“Inhuman Acts of Lesbian Love” – DOAJ
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more about DOAJ’s privacy policy. HIDE THIS MESSAGE OPEN GENDER JOURNAL (JAN 2021) AFFILIATIONS READ ONLINE This paper investigates the extent of the presence of lesbians in Germany between the end of the Weimar Republic and the sedimentation of Nazism, notably focusing on the dialectical perception between negation and (in)visibility that characterizes the stigmatization process undergone by the lesbian prisoners in KZ Ravensbrück, the only concentration camp entirely for women. During the “Golden Twenties”, the absence of female homosexuality in law was incongruous with the real presence of lesbianism within Weimar society, culture, and art. Following Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, while female homosexuality remained uncriminalized, lesbians began being persecuted in “unorthodox” ways and interned in concentration camps. Lesbians were detained on the grounds that they were considered asozial (“anti-social”). Conseq