see when it plays next.
There are only about 10 homosexuals left from this tragedy, and they interviewed eight for this special film. It was incredible and moving and, if you are not touched by their stories, then you are cast in stone.
The film did mentioned that this punishment was reserved primarily for men, but they did not explain why. I wouldn't take anything away for that, but it should have been discussed as they had many lesbians in the movie. Did they just want to show nude women? Gratuitous monties? I remember my visit to Dachau and the memories I have of this shame on humanity. This film will have to hold me until I can get to the Holocaust Museum in Washington to see more. It is not to be missed and everyone should be checking HBO to see when it plays next.
Moving and Well Made
d319330 March 2006
These comments apply to the version of this film shown recently on the Logo channel, which may or may not be the complete version.
I was not too eager to watch yet another documentary about the Holocaust, but had seen little on film about the Nazi's persecution of homosexuals, so decided to steel myself and give it a chance.
This is a beautifully made film, well constructed, and telling a compelling story. As a documentary film maker myself, I know I would have been tempted to try speeding up the pacing. That would have been so wrong, and the filmmakers here managed to avoid that trap. Instead we are given a chance to journey beyond the obvious "sound bites" and start to understand just a little of what those interviewed went through and who they are (while avoiding the maudlin Barbara Walters approach, which can so easily rob the subject of his/her dignity).
By careful pacing, skillful choice of materials, and beautiful editing, we are pulled into this little told story of barbarism and bravery. It is extremely moving without feeling in any way exploitive. Bravo!
I was not too eager to watch yet another documentary about the Holocaust, but had seen little on film about the Nazi's persecution of homosexuals, so decided to steel myself and give it a chance.
This is a beautifully made film, well constructed, and telling a compelling story. As a documentary film maker myself, I know I would have been tempted to try speeding up the pacing. That would have been so wrong, and the filmmakers here managed to avoid that trap. Instead we are given a chance to journey beyond the obvious "sound bites" and start to understand just a little of what those interviewed went through and who they are (while avoiding the maudlin Barbara Walters approach, which can so easily rob the subject of his/her dignity).
By careful pacing, skillful choice of materials, and beautiful editing, we are pulled into this little told story of barbarism and bravery. It is extremely moving without feeling in any way exploitive. Bravo!
A shocking, important story eloquently told
tomgillespie20027 August 2016
Despite the wealth of documentaries and factual dramas covering the atrocities committed by the Nazis under the command of Adolf Hitler, there is always another story, as equally horrifying as it is unbelievable, to come out of the woodwork. This harrowing documentary by Rob Epstein (The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)) and Jeffrey Friedman (Howl (2010)) focuses on the social persecution and mass murder of approximately 75,000 German homosexual men under Nazi rule. Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code forbade homosexual activity, placing it on the same level as bestiality and paedophilia, and the law was broadened by Hitler during his rise to power as he sought to 'purify' the German race. The law remained in place until 1994.
Early scenes show a 1920's Berlin in full swing, where the young danced, drank and experimented sexually without fear of persecution. Paragraph 175 existed but was rarely enforced, and the young partied freely in a country relieved to come out of the carnage of World War I in one piece. As the Jews were starting to be rounded up and placed in ghettos ready for the concentration camps, homosexual men were under the impression that simply being German would be enough to save them. Similar to what they did with the Jews, the Nazis did nothing at first, allowing the men to congregate in their night clubs and hot spots, only to be rounded up later once they finally felt safe. The emphasis here is on homosexual men as Hitler thought lesbianism to be curable, and why waste a perfectly functional carrier of future Aryans?
The interviewees taking part in Paragraph 175 have been largely quiet for decades, with the German government largely resistant to acknowledging the mass-murder of gay men and many countries oblivious to what took place. They often talk in hushed voices, with one man describing the 'singing forest', a place that sounds like some kind of haven he escaped to amidst the madness. Instead, it was named for the screams that echoed throughout, as victims were hung from hooks and left to die. Others describe of seeing their friends being torn apart by dogs, while another, more animated than the others, tells of how he was he was raped with planks of wood by Nazi officers while under questioning. It's a shocking, important tale largely ignored even by World War II enthusiasts, eloquently told by the two filmmakers.
