Constructing a gay German Jewish identity in Holocaust memoirs
Abstract
This article analyses five memoirs written or co-authored by self-identified German Jewish gay survivors of the Holocaust – Gad Beck, Walter Guttmann, Jerry Rosenstein, Harry Raymon and Alphons Silbermann. Each of these memoirs, all written more than 40 years after the Holocaust, differently narrates queer experiences during the Holocaust and constructs a gay Jewish identity in the face of extreme persecution and societal homophobia. In contrast to memoirs written by non-Jewish survivors who were persecuted by the Nazis under paragraph 175, these memoirs construct gay Jewish identity as a source of resistance.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Memory
Trauma
and Commemoration
European history and politics
German History and Society
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Holocaust Studies
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 340–361
- Publication date
- 9 January 2026
- Language
- EN