"Was Hitler gay?" Discuses the evidence that points to the homosexuality of hitler. includes bibliography

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Was Hitler Gay?

Today, the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party is remembered not only for its slaughter of millions of Jews, but for its mass imprisonment and extermination of homosexuals under a German criminal statute called Paragraph 175. (Burleigh and Wipperman, 29) However, in the early days of Nazi rule, there were actually a number of high-level party members whom were homosexual; including Hitler himself. (Lively and Abrams, 3)

Hitler surrounded himself with homosexuals; in fear of exposure Hitler also killed many of his homosexual friends. (Lively and Abrams, 122) I must ask the question that makes myself , a gay activist struggling to show the world that homosexuals are an integral and important part of our history cringe: Why would a man known for his policies of persecution and extermination of homosexuals not only surround himself with homosexuals, but would, like Hitler, actually prefer the company of homosexuals? The answer is simple.

Hitler was gay.

As Adolf Hitler began his ascent to power in the early 1930s, he at first endorsed a laissez-faire attitude toward homosexuality, especially among his close associates even though homosexuality was prohibited by law. This helped to fuel rumors that he himself was gay. Paragraph 175, which became the law of the land in 1871, stipulated that "a male who indulges in criminally indecent activity with another male ... will be punished with imprisonment." (Burleigh and Wipperman, 39) Sly insinuations about Hitler's sexuality came from his enemies in Germany, from members of the foreign press, even within the German military and his own Nazi party. In his early years he was actively homosexual. He frequently sought out intimate-seeming associations with men who preferred male companionship. (Lively and Abrams, 64)

The answer to our question is more precisely that Hitler was not exclusively...