Early scenes show a 1920's Berlin in full swing, where the young danced, drank and experimented sexually without fear of persecution. Paragraph 175 existed but was rarely enforced, and the young partied freely in a country relieved to come out of the carnage of World War I in one piece. As the Jews were starting to be rounded up and placed in ghettos ready for the concentration camps, homosexual men were under the impression that simply being German would be enough to save them. Similar to what they did with the Jews, the Nazis did nothing at first, allowing the men to congregate in their night clubs and hot spots, only to be rounded up later once they finally felt safe. The emphasis here is on homosexual men as Hitler thought lesbianism to be curable, and why waste a perfectly functional carrier of future Aryans?
The interviewees taking part in Paragraph 175 have been largely quiet for decades, with the German government largely resistant to acknowledging the mass-murder of gay men and many countries oblivious to what took place. They often talk in hushed voices, with one man describing the 'singing forest', a place that sounds like some kind of haven he escaped to amidst the madness. Instead, it was named for the screams that echoed throughout, as victims were hung from hooks and left to die. Others describe of seeing their friends being torn apart by dogs, while another, more animated than the others, tells of how he was he was raped with planks of wood by Nazi officers while under questioning. It's a shocking, important tale largely ignored even by World War II enthusiasts, eloquently told by the two filmmakers.
History is after all, a study of human consciousness in guilt.
kmfazil25 October 2009
Probably history was after all, meant to be a study of human consciousness in guilt. Of course, there is always a need to realize something valuable out of the past, that a study about the past is after all a human being's reverse-troubleshooting guide. Probably that's the reason why there are beautiful pictures of stoic, stiff-lipped people in our high school history text-books. We like to think of ourselves as the descendants of glorious generations, men and women valiant in their own right, contributing their bit to the proud bloodlines we carry today. We read on these people, associate ourselves with the affairs of their lives, judge them for their actions, name calendar days after them, hate them, worship them, write books on them, film biopics on their lives, name our babies after them
The reason we can't forget these people could be because they've either given to or taken from this world in proportions far greater than what you or me have.
Between the years 1933 and 1945 one man changed our world because he believed in something that seemed stupid at first. As time rolled into horror-fest mode, it turned into mankind's worst ever mistake. Something that psychologically stopped time and spun it backwards. We remember that man either because he took away from this world a chunk of our moral fiber, the scars forever etched in our minds, or probably because he gave this world freedom from the ideologies of mankind's vilest prodigy when he hanged himself.
Today, history attests the importance of this period of madness with facts and figures that might seem absurdly horrible for our generation. We've all probably read enough to forget about a past like this. Biopics and documentaries have already dry-choked our tear glands at the horrifying experiences recounted by Jewish survivors. Pictures of gas chambers and mass-graves have already made us numb. And just when we thought that we knew too much to burden our consciences, comes a movie about this small group of men who disappeared off the face of the earth because of something that disturbs, intrigues and thwarts us till this day: Love, and all the stigma it carries. And for something so simple and subtle as love to take place between two people, there lies an even more absurd reasoning as to why the two people shouldn't be of the same sex. That's the Nazi regime's code of stigma, also known as Paragraph 175. And no, your fat, dog-eared history text book does not consider the lives of one hundred thousand men who lived during that time, loving others worth mentioning. These men died unnoticed and in secret captivity, so secret that even those labor camps within which they died are today not preserved for posterity. Few of those numerous men survived. Fewer live today. And fewer still are willing to come out of their dark closets of tears and share their experiences, unscripted and undistorted to a camera crew determined to make known to us such a vital, forgotten part of man's history.
It's pretty obvious what the contents of Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code contained, judging by the number of innocent lives it consumed, it would be more appropriate if you'd watch the movie and learn rather than have me explain it to you in a website review. What's most unsettling is interestingly, not Paragraph 175 itself, considering the circumstances under which it took form. Rather, it's the fact that a law that was so fatal took a hundred and twenty three years from the time it was adopted in 1871, to be finally revoked in 1994. Even after the fall of Hitler in 1945, it still took close to fifty whole years and six amendments to finally strike it down.
