Rating: 
Summary: A Moving and Powerful True Account of Survival
Review: A sodomy law had been on the German law books since 1871, a law known simply as Paragraph 175. Only a few people were ever sentenced under this obscure law until June of 1935 when, after the rise of Hitler and Nazism, the Nuremberg laws were enacted and the consequences of Paragraph 175 strengthened. Where once before, you had to be caught in the act of same sex relations, now simply receiving a letter or the spreading of idle gossip would have you sent to a concentration camp."The Men with the Pink Triangle" is one anonymous man's account of the harshness and cruelty faced by gay men at the hands of the SS and the ruling Nazi party, as well as by the other prisoners -- criminals, politicals, emigrants -- who viewed "filthy queers" as lower than the rest of them. They were distinguished by the large, pink triangles sown onto their prison outfits, making them easy targets for taunts and punishments. Also, homosexuals labored through the worst of the work details and "volunteered" for medical experimentation, which usually resulted in their deaths. Some advantages also appeared for gay men. The "Capos" who were in charge of the prisoner barracks, often made lovers of some of the prisoners, giving them some protection and better rations and clothing. As is says in the book: "Homosexual behavior between two 'normal' men is considered an emergency outlet, while the same thing between two gay men, who both feel deeply for one another, is something 'filthy' and repulsive." The anonymous man used this to his advantage and survived the camps and the threat of being sent to the front lines. Ths is a moving and powerful story about survival and about the right to be who you are, during one of the darkest times in world history. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Moving and Powerful True Account of Survival
Review: A sodomy law had been on the German law books since 1871, a law known simply as Paragraph 175. Only a few people were ever sentenced under this obscure law until June of 1935 when, after the rise of Hitler and Nazism, the Nuremberg laws were enacted and the consequences of Paragraph 175 strengthened. Where once before, you had to be caught in the act of same sex relations, now simply receiving a letter or the spreading of idle gossip would have you sent to a concentration camp. "The Men with the Pink Triangle" is one anonymous man's account of the harshness and cruelty faced by gay men at the hands of the SS and the ruling Nazi party, as well as by the other prisoners -- criminals, politicals, emigrants -- who viewed "filthy queers" as lower than the rest of them. They were distinguished by the large, pink triangles sown onto their prison outfits, making them easy targets for taunts and punishments. Also, homosexuals labored through the worst of the work details and "volunteered" for medical experimentation, which usually resulted in their deaths. Some advantages also appeared for gay men. The "Capos" who were in charge of the prisoner barracks, often made lovers of some of the prisoners, giving them some protection and better rations and clothing. As is says in the book: "Homosexual behavior between two 'normal' men is considered an emergency outlet, while the same thing between two gay men, who both feel deeply for one another, is something 'filthy' and repulsive." The anonymous man used this to his advantage and survived the camps and the threat of being sent to the front lines. Ths is a moving and powerful story about survival and about the right to be who you are, during one of the darkest times in world history. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: We need more books like this one
Review: A tremendously moving and easy to read book, The Men With the Pink Triangle provides the reader with not only descriptions of the horrific treatment suffered by gays in the Nazi camps, but also provides insight into the intra-camp politics among the prisoners. The anonymous narrator provides details on how the "capos" and the criminal prisoners operated, and how one could "survive" one's incarceration as long as one was willing to accept the camp heirarchy. But by far, the descriptions of the brutality of the SS troops in the camps is the most rivitting. The terse language of the narrative increases the decriptions' impact. There's no intellectualizing this abuse in this tome. Unfortunately, we need more books like this one. But I'm afraid many of those gays who survived the camps are still unwilling to speak, and that is largely because of how they were treated after the camps were "liberated." The Nazis were brutal in their treatment, but you knew where they stood because the Nazis didn't hide their contempt. Bureaucrats today, however, are much more sinister.
Rating:
Summary: Profoundly Sobering
Review: Although my high school had holocaust surviors ocassionaly come and speak, it was not untill many years later that I realized that GLBT people (whom the school pretended did not exist) were also victims of the Nazi's. The pink Triangles that I accepted so matter of factly on my drives into GLBT meccas were symbols of exile. This book is an invaluable resource to anybody who wants to know the real story behind one of the most forgoten groups of the holocaust. The brutal and degrading these men faced were ignored by some of the GI's who came into the camp....they too considered gays "abnormal" For years though, we pretended that we could easily demarcate heros from the villans regarding treatment of people. Even though America and other western industrialized nations do not face that problem today, the text is a powerful reminder that we cannot let hatred and predjudce conduct affairs of state. "Never Again" reverberates loudly and passionately through out the pages; a box of kleenex would make a good companion while reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: One Man's Story
Review: Although short, this man's story could have benefitted from some thoughtful editing. Powerfully recounting his persecution at the hands of the Nazi regime, a full picture could have been painted had the author continued to tell its affects on the rest of his life AFTER World War II. An important book, no doubt, and definitely to be included in any Holocaust library.
