PARAGRAPH 175
A Film by Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Cast: Rupert Everett (voice), Klaus Muller, Karl Gorath, Pierre Seel, Heinz F, Annete Eick, Albrecht Becker, Gad Beck, Heinz Dormer, Marlene Dietrich, Adolph Hitler, Magnus Hirschfeld, Ernst Rohm
Cast: Rupert Everett (voice), Klaus Muller, Karl Gorath, Pierre Seel, Heinz F, Annete Eick, Albrecht Becker, Gad Beck, Heinz Dormer, Marlene Dietrich, Adolph Hitler, Magnus Hirschfeld, Ernst Rohm
By the 1920's, Berlin had become known as a homosexual eden, where gay men and lesbians lived relatively open lives amidst an exciting subculture of artists and intellectuals. With the coming to power of the Nazis, all this changed. Between 1933 and 1945 100,000 men were arrested for homosexuality under Paragraph 175, the sodomy provision of the German penal code dating back to 1871. Some were imprisoned, others were sent to concentration camps. Of the latter, only about 4,000 survived. Today, fewer than ten of these men are known to be living. Five of them have now come forward to tell their stories for the first time in this powerful new film. The Nazi persecution of homosexuals may be the last untold story of the Third Reich. Paragraph 175 fills a crucial gap in the historical record, and reveals the lasting consequences of this hidden chapter of 20th century history, as told through personal stories of men and women who lived through it. Full Summary