Nazis killed plenty of men, women and children. You certainly wouldn't expect the most powerful and conservative army in the world to go soft against gay men and women and suddenly endorse mutual love. Not at a time when your first-duty towards the people you love was replaced by the pride of the country. So in short, Nazis did what Nazis do best: kill. But, even after we thought the horrible era of an insane ideology was over and done with, heads of government still remained conservative and chose to ignore the ills of their pasts, dragging their feet through the marshes of sludge-bureaucracy.
Rob Epstein conveys all of these truths with anger and emotion, throughout while interviewing these survivors. Some, among them is a half-Jewish gay resistance fighter who posed as a Hitler Youth member to rescue his lover from a Gestapo transfer camp in an ultimately futile effort; Annette Eick, the Jewish lesbian who escaped to England with the help of a woman she loved; the German Christian photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for homosexuality, then joined the army on his release because he "wanted to be with men" and Pierre Seel, the French Alsatian teenager, who watched as his lover was eaten alive by dogs in the camps.
The statistics are staggering: Between 1933 and 1945, some 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, roughly half of them were sentenced to prison, and from 10,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. The camps were used for re-education, slave labor, castration and sadistic medical experiments. It's believed only about 4,000 survived their ordeal. It is interesting to note that the penal code didn't cover lesbians. The Nazis considered lesbians to be "curable." Women were regarded, as vessels of motherhood – increasing the German population was top priority – therefore, they were exempt from mass arrest. Most lesbians went into exile or quietly married gay men.
There are only about 10 homosexuals left from this tragedy, and they interviewed eight for this special film. It was incredible and moving and, if you are not touched by their stories, then you are cast in stone.
Between the years 1933 and 1945 one man changed our world because he believed in something that seemed stupid at first. As time rolled into horror-fest mode, it turned into mankind's worst ever mistake. Something that psychologically stopped time and spun it backwards. We remember that man either because he took away from this world a chunk of our moral fiber, the scars forever etched in our minds, or probably because he gave this world freedom from the ideologies of mankind's vilest prodigy when he hanged himself.
Today, history attests the importance of this period of madness with facts and figures that might seem absurdly horrible for our generation. We've all probably read enough to forget about a past like this. Biopics and documentaries have already dry-choked our tear glands at the horrifying experiences recounted by Jewish survivors. Pictures of gas chambers and mass-graves have already made us numb. And just when we thought that we knew too much to burden our consciences, comes a movie about this small group of men who disappeared off the face of the earth because of something that disturbs, intrigues and thwarts us till this day: Love, and all the stigma it carries. And for something so simple and subtle as love to take place between two people, there lies an even more absurd reasoning as to why the two people shouldn't be of the same sex. That's the Nazi regime's code of stigma, also known as Paragraph 175. And no, your fat, dog-eared history text book does not consider the lives of one hundred thousand men who lived during that time, loving others worth mentioning. These men died unnoticed and in secret captivity, so secret that even those labor camps within which they died are today not preserved for posterity. Few of those numerous men survived. Fewer live today. And fewer still are willing to come out of their dark closets of tears and share their experiences, unscripted and undistorted to a camera crew determined to make known to us such a vital, forgotten part of man's history.
It's pretty obvious what the contents of Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code contained, judging by the number of innocent lives it consumed, it would be more appropriate if you'd watch the movie and learn rather than have me explain it to you in a website review. What's most unsettling is interestingly, not Paragraph 175 itself, considering the circumstances under which it took form. Rather, it's the fact that a law that was so fatal took a hundred and twenty three years from the time it was adopted in 1871, to be finally revoked in 1994. Even after the fall of Hitler in 1945, it still took close to fifty whole years and six amendments to finally strike it down.
Nazis killed plenty of men, women and children. You certainly wouldn't expect the most powerful and conservative army in the world to go soft against gay men and women and suddenly endorse mutual love. Not at a time when your first-duty towards the people you love was replaced by the pride of the country. So in short, Nazis did what Nazis do best: kill. But, even after we thought the horrible era of an insane ideology was over and done with, heads of government still remained conservative and chose to ignore the ills of their pasts, dragging their feet through the marshes of sludge-bureaucracy.
Rob Epstein conveys all of these truths with anger and emotion, throughout while interviewing these survivors. Some, among them is a half-Jewish gay resistance fighter who posed as a Hitler Youth member to rescue his lover from a Gestapo transfer camp in an ultimately futile effort; Annette Eick, the Jewish lesbian who escaped to England with the help of a woman she loved; the German Christian photographer who was arrested and imprisoned for homosexuality, then joined the army on his release because he "wanted to be with men" and Pierre Seel, the French Alsatian teenager, who watched as his lover was eaten alive by dogs in the camps.
