The Intriguing Conclusions of Robert Smallbones

In the Year 2 A-level History class last week we covered the development of antisemitic policies in Nazi Germany, ending our final session on Friday by covering Kristallnacht (its origins, what happened, and its overall impact on German-Jews). A couple of years ago I attempted to develop this session by including more primary sources, and I found a bunch of interesting ones on the Jewish Virtual Library and decided to utilise them in a class.

These sources included:

• A Jewish woman complaining about money stolen

• A report from the Social Democratic Party

• A statement put out by American president FDR

• A range of reports from British diplomats

They provide a wide range of perspectives on the horror and disgust at this event, to which students can evaluate and consider these different stances. Undoubtedly, the strangest selection comes from British diplomat Robert Smallbones in what the Jewish Virtual Library titles: ‘British Diplomat Blames Kristallnacht on Sexual Perversity.’ Here is the report, sent in December 1938 to Sir George Ogilvie-Forbes:

The explanation of this outbreak of sadistic cruelty may be that sexual perversion, and in particular homo-sexuality, are very prevalent in Germany. It seems to me that mass sexual perversity may offer an explanation for this otherwise inexplicable outbreak. I am persuaded that, if the Government of Germany depended on the suffrage of the people, those in power and responsible for these outrages would be swept away by a storm of indignation if not put up against the wall and shot.

So, what led Smallbones to conclude that Kristallnacht was due to ‘sexual perversion’? It seems very much at odds with the other diplomatic reports on the same event. But it does provide a window into the wider debate about sexual repression and tendencies of the Nazi regime, which has been the subject of many movies (primarily spoofs) and jokes. However, arguably there is evidence which provides some substance to Smallbones’ claims, as outlined in the article ‘The Other Side of the Pink Triangle‘ by Kevin E. Abrams, in which the writer references other historians and the following examples;

• The homosexuality of Ernst Rohm, the leader of the SA

• William Shirer’s claim that the SA were ‘notorious homosexual perverts’

• The quote from Frank Rector that ‘the Hitler youth was so rampantly homosexual that it became known among the German populace as the Homo Youth’.

All of this led to the writer Abrams to claim that there is a ‘hidden history of sexual deviance’ in Nazi Germany, with Abrams later supporting the position that homosexuals – with its focus on male bonding – were behind the origins and growth of Nazism. So, is this where Smallbones was getting the substance of his claim for the reasons behind Kristallnacht? Smallbones’ words were later supported by other writers, with Samuel Igra writing:

I am convinced that this explanation is the correct one. For, as a matter of fact, the widespread existence of sexual perversion in Germany… is notorious. And authorities on criminal sociology are agreed that there is a causal connection between mass sexual perversion and the kind of mass atrocities committed by the Germans in the two world wars. Furthermore, there is no doubt that this also explains why the Jews were made the chief victims of German sadistic torture, rapine and murder.

As such, these arguments seem to suggest a functionalist interpretation. Violence was caused due to the repressed Nazis and Germans, who need to let out their frustration on a scapegoated minority. This functionalist view – although not with the sexual focus – has been utilised to help explain other events in history, such as that of the witchraze of the early modern period.

However, as Gregory Woods notes in his A History of Gay Literature (1998), Igra doesn’t actually refer to the persecution that homosexuals suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Instead, homosexuals are viewed as the aggressors, rather than victims. All of which suggests that such writing has – at best – a stunted view, and – at worst – a homophobic prejudice. Woods calls out writers and historians who have erased the homosexual experience from history, either completing ignoring or equating homosexuality with evil and the Nazis.

Having visited various sites of atrocities relating to the Holocaust, it seems very misplaced and wrong to agree with the arguments put forward by Abrams and Igra. They appear to have approached history with a specific end judgement in mind, thereby finding the facts and evidence to try and justify such a position. The reality is that gay people were hounded and attacked by the Nazi regime, with the advances in cultural freedom of the Weimar era being stamped out. The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust states that 50,000 gay men were imprisoned, with many exposed to ‘inhumane treatment’. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 died in camps, with some being castrated or subjected to terrible experiments. Such evidence doesn’t support the positions put forward by the likes of Abrams. At best, Smallbones’ comments are a misguided psychological explanation, but at their worst they appear to add fuel to fire for misguided and dangerous judgements.

So, this post began at a simple starting point in wanting to understand more about a few statements, but it ended up entering a clear battlefield of historical debate. As for Robert Smallbones and his own interpretation, he has secured a place in history due to his efforts in opposing the Nazis. He helped many Jewish people to obtain visas to escape persecution in Nazi Germany, and even stood up to the gestapo on occasions. It is estimated that his efforts helped save around 48,000 lives.