Rating:
Summary: One Man's Story
Review: Although short, this man's story could have benefitted from some thoughtful editing. Powerfully recounting his persecution at the hands of the Nazi regime, a full picture could have been painted had the author continued to tell its affects on the rest of his life AFTER World War II. An important book, no doubt, and definitely to be included in any Holocaust library.
Rating:
Summary: great read - informative, chilling and emotional
Review: For anyone who has ever wondered what life was like for the millions who were sent to the death camps of Nazi Germany, this is a truly insightful book. Heinz Heger describes what life was like in one of those camps in vivid detail, and you can't help but imagine yourself there among the dead and dying. Everything from the political structure in the camps to how the prisoners were arranged and organized is all portrayed with terrifying richness. His stories of the SS guards and other prisoners tell a tale of horror and cruelty, but also of love and kindness in the midst of it all. While reading this book, I asked myself many times if I would have had the strength to survive. Would I be willing to do whatever it takes so I could have a meal to eat or so I wouldn't be sent off to die? Let's hope none of us have to answer those questions.
Rating:
Summary: A must read for every gay man...profoundly moving
Review: For anyone who has ever wondered what life was like for the millions who were sent to the death camps of Nazi Germany, this is a truly insightful book. Heinz Heger describes what life was like in one of those camps in vivid detail, and you can't help but imagine yourself there among the dead and dying. Everything from the political structure in the camps to how the prisoners were arranged and organized is all portrayed with terrifying richness. His stories of the SS guards and other prisoners tell a tale of horror and cruelty, but also of love and kindness in the midst of it all. While reading this book, I asked myself many times if I would have had the strength to survive. Would I be willing to do whatever it takes so I could have a meal to eat or so I wouldn't be sent off to die? Let's hope none of us have to answer those questions.
Rating:
Summary: A Poignant Reminder of a Forgotten Minority's Holocaust
Review: Heinz Hegel's thin volume brims with the haunting facts surrounding the persecution of gays under Nazi Germany's Section 175 ruling against homosexuality. Hegel provides the shocking historical context which few of us were taught in school, that people even suspected of same gender love relationships were tortured and killed by the Nazi regime in concentration camps in the 1930s and 40s. This is a stirring testament of survival against all odds, peppered with humor, not overbearing in tone or content. It is also a fascinating quick read. While the reader can celebrate the fact that Hegel survived imprisonment in Nazi camps from '39-45, he closes the book by reminding us that "the progress of humanity" has passed by the minority to which he belonged. As of 1970, when Hegel's book was written, it was still illegal for people of the same gender to form love relationships in his native Austria. Furthermore, gays remain the only minority persecuted in Nazi camps omitted from remuneration by the German government. Even more shocking is the fact that the Nazis' desire to "cure" homosexuality, now balked at and dismissed by any credible mental health professional, is advocated in this day and age in the personage of the "shock jock," physiologist Laura Schlessinger (aka "Dr. Laura"). You would think that Ms. Schlessinger, an orthodox Jew, would learn from history. Perhaps others will through Hegel's masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A Poignant Reminder of a Forgotten Minority's Holocaust
Review: Heinz Hegel's thin volume brims with the haunting facts surrounding the persecution of gays under Nazi Germany's Section 175 ruling against homosexuality. Hegel provides the shocking historical context which few of us were taught in school, that people even suspected of same gender love relationships were tortured and killed by the Nazi regime in concentration camps in the 1930s and 40s. This is a stirring testament of survival against all odds, peppered with humor, not overbearing in tone or content. It is also a fascinating quick read. While the reader can celebrate the fact that Hegel survived imprisonment in Nazi camps from '39-45, he closes the book by reminding us that "the progress of humanity" has passed by the minority to which he belonged. As of 1970, when Hegel's book was written, it was still illegal for people of the same gender to form love relationships in his native Austria. Furthermore, gays remain the only minority persecuted in Nazi camps omitted from remuneration by the German government. Even more shocking is the fact that the Nazis' desire to "cure" homosexuality, now balked at and dismissed by any credible mental health professional, is advocated in this day and age in the personage of the "shock jock," physiologist Laura Schlessinger (aka "Dr. Laura"). You would think that Ms. Schlessinger, an orthodox Jew, would learn from history. Perhaps others will through Hegel's masterpiece.
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