Heinz Heger

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Heinz Heger was the pseudonym of the Austrian writer Johann "Hanns" Neumann or Hans Neumann (* 1914 ; † June 29, 1978 in Strasshof ). With the book Die Männer mit dem Rosa Winkel , he wrote down the experiences of the homosexual concentration camp survivor Josef Kohout and in 1972 published the first comprehensive report on imprisonment in a concentration camp from the perspective of a gay man. The book became important for the gay movement .

Life

Neumann grew up in Vienna . During the Second World War he served as a soldier from 1939 and was then active in the Dutch resistance against the German occupation from 1944 to 1945 .

Neumann, himself homosexual, wanted to write a book in the 1960s about the experiences of homosexuals in concentration camps. He met Josef Kohout through a mutual acquaintance and took part in about 15 conversations between 1965 and 1967 in shorthand for Kohout's story. Kohout's stories should be enough for a whole book, but Neumann had problems finding a publisher for years. In 1971 he decided not to publish the resulting book, The Men with the Pink Angle , which was finally published by Merlin Verlag in 1972, under his real name, as he was afraid of being socially excluded and discriminated against in professional life.

Open bookcase in memory of Heinz Heger at Heinz-Heger-Park

Since the book was published, the first-person narrative situation gave the impression that Heinz Heger could be equated with Josef Kohout .

Neumann lived with his partner in Strasshof and died there in 1978 in the presence of his partner, who also died in 2013. Neumann's estate includes an uncorrected first version of The Men with the Pink Angle .

The Heinz Heger Park on Zimmermann in the Viennese district of Alsergrund lived where Josef Kohout during his lifetime, is named after his pseudonym since June 8 of 2010. An open bookcase stands there in memory of Heinz Heger .

Web links

Commons : Heinz Heger  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Publishing information on The men with the pink triangle at Buch.de
  2. ^ A b Kurt Krickler : Heinz Heger. The man with the pink triangle . In: Lambda Messages . June, 2001, p. 42 ff.
  3. ↑ a b c Heinz Heger: The men with the pink triangle . 6th edition. Merlin Verlag, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-87536-124-7 , pp. 169 ff .
  4. ↑ Günter Grau (ed.): Lexicon on the persecution of homosexuals 1933–1945. Institutions. Competencies. Fields of activity . Lit Verlag Dr. W. Hopf, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8258-9785-7 , pp. 127f.
  5. ↑ Erik N. Jansen: The Pink Triangle and Political Consciousness. Gays, Lesbians and the Memory of Nazi Persecution . In: Journal of the History of Sexuality . January-April, 2002, pp. 319-355.
  6. ↑ Frank Gassner: Who was Heinz Heger? Clarification of a pseudonym ( memento of December 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
  7. ^ Heinz-Heger-Park in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
personal data
SURNAME Heger, Heinz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Neumann, Hans; Neumann, Hanns
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1914
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1978
Place of death Strasshof