Rautenberg, Uta (2021) Homophobia in Nazi Camps. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

PDF WRAP_Theses_Rautenberg_2021.pdf - Submitted Version Embargoed item. Restricted access to Repository staff only until 16 December 2024. Contact author directly, specifying your specific needs. - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (2518Kb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

Even though camp society in Nazi concentration camps is a well-researched topic, and gender has become an established line of historical inquiry, homophobia in the prisoner society remains a lacuna in Holocaust research. This is a significant omission, as homophobia was constructed in the camps and permeated the prisoner society. Studies by Ulrike Janz, Insa Eschebach, Claudia Schoppmann, Cathy Gelbin, and Anna Hájková have called for further examination of queer conduct in the camps, as well as an analysis of ‘homosexuality’ and homophobia. My research builds on their work and it substantiates the hypothesis that there were gendered differences in homophobic expressions. Examination of gendered differences in homophobic expressions has hitherto been absent from the historical literature; my dissertation addresses this gap in studies of the Holocaust.

The broad objective of my research is to examine the intersection of the history of the Holocaust, the history of Nazi Germany and the history of sexuality. I have sought to deepen our understanding of everyday life in the camps and the prisoner society, using sexuality and homophobia as a lens. My thesis reconstructs survivor stories, outlines homophobic accusations, and analyses survivors’ understandings of ‘homosexuality’ and their expression of homophobic views. The thesis places homophobia in the camps in the context of attitudes to ‘homosexuality’ in war time and pre-war Germany. It also analyses the functioning of homophobia among different groups of prisoners with reference to sociology and gender theory. It further examines differences between men’s and women’s responses to ‘homosexual’ conduct by analysing their narratives and testimonies in detail. I show that women’s attitudes towards queer conduct were more condemnatory than those of men, and I suggest possible reasons for this gendered difference.

My sources include self-testimonies, both from the immediate post-war period and from later decades; oral histories; published and unpublished testimonies; and court proceedings. There is a notable lack of queer personal testimonies in the source material: homophobia is evident not only in the contents of the existing survivor source material, but also in the paucity of survivor literature which expresses queer perspectives or recounts the experiences of those accused of same-sex conduct.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > DD Germany H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Nazi concentration camps -- Germany -- History, Nazi concentration camp inmates -- Social conditions, Homophobia -- Germany -- History -- 20th century, Gays -- Nazi persecution, Lesbians -- Germany -- History -- 20th century, Gays -- Germany -- History -- 20th century., World War, 1939-1945 -- Concentration camps
Official Date:	October 2021
Dates:	Date Event October 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Hájková, Anna ; Mick, Christoph
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	vii, 330 leaves
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item