By Eric George Tauber
CINCINNATI, Ohio — When Robin Williams was in Germany, he was asked by an interviewer, “Why do you think we have not so much comedy in Germany?” Williams pithily replied, “Maybe because you killed the funny people.”
The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, in cooperation with Congregation Beit Simchat Torah of Manhattan, recently hosted a virtual forum of scholars who offered their insights into the Trans community of The Weimar Republic, German society between the world wars. Much of their work relies on Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, who founded the Institute for Sexual Science (1919-1933). Hirschfeld was the first academic to scientifically study people he called Transvestitenschein, those who cross-dress and have gender-expansive modes of expression. Hirschfeld also coined the term Drittengender (Third Gender) to describe those who just couldn’t fit themselves into their socially assigned gender roles. Hirschfeld’s work was ground-breaking, but the material is scant because his records were among the first to be destroyed by the Nazis.
Dr. Katie Sutton, Associate Professor of German and Gender Studies, School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics at Australian National University, talked about a magazine printed for and by the Trans community called Das 3, referencing the Third Gender. This publication featured personal stories, tips on clothing and makeup, and other areas of interest that helped Trans people to have a sense of community and feel less isolated. Falling short of full inclusion, Das 3 tended to focus on the well-dressed, respectable middle classes and those who could pass at the expense of working classes and sex workers.
The harassment of Trans people was not even-handed. Trans-masculine people were better able to pass as male, flying under the radar. Trans-feminine people were far more likely to be harassed by the police, arrested, brutally beaten and thrown in jail.
Dr. Bodie Ashton, a Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at Universität Erfurt, profiled a writer called Liddy Bacroff. Bacroff was a trans-woman who moved to Hamburg and survived as a sex-worker in the city’s Red-Light District. Bacroff’s original name was Heinrich Habetz, and she published prose under this name before taking the name of one of her characters. Arrested many times, Bacroff wrote much of her prose in a prison cell.
Dr. Anna Hájková, Associate Professor of Modern European Continental History at the University of Warwick, profiled Harry “Hambo” Heyman, a popular clown and female-impersonator. Depictions of Hambo were like many Jewish caricatures of the day with an exaggerated shnozz, plus a receding hairline, lipstick and long eyelashes. Both Jewish and Queer, Hambo was sent to Terezin (aka Theresienstadt) concentration camp. Hambo remarkably survived by exchanging sexual favors for food.
The forum in its entirety can be viewed here.
Proponents of bills targeting the LGBTQ+ assert that the existence and acceptance of Trans people will lead to the breakdown of society. However, justifications for this logic tend to fall short and devolve into shouting matches. Throughout world history many civilizations have risen and fallen, yet who can cite a single example where cross-dressing has caused the decline?
Then again, history has provided a glaring example where the brutal oppression of Trans people has led directly to a hard fall. During the Weimar Republic, there were clubs, cabarets and a magazine where Trans people could freely express themselves. Then came the Nazis who brutally beat, imprisoned and murdered them. Emboldened by the lack of opposition, they didn’t stop there. The list of Untermenschen to be “cleansed” from society grew to include the mentally ill, those with cognitive limitations, the physically disabled, Gay men, Roma, Communists and Jews. By 1945, the once proud nation of Germany lay in a pile of smoking ruins.
So, the question before is this: Will we speak up for the marginalized, or will we keep silent until they come for us too?
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Eric George Tauber, a former San Diegan now residing in Cincinnati, is a teacher, performer, and a drama critic. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com