The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps [Paperback]

Heinz Heger (Author), David Fernbach (Translator), Klaus Muller (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1994

The first, and still the best known, testimony by a gay survivor of the Nazi concentration camps translated into English, this harrowing autobiography opened new doors onto the understanding of homosexuality and the Holocaust when it was first published in 1980 by Gay Men's Press.THE MEN WITH THE PINK TRIANGLE has been translated into several languages, with a second edition published in 1994 by Alyson Books. Heger's book also inspired the 1979 play Bent by Martin Sherman which was filmed as the 1997 movie of the same name, directed by Sean Mathias.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It has only been since the mid-1970s that any attention has been paid to the persecution and interment of gay men by the Nazis during the Third Reich. Since that time, books such as Richard Plant's The Pink Triangle (and Martin Sherman's play Bent) have illuminated this nearly lost history. Heinz Heger's first-person account, The Men with the Pink Triangle, was one of the first books on the topic and remains one of the most important.

In 1939, Heger, a Viennese university student, was arrested and sentenced to prison for being a "degenerate." Within weeks he was transported to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp in East Germany, and forced to wear a pink triangle to show that his crime was homosexuality. He remained there, under horrific conditions, until the end of the war in 1945. The power of The Men with the Pink Triangle comes from Heger's sparse prose and his ability to recall--and communicate--the smallest resonant details. The pain and squalor of everyday camp life--the constant filth, the continuous presence of death, and the unimaginable cruelty of those in command--are all here. But Heger's story would be unbearable were it not for the simple courage he and others used to survive and, having survived, that he bore witness. This book is harrowing but necessary reading for everyone concerned about gay history, human rights, or social justice. --Michael Bronski

From Publishers Weekly

Gay survivors of Nazi concentration camps recount their experiences.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books; Revised edition (October 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555830064
• ISBN-13: 978-1555830069
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving and Powerful True Account of Survival, December 7, 2003

By 

gac1003 "gac1003" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps (Paperback)

A sodomy law had been on the German law books since 1871, a law known simply as Paragraph 175. Only a few people were ever sentenced under this obscure law until June of 1935 when, after the rise of Hitler and Nazism, the Nuremberg laws were enacted and the consequences of Paragraph 175 strengthened. Where once before, you had to be caught in the act of same sex relations, now simply receiving a letter or the spreading of idle gossip would have you sent to a concentration camp.

"The Men with the Pink Triangle" is one anonymous man's account of the harshness and cruelty faced by gay men at the hands of the SS and the ruling Nazi party, as well as by the other prisoners -- criminals, politicals, emigrants -- who viewed "filthy queers" as lower than the rest of them. They were distinguished by the large, pink triangles sown onto their prison outfits, making them easy targets for taunts and punishments. Also, homosexuals labored through the worst of the work details and "volunteered" for medical experimentation, which usually resulted in their deaths.

Some advantages also appeared for gay men. The "Capos" who were in charge of the prisoner barracks, often made lovers of some of the prisoners, giving them some protection and better rations and clothing. As is says in the book: "Homosexual behavior between two 'normal' men is considered an emergency outlet, while the same thing between two gay men, who both feel deeply for one another, is something 'filthy' and repulsive." The anonymous man used this to his advantage and survived the camps and the threat of being sent to the front lines.

Ths is a moving and powerful story about survival and about the right to be who you are, during one of the darkest times in world history. Highly recommended.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars We need more books like this one, June 4, 2000

By 

Richard Harrold (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps (Paperback)

A tremendously moving and easy to read book, The Men With the Pink Triangle provides the reader with not only descriptions of the horrific treatment suffered by gays in the Nazi camps, but also provides insight into the intra-camp politics among the prisoners. The anonymous narrator provides details on how the "capos" and the criminal prisoners operated, and how one could "survive" one's incarceration as long as one was willing to accept the camp heirarchy.

But by far, the descriptions of the brutality of the SS troops in the camps is the most rivitting. The terse language of the narrative increases the decriptions' impact. There's no intellectualizing this abuse in this tome. Unfortunately, we need more books like this one. But I'm afraid many of those gays who survived the camps are still unwilling to speak, and that is largely because of how they were treated after the camps were "liberated." The Nazis were brutal in their treatment, but you knew where they stood because the Nazis didn't hide their contempt. Bureaucrats today, however, are much more sinister.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story that needs told more, January 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps (Paperback)

I figure we teach school kids about the Jews suffering in the Holocaust, and the blacks struggle for Civil Rights. It would make sense that kids learn the dangers of homophobic bigotry, by reading this book. It will open your eyes! The same anti-gay stereotypes then, are the same ones now.

This book is about a gay man who survived the Pink Triangle, and took him over 25 years to tell his story, as their were still many anti-gay laws on the books there. This man never wanted any public or economic gains from telling his story. In fact the Nazis had more contempt for the gays than they did the 'inferior racial groups' they persecuted.