Friedrich Radszuweit

The League for Human Rights was not the first or only homosexual emancipation organization that existed in Germany at the time. But it was the largest by far, boasting 100,000 members at its peak. The sexologist Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld co-founded the Scientific Humanitarian Committee (considered the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in the world) in 1897 and had run the Institute for Sexual Science since 1919. Hirschfeld’s advocacy was based on science and medical research, which many ordinary LGBTQ+ Germans did not find accessible or easy to understand. In 1903, Adolf Brand founded the Community of the Special, which was a misogynistic and antisemitic organization that idealized masculinity and war, arguing that aggressive homosexual men should be rightful rulers of the nation. Both Hirschfeld and Brand differed radically in their approach and goals, Hirschfeld advocated for a specific homosexual liberation while Brand was fighting for a more generic “sexual liberation” that was warped by Brand’s misogyny and antisemitism. However, they both were united by the fact that their respective organizations sought to move Weimar Germany toward their preferred goals by appealing towards elite institutions. 

Fredrich was a controlling entrepreneur who demonstrated a talent for understanding content that had mass appeal. His company published a range of newspapers and magazines that catered to different audiences. The Island (Die Insel), was a literary magazine, and The Journal of Friendship (Das Freundschaftsblatt) was a more informal publication for entertainment purposes. Friedrich even published a lesbian magazine, The Girlfriend (Die Freundin) and The Third Sex (Das 3. Geschlecht), a magazine for trans people. For the first time, lesbians and trans people - not just cisgender gay men - had an outlet to write about their lives in their own words. Friedrich’s publications adopted a more accessible tone, and often included news, fiction, poetry, puzzles and games, and advertisements for local events at LGBTQ+ clubs. And although he promoted a specific vision of a world where gay people were treated equally, he truly built the first mass-movement homosexual emancipation organization in the world. If that was all Friedrich accomplished, he would be rightly celebrated as a successful gay pioneer at a time when there were no other openly gay publishers around. 

Unfortunately, Friedrich’s story does not end there. In the late 1920s, economic, social, and political turmoil rocked the Weimar Republic, and voters turned to extremist politicians to solve their problems, including those in the right wing Nazi Party. Despite the Nazis’ public displays of homophobia, Friedrich did not mobilize his empire to counter the growing threat of fascism. Perhaps trying to protect his business interests, he wanted to remain non-political. In a January 1931 article in The Girlfriend, Friedrich insisted that the Nazis’ homophobic rhetoric was just campaign talk meant to drum up votes. “We do not believe that even the National Socialists [Nazis] will proceed so rigorously against homosexuals as they announced before the September 1930 elections.” Over a year later, in March 1932, Friedrich wrote, “I’d be the last to support the Hitler party,” but he pointed out that Hitler had allowed Ernst Röhm, who was openly gay, to stay in power as the head of the Nazi Stormtroopers. It “shows us that Hitler views sexual orientation as more of a private matter.” In another open letter in The Girlfriend, Friedrich praised Hitler for focusing on “political issues” instead of “sexual questions,” and even offered to advise Hitler “in a nonpartisan way” about homosexual issues. 

Friedrich Radszuweit had long positioned himself as a champion of the most conservative elements of Weimar Germany’s homosexual culture. He thought that commitment to respectability would save him from the coming Nazi storm. In 1931, as the Nazi Party was gaining seats in the parliament, he told his readers that the Nazis would not target “respectable homosexuals,” but would only target the Jewish homosexuals like Magnus Hirschfeld. 

Friedich died of tuberculosis in 1932, so he did not live to witness the Nazi government dismantle his life’s work within weeks of coming to power. His publishing empire was inherited by his life-partner Martin Radszuweit (whom Friedrich had adopted as a son since marriage was not an option to establish Martin as his legal next of kin). Friedrich’s career did not stop Stormtroopers from raiding and destroying the Radszuweit publishing house in February 1933. Martin died of unknown causes soon after. So, he too did not live to witness the Nazis wage a violent, murderous campaign against all LGBTQ+ Germans, including those who had supported the party in its early years. 

Friedrich spent the latter part of his life and the pinnacle of his publishing career appealing to the growing fascist party. He hoped that his condemnation of fellow members of the queer community would gain him favor with the leaders of the far-right movement. When the Nazi party took total control of Germany, they did not spare Friedrich from their wrath. Friedrich Radszuweit’s story demonstrates that appeasement is not a viable strategy for halting the rise of fascism, and that the social acceptance of some members of the LGBTQ+ community should not be bought at the expense of the safety of others.