The statistics are staggering: Between 1933 and 1945, some 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality, roughly half of them were sentenced to prison, and from 10,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. The camps were used for re-education, slave labor, castration and sadistic medical experiments. It's believed only about 4,000 survived their ordeal. It is interesting to note that the penal code didn't cover lesbians. The Nazis considered lesbians to be "curable." Women were regarded, as vessels of motherhood – increasing the German population was top priority – therefore, they were exempt from mass arrest. Most lesbians went into exile or quietly married gay men.
There are only about 10 homosexuals left from this tragedy, and they interviewed eight for this special film. It was incredible and moving and, if you are not touched by their stories, then you are cast in stone.
From A Dark And Lonely Place
gftbiloxi12 June 2007
The German Penal Code of 1871, Paragraph 175, states "An unnatural sex act committed between persons of the male sex or by humans with animals is punishable by imprisonment; the loss of civil rights may also be imposed." The law was widely disregarded, and the post-World War I Weimar Republic saw a flowering of gay and lesbian culture, most particularly in Berlin. When the Weimar Republic collapsed and the Nazi party rose to power, few gays and lesbians felt any reason to fear: was not Ernst Rohm, head of the SA, well known for his homosexuality? On 1 July 1934, later known as "The Night of Long Knives," the Nazi party conducted a bloody purge of their ranks. Rohm was among the victims, and as the Nazis swept to full power over Germany they moved to broaden the scope of Paragraph 175. The glory days of gay and lesbian Berlin were over. Somewhat oddly, lesbians were not regarded as a threat to the Nazi party, and many lesbians either left Germany or simply withdrew from public life, thus escaping with their lives. Gay men, however, came under full attack. A special branch of the Gestapo was formed to identify gay men; once their lists were established the arrests began.
With many records destroyed by the Nazis as the Allies swept through Europe at the close of the war, it is now very difficult to estimate how many homosexuals were arrested. Most historians agree there is hard evidence to support a figure of 100,000, but many note that the total may have been well in excess of that, possibly to the extent of 600,000 total. Of those fed into the Nazi meat grinder, perhaps 4,000 survived--a much lower survival rate than that found even among political prisoners. There is considerable evidence that homosexuals were regarded as the "lowest of the low" in the prison pecking order and suffered not only from Nazi atrocity but were also sometimes savaged by their fellow prisoners as well. And to them was given a final curse: the victorious Allies retained Paragraph 175 as law following the collapse of Nazi Germany. Fearing possible re-arrest at Allied hands, homosexuals who survived the prisons and concentration camps dare not speak of their lives and experiences. Most would remain silent until their deaths.
The documentary PARAGRAPH 175 does not attempt to examine the full scope of Nazi atrocity or even Nazi atrocity against the gay community. It instead focuses on the memories of a handful of men and women who recall their experiences. Perhaps the single most famous of these is Pierre Seel, who saw his lover killed by dogs in the death camps and who closeted himself to a remarkable extent after the war. "I am ashamed!" Seel cries at one point in his series of interviews. "I am ashamed for humanity!" It is a memorable moment of pain echoing across the decades. Seel died in 2005.
While most of the interview subjects are male, lesbians are represented by Annette Eick, a remarkably charming woman, and while their stories vary considerably in detail they are the same in content: I was there, I saw it, and I bear witness for those who cannot speak. At times the film seems excessively languid, but overall it does justice to its interview subjects, who emerge as fully-depicted individuals, sometimes passionate, sometimes restrained, but never without the dignity that should belong to all mankind as birthright.
The DVD contains several extras. Although it contained several points of interest I was not greatly impressed with the audio commentary; on the other hand, I was greatly impressed with two bonus interviews and particularly so by subject Kitty Fisher, a Jewish woman who recounts how a homosexual prisoner came to her aid--and whose advice ultimately saved her life.
