Janna L. Horowitz: Janna L. Horowitz received her M.S.Ed. in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California in 1996. She is currently earning her doctorate in counseling psychology at USC, with specialty areas in college student development, gender, and sexual orientation.
Days of Masquerade brings to light a topic rarely unearthed or acknowledged in discussions of World War II Germany: Lesbian women. In this book, Claudia Schoppmann has gathered ten life stories that are similar in only two respects: all of the women were alive during the reign of the Third Reich, and all of them were involved in same-sex romantic relationships. The similarities end there, as all of these stories are not only unique but somewhat incredible in their demonstration and description of the human spirit. The stories range from lesbian women risking their lives to pursue their relationships, to dancing in nightclubs throughout the War, to Jewish lesbian women hiding out in the forest to escape concentration camp internment. One of the most distinguishing features of this book is the variation in stories of the women represented.
A well-written and essential part of this book is the introduction, which describes the general situation of the lesbian woman during the Third Reich. Schoppmann explains that lesbians were less persecuted than gay men because they were considered second class citizens to men, and a lesbian sexual orientation was not deemed legitimate and was therefore not a threat to the Aryan race; the Nazis believed that lesbianism may not be permanent and therefore lesbian women could still uphold their duties to bear Aryan children.
This book is valuable in documenting a usually forgotten but richly interesting segment of the German population. Rarely does one have the opportunity to read about Germans during the War who were neither persecuted nor persecutors. Although some of the women were persecuted because they were Jewish, the gentile lesbians were largely disregarded by the Nazi regime. To write this book, Schoppmann interviewed and/or researched several women whose lives centered around the Berlin lesbian scene. Many of the women were involved in the arts, as poets, musicians, or actresses. Some of them fled Germany to protect their lives. What one realizes in reading this book is that it is more than a life history of lesbians, it is a life history of people for whom lesbianism is just one aspect of their intricate and complicated lives. It is a life history of people who lived through one of the most difficult times in human history. It leaves the reader wanting more story, wanting to know these women better.
The one drawback to this book is that the author periodically interrupts a story to recount an experience in interviewing or an editorial, as in the story of Margarete Knittel, in which Schoppmann interjects the following: “A lack of understanding or even attacks by the family made - and still makes - life difficult for many women” (p. 94). While this may be true, its placement in the middle of the life story removes the reader from the scene and inserts distance between the reader and the lesbian woman whose story is in the midst of being told. Editorials like these are often made throughout the book and reveal Schoppmann's views on homosexual identity and essentialism. Although Schoppmann's comments are informative, they would be better placed at the end of the book, in the form of a conclusion, analysis, or summary, of which there is none in this volume.
Schoppmann's writing at times is somewhat disjointed, although it provides a quick read. It is noted that this may be consequence of the translation and not the original German text. The real gems in this book are the direct quotations, which often go on for paragraphs, taken from the women themselves during interviews or found in documents. They are found in every life history in this book. It is in these direct quotations that the reader gets a genuine glimpse of the lesbian women who lived during the reign of the Third Reich, and for this Schoppmann's work is much appreciated.
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