Heinz Heger
Encyclopedia
Heinz Heger was the pen name
used by Josef Kohout (1917 – March 1994), an Austrian
Nazi concentration camp survivor. Kohout had been imprisoned for his homosexuality
, which the German penal code's Paragraph 175
made criminal. He is known best as the author, under the Heger pseudonym, of the 1972 book Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel (The Men With the Pink Triangle), one of very few autobiographical accounts of the treatment of homosexuals in Nazi imprisonment. The book has been translated into several languages, and a second edition produced in 1994. It was the first testimony from a homosexual survivor of the concentration camps to be translated into English and is regarded as the best known. Its publication helped to illuminate not just the suffering gay prisoners of the Nazi regime had experienced, but the lack of recognition and compensation they received after the war's end.
Kohout's book inspired the 1979 play Bent
, by Martin Sherman
, which was filmed as the 1997 movie Bent
, directed by Sean Mathias
.
. His mother, Amalia, and father, Josef senior, were wealthy Catholics, and his father had a high-ranking job in the civil service
. Kohout was arrested in March 1939, at age 22, when a Christmas card he had sent to his male lover, Fred, was intercepted. His lover Fred, whose father was a high-ranking Nazi official, was deemed "mentally disturbed" and escaped punishment.
. He reported that homosexual prisoners were the most reviled of all the camp's detainees, and prevented from mutual association. Though the SS guards controlling the camp prevented the homosexual prisoners from associating with one another, sex between straight guards and gay prisoners nonetheless took place, with the guards construing such encounters as a "natural" expression of their "normal" sexuality in unusual circumstances. Kohout was selected for sexual services by a Kapo
, and then the senior of his block. Florence Tamagne describes these involvements as fortunate for Kohout; the preferment of these relatively privileged men may have helped Kohout to survive.
Like other prisoners, Kohout was assigned futile tasks during his time in the camp, including using barrows to move the snow (and bare hands to move rocks) from one side of the compound and then back to the other. The repetition and pointlessness of the tasks were such that many prisoners committed suicide. Kohout observed the beating and the torture of prisoners, and theorized in his writings that the sadism of some of the SS officers reflected repressed homosexual desires of their own.
Later, Kohout was transferred from Sachsenhausen to Flossenbürg
, in Bavaria
.
He was eventually reunited with his mother. His father had committed suicide in 1942, leaving a note for his wife, Amalia, asking "May God protect our son".
The book remains one of very few in existence that document the experiences of homosexuals imprisoned by the Nazis. It is taught and read in college courses internationally, including at universities and Jewish seminaries.
Erik Jensen, writing in the Journal of the History of Sexuality
, identifies the publication of Kohout's memoir as a turning point in the history of the gay community, when the activists of the 1960s and 70s began to take account of the perspectives of the preceding generation and to embrace the pink triangle
as a symbol of gay identity.
. They included Kohout's journals from the camp, a number of letters sent by his parents that had never reached him while he was imprisoned, and the cloth strip with the pink triangle and his prisoner number that he had been forced to wear. It was the first pink triangle belonging to an identifiable individual that had been recorded.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
used by Josef Kohout (1917 – March 1994), an Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
Nazi concentration camp survivor. Kohout had been imprisoned for his homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, which the German penal code's Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175
Paragraph 175 was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision also criminalized bestiality. All in all, around 140,000 men were convicted under the law.The statute was amended several...
made criminal. He is known best as the author, under the Heger pseudonym, of the 1972 book Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel (The Men With the Pink Triangle), one of very few autobiographical accounts of the treatment of homosexuals in Nazi imprisonment. The book has been translated into several languages, and a second edition produced in 1994. It was the first testimony from a homosexual survivor of the concentration camps to be translated into English and is regarded as the best known. Its publication helped to illuminate not just the suffering gay prisoners of the Nazi regime had experienced, but the lack of recognition and compensation they received after the war's end.
Kohout's book inspired the 1979 play Bent
Bent (play)
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....
, by Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...
, which was filmed as the 1997 movie Bent
Bent (film)
Bent is a 1997 British/Japanese drama film directed by Sean Mathias, based on the 1979 play of the same name by Martin Sherman, who also wrote the screenplay. It revolves around the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany after the murder of Sturmabteilung leader Ernst Röhm on the Night of the...