These are painful memories, all of them, and all the more so because the Holocaust has been increasingly downplayed over the past few decades--downplayed to a point at which some few now attempt to deny that it ever occurred at all. But facts remain facts no matter how many misguided people attempt to change or refute them, and in the name of humanity itself we owe all those who have suffered in the killing fields of the world the dignity of truth. PARAGRAPH 175 is a part of that truth.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
With many records destroyed by the Nazis as the Allies swept through Europe at the close of the war, it is now very difficult to estimate how many homosexuals were arrested. Most historians agree there is hard evidence to support a figure of 100,000, but many note that the total may have been well in excess of that, possibly to the extent of 600,000 total. Of those fed into the Nazi meat grinder, perhaps 4,000 survived--a much lower survival rate than that found even among political prisoners. There is considerable evidence that homosexuals were regarded as the "lowest of the low" in the prison pecking order and suffered not only from Nazi atrocity but were also sometimes savaged by their fellow prisoners as well. And to them was given a final curse: the victorious Allies retained Paragraph 175 as law following the collapse of Nazi Germany. Fearing possible re-arrest at Allied hands, homosexuals who survived the prisons and concentration camps dare not speak of their lives and experiences. Most would remain silent until their deaths.
The documentary PARAGRAPH 175 does not attempt to examine the full scope of Nazi atrocity or even Nazi atrocity against the gay community. It instead focuses on the memories of a handful of men and women who recall their experiences. Perhaps the single most famous of these is Pierre Seel, who saw his lover killed by dogs in the death camps and who closeted himself to a remarkable extent after the war. "I am ashamed!" Seel cries at one point in his series of interviews. "I am ashamed for humanity!" It is a memorable moment of pain echoing across the decades. Seel died in 2005.
While most of the interview subjects are male, lesbians are represented by Annette Eick, a remarkably charming woman, and while their stories vary considerably in detail they are the same in content: I was there, I saw it, and I bear witness for those who cannot speak. At times the film seems excessively languid, but overall it does justice to its interview subjects, who emerge as fully-depicted individuals, sometimes passionate, sometimes restrained, but never without the dignity that should belong to all mankind as birthright.
The DVD contains several extras. Although it contained several points of interest I was not greatly impressed with the audio commentary; on the other hand, I was greatly impressed with two bonus interviews and particularly so by subject Kitty Fisher, a Jewish woman who recounts how a homosexual prisoner came to her aid--and whose advice ultimately saved her life.
These are painful memories, all of them, and all the more so because the Holocaust has been increasingly downplayed over the past few decades--downplayed to a point at which some few now attempt to deny that it ever occurred at all. But facts remain facts no matter how many misguided people attempt to change or refute them, and in the name of humanity itself we owe all those who have suffered in the killing fields of the world the dignity of truth. PARAGRAPH 175 is a part of that truth.
GFT, Amazon Reviewer
paragraph 175
mossgrymk4 February 2024
Every sick, morally corrupt, political and/or social movement needs an Other to demonize and scapegoat. The sicker and more corrupt the movement the more Others it creates. The Nazis, therefore, had numerous groups that they used to arouse fear, resentment and grievance among the German population. In addition to Jews there were all the other non Aryans of the world, as well as communists, Catholics, the nations of Western Europe and North America that had defeated Germany in World War One, artists, and intellectuals deemed "decadent" and, as this powerful and sobering documentary shows, the male homosexual sub culture that flourished during the Weimar years.
The film is centered around interviews with eight of the ten known gay survivors of concentration camps who were still alive at the time the film was made. All are in their late eighties or early nineties. And though their reactions vary from anger to sadness to cynicism to near breakdown all are, in their various ways, eloquent and moving witnesses to the unspeakable horror of Germany under Hitler and his gang and a timely reminder that It Could Happen Here. A minus.
PS...Ironically, in a film that screams mass murder and injustice, narrator Rupert Everett needed to speak more loudly. My only criticism.
The film is centered around interviews with eight of the ten known gay survivors of concentration camps who were still alive at the time the film was made. All are in their late eighties or early nineties. And though their reactions vary from anger to sadness to cynicism to near breakdown all are, in their various ways, eloquent and moving witnesses to the unspeakable horror of Germany under Hitler and his gang and a timely reminder that It Could Happen Here. A minus.
PS...Ironically, in a film that screams mass murder and injustice, narrator Rupert Everett needed to speak more loudly. My only criticism.
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