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| Gay Themed Features from Lazy Frog click on frog to return or image to buy / add to your wishlist |
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| SYNOPSIS - PARAGRAPH 175 Beautifully produced, immensely moving documentary about the persecution of gay people by the Nazi in WWII. REVIEW The hidden story of the persecution, incarceration and murder of gay men and lesbians at the hands of the Nazis is examined in this startling, gripping documentary by Oscar-winning filmmakers Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman (The Celluloid Closet). The film follows Klaus Muller, a historian compelled to track down the ten last known gay survivors of Hitler’s "purification" program of all sexual "degenerates." Using archival footage, photographs and testimonials from several surviving camp detainees, the film weaves together the incredibly painful historical story of how this tragedy came to pass and how these men survived despite all odds. Adding misery to the tragedy is that Paragraph 175, the law that outlawed homosexuality in Germany, was kept on the German books until 1969 thereby denying survivors a chance to openly speak out after the war. The now quite elderly homosexual interviewees vividly recount their stories and how they (Jews and Christians alike) saw their orderly lives destroyed when Hitler came to power. They recall with candor, humor and sometimes still seething hatred their imprisonment stories. There’s Heinz Dormer, who spent ten years in prison; Gad Beck, a gay Jew; Albrecht Becker, who after years in an interment camp, was released and promptly volunteered for the army (That’s where the men were!); and Annette Eick, a lesbian survivor saved by a mysterious woman. Their harrowing personal experiences of life in pre-war Berlin and post-war existence is expertly woven by these seasoned documentarians. A thoughtful, shocking but ultimately inspiring look at a dark period in gay history. |
