From Invisibility to Hypervisibility: Queer Testimonies to the Holocaust Across France and Italy

Abstract

This thesis homes in on the taboo pairing of sexuality and the Holocaust, in relation to cultural material from France and Italy. I study the testimonies of non-cisheteronormative people who were persecuted and/or deported during World War II, whether or not because of their sexuality and gender identity. Those deported for their sexuality were often called ‘pink triangles’ for their insignia in the camps, notably following the publication of Die Männer mit dem rosa Winkel [The Men with the Pink Triangle] (1972), the testimony of Austrian ‘pink triangle’ survivor Josef Kohout, which had an impact on activists, historians and survivors. It catalysed what I theorise to be the ‘age of the queer witness’: the rising visibility of queer testimonies to the Holocaust. I insist on the notions of ‘visibility’, ‘invisibility’ and ‘hypervisibility’, that retain a Möbius strip-like relationship, for a theorisation that bears importance for thinking about cis-heterosexism, racism, ableism or other forms of stigmatisation. I emphasise the impact of context on individual accounts and I study the work of activist-historians and ‘early queer theorists’ who were instrumental in the ‘age of the queer witness’. The advent of the ‘queer witness’ is an international phenomenon stretching from 1972 to the present day: the chapters cover this period in a mostly linear fashion and cross borders from Austria to Germany and to the United Kingdom and the United States of America, while retaining focus on France and Italy. The thesis is made up of three parts, with two chapters in each. These cover a breadth of historical material related to the persecution of queer people. None of the survivors whose accounts I put emphasis on were ‘pink triangles’, yet their testimonies were all impacted by this symbol and identity category. The Introduction lays out the ‘age of the queer witness’ beginning in 1972 as supported by a summary of The Men with the Pink Triangle’s interest in various degrees of visibility and invisibility, which will then also be my own interest throughout the following chapters, and it introduces a phenomenology-influenced methodology of contextualisation. Part I begins with the study of Pierre Seel’s book Moi, Pierre Seel, déporté homosexuel (1994), as impacted by Kohout’s account and the play derived from it, Bent (1979). I turn back to Seel’s testimonies from 1981 to the publication of his book in 1994: these constitute his ‘coming out’ as a ‘déporté homosexuel’. He became a public figure and an emblematic survivor of the persecution of homosexuals in France. His testimonies made his experiences publicly visible yet archival material and personal letters bring nuances to his book. In part II, I trace the impact of Bent in Italy and further study the Franco-Italian activist connections that supported historical research in the country: in these chapters, I emphasise the power of ‘low-brow’ genres to bring a spotlight on testimonies. I analyse a graphic novel and a short film that shed light on the ‘exile’ of Italian queer people. Part III focuses on Italian trans woman Lucy Salani, who survived deportation to the Dachau concentration camp. I begin by studying material of the 2000s and early 2010s, then through the study of unreleased interview footage of Lucy Salani, I come to a conclusion about the value of dwelling, lingering with survivors in their everyday life. Finally, in the Conclusion I consider the importance of paying due attention to survivors during their life and to their testimonies after their death. We ought to dwell and think with these survivors, and with their testimonies in order for these to have ‘balanced visibility’, evading taboo and fetish.