Lesbians under National Socialism: Legal Indifference, Real Oppression

Abstract

Lesbian women experienced unique persecution under National Socialism in Germany despite no specific legal discrimination being placed upon them. Through strict expectations of gender norms, lesbian women experienced oppression leading up to the Second World War, and during the war were heavily targeted and arrested under a wide range of charges. When women didn’t perform their gender roles to the standard expected of them they were socially ostracized, or directly targeted in some cases. The experiences of women in Ravensbrück concentration camp are used to illustrate the mistreatment and directed attacks on sexual minority women. Finally, the author ties together the treatment of women both before and during the war to show that lesbian women, while not persecuted through formal laws, experienced significant trauma under National Socialism through a variety of policies and practices, both social and political.