, directed by Sean Mathias
Sean Mathias
Sean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
.
Biography
Kohout was born and grew up in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. His mother, Amalia, and father, Josef senior, were wealthy Catholics, and his father had a high-ranking job in the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
. Kohout was arrested in March 1939, at age 22, when a Christmas card he had sent to his male lover, Fred, was intercepted. His lover Fred, whose father was a high-ranking Nazi official, was deemed "mentally disturbed" and escaped punishment.
Incarceration
Kohout was interned in the Sachsenhausen concentration campSachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
. He reported that homosexual prisoners were the most reviled of all the camp's detainees, and prevented from mutual association. Though the SS guards controlling the camp prevented the homosexual prisoners from associating with one another, sex between straight guards and gay prisoners nonetheless took place, with the guards construing such encounters as a "natural" expression of their "normal" sexuality in unusual circumstances. Kohout was selected for sexual services by a Kapo
Kapo (concentration camp)
A kapo was a prisoner who worked inside German Nazi concentration camps during World War II in any of certain lower administrative positions. The official Nazi word was Funktionshäftling, or "prisoner functionary", but the Nazis commonly referred to them as kapos.- Etymology :The origin of "kapo"...
, and then the senior of his block. Florence Tamagne describes these involvements as fortunate for Kohout; the preferment of these relatively privileged men may have helped Kohout to survive.
Like other prisoners, Kohout was assigned futile tasks during his time in the camp, including using barrows to move the snow (and bare hands to move rocks) from one side of the compound and then back to the other. The repetition and pointlessness of the tasks were such that many prisoners committed suicide. Kohout observed the beating and the torture of prisoners, and theorized in his writings that the sadism of some of the SS officers reflected repressed homosexual desires of their own.
Later, Kohout was transferred from Sachsenhausen to Flossenbürg
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
, in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
.
Liberation
Flossenbürg was liberated by the U.S. Army's 90th Infantry Division on April 23, 1945. Kohout's journal entry for his final day in the camp reads only "Amerikaner gekommen" ("Americans came").He was eventually reunited with his mother. His father had committed suicide in 1942, leaving a note for his wife, Amalia, asking "May God protect our son".
The book
As well as describing the barbarism of life within the camp, Heger's book offered criticism of the treatment of gay concentration camp survivors after liberation. After the camp's liberation, Kohout - like other homosexual prisoners - was still regarded as a criminal, since homosexuality remained illegal after the demise of the Nazi regime. He was not eligible for compensation and, despite attempts on his part, he received none from the West German government. Many other gay men who had survived concentration camps were returned to prison, and the time they had spent interred in the camps was not deducted from their sentences.The book remains one of very few in existence that document the experiences of homosexuals imprisoned by the Nazis. It is taught and read in college courses internationally, including at universities and Jewish seminaries.
Journal of the History of Sexuality
The Journal of the History of Sexuality is a peer-reviewed academic journal founded in 1990 and published by the University of Texas Press.- Indexing :...
, identifies the publication of Kohout's memoir as a turning point in the history of the gay community, when the activists of the 1960s and 70s began to take account of the perspectives of the preceding generation and to embrace the pink triangle
Pink triangle
The pink triangle was one of the Nazi concentration camp badges, used to identify male prisoners who were sent there because of their homosexuality. Every prisoner had to wear a downward-pointing triangle on his or her jacket, the colour of which was to categorise him or her by "kind"...
as a symbol of gay identity.
Legacy
Kohout died in Vienna at age 79, and certain items of his possession were donated by his companion to the United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
. They included Kohout's journals from the camp, a number of letters sent by his parents that had never reached him while he was imprisoned, and the cloth strip with the pink triangle and his prisoner number that he had been forced to wear. It was the first pink triangle belonging to an identifiable individual that had been recorded.
See also
- Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
- Pierre SeelPierre SeelPierre Seel was a gay Holocaust survivor and the only French person to have testified openly about his experience of deportation during World War II due to his homosexuality.-Biography:...
- a French, LGBT, Nazi-persecuted writer