I am glad I chose this book. Tough subject but necessary for me. Very well written.
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The Lilac People is a powerful, moving, and educational book based on actual events and real people that is eerily and frighteningly contemporary. There are terrifying parallels to what is happening in America today which makes it also an important work of historical fiction focusing on the LGBTQIA+ community in Nazi Germany & the atrocities visited upon that community. The tale of what happens to the three main characters – Bertie, Sofie, and Karl – is riveting, heartbreaking, and, ultimately, inspiring.
I was a bit confused about this the term “invert” too. The term denotes the opposite of outwardly behavior. As in, according to Nazi standards, women should present as women and men should present as men, no variations. I believe it came from Freud and other psychologists before him who used the term to describe homosexuality as a variation of sexual development. It was also used throughout Europe at the time of the book to describe everyone under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. Similar to “transvestite” the term lost favor later in the 20th century.
I thought that it was a fascinating book. It’s portrayal of the Allies treatment of “Lilac People” after the Liberation was difficult to comprehend and something I’ve never heard about. The characters were excellently drawn and the story was very compelling.
I thought that the book was beautifully written and very moving and eye-opening. I lived in what was then West Berlin many years ago, and I’ve often thought that I know a fair bit about the city as well as about the history of the second world war. Even so, I knew nothing about either the city’s history with trans people or the treatment of trans people during and after the war. In many ways the story was shocking, and the gentle and poignant way in which the characters were portrayed gave me not only information, but also profound empathy for what members of the trans community have endured. I also found the story to be highly relevant to our present time in the United States, when this community is again being discriminated against and erased. I wish everyone could read this book.
I was also totally surprised when I found out how transgender people were treated during Hitler’s reign.
So much has been written about the Jews but had I
never heard about this segment of the population.