In connection with the combating of homosexuality may I here briefly dwell on a problem that has often arisen in the recent period: namely the combating of lesbianism. In our view the danger to the nation's survival is here not at all as great as in the case of homosexual men. Quite different presuppositions are involved. First, it should not be forgotten that in Germany we have always had more females than males; second, we lost 2 million men in the war; and, third, that of the available men several more million do not count because they are homosexuals. The fact that a sizeable part of the female sex is in a state of sexual crisis cannot be denied. To the best of our knowledge, however—insofar as it has been at all possible to carry out reliable and discreet investigations—most girls who are active as lesbians are far from being abnormally inclined. If such girls later have the opportunity to assume the purpose given them by nature, they will certainly not decline. Many other factors are involved in lesbian activity: e.g. a lack of male acquaintances, a stern upbringing, and so on. If we are really to speak of lesbian activity, it is crucially important to ask what was the object of mental images when sexual behavior was taking place. There is reason to suppose that for an overwhelming majority the imagination was directed to normal intercourse. Proof of this is the onanistic devices often found among women, not least the ever popular candle.
[ . . . ]
Copyright 1995 from Hidden Holocaust? Gay and Lesbian Persecution in Germany, 1933-45 by Günter Grau, ed. Reproduced by permission of Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, pp. 113-15.
Source of original German text: "Bekämpfung der Abtreibung und der Homosexualität als politische Aufgabe," in Landeshauptarchiv Schwerin, 5.12-7/1 Ministerium für Unterricht, Kunst, geistliche und Medizinalangelegenheiten, No. 9674, fol. 34 and fol. 35-37; reprinted in Günter Grau, ed., Homosexualität in der NS-Zeit: Dokumente einer Diskriminierung und Verfolgung. 2nd revised edition, Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 2004, pp. 151-53.
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