- The Pink Swastika
"The Pink Swastika" is a highly controversial book by
Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams. The authors argue that thehomosexuality found in theNazi Party contributed to the extrememilitarism ofNazi Germany . The title of the book, as well as the book itself, is a spin-off from a book byRichard Plant called "The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals", a book detailing facts abouthomophobia in the Nazi party and what the Nazis did to them. Lively and Abrams also take up the subject of Nazism in America and discuss how the Boy Scouts have been treated. The links between certainMuslim s and Nazi Germany are also investigated. The book claims that many leaders in the GermanNazi regime, includingAdolf Hitler himself, were homosexual and claims eight of the top tenserial killer s in the US were homosexuals. [] [cite web|url=http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=4225|title=Religious Right Groups Involved in Antigay Incidents|publisher=People For the American Way |accessdate=2007-06-14|quote=the controversial book, The Pink Swastika,]Allegations of selective information
Many historians who read this book have argued that it leaves out crucial information in order to support what many considered to be a homophobic agenda. Lively and Abrams state that because
sodomy was illegal during this time, that it was perfectly acceptable that homosexuals would be thrown inconcentration camps .Another point made was that the authors had left out historical facts that evidence homophobia in the Nazi party and by Hitler The authors claim that any homosexual laws were selectively implied or covered for other purposes. Some of these facts not included in the book are:
*1928: the Nazi party publishes a pamphlet containing its response to the idea of repealing the anti-homosexual law known as Paragraph 175, "Anyone who thinks of homosexual love is our enemy"
*Feb. 23, 1933: 24 days after being appointed Chancellor, Hitler bans allgay rights groups
*October 24, 1934: theGestapo secretly orders local police to collect names of all homosexuals in Germany
*June 28, 1935: Paragraph 175 is amended with broader language, so that a mere touch between men can be interpreted as an arrestable offense
*October 26, 1936: the Reich's "Central Office to Combat Homosexuality and Abortion" is establishedAlso noted by many critics of this book is that while a few Nazi higher-ups, such as
Ernst Röhm , were most likelygay , that alone did not invalidate Nazi homophobia, just asJoseph Goebbles 'clubfoot did not make him a candidate for beingeuthanized for being a "cripple". It should be noted that Goebbles had crafted an alibi to cover for his condition, in which he stated that his disfigurement was the result of an accident, and not a condition of his birth.)Issues of perception of homosexuality
Critics of this book, particularly gay rights activists, argue that Lively and Abrams do not have an understanding as to what
homosexuality really is. According to critics, the authors seem to make no distinction between sadistic prison camp guards who sometimesrape d male prisoners, and men who are sexually oriented towards other men. Many have said that the authors have also lumpedpedophiles into the mix, thus comparing homosexuality withchild molestation . The authors also claim that there is less homosexuality in theBoy Scouts than there was in the Nazi party due to the Boy Scouts' "Judeo-Christian " underpinningsee also
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List of Adolf Hitler books References
External links
* [http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/pinkswastika.hold/index.html The Pink Swastika] 3rd edition
* [http://www.abidingtruth.com/pfrc/books/pinkswastika/html/the_pinkswastika_4th_edition_-_final.htm The Pink Swastika] 4th and final edition
* [http://www.qrd.org/qrd/religion/anti/annotated.pink.swastika The Annotated Pink Swastika] with comments critical of the book
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