A fascinating spectacle of inconsistencies

Abstract

Much has been written about the `production' of sexuality in Nazi Germany; the specific ways of constructing male heroes and frail (but also strong) women coming together in a cold and distant way in the service of eugenics and a new society. Thus it was a national and political concept of sexuality in the narrow sense whereby sexuality was inextricably linked with the benefit of `Volk, Reich und Vaterland'. But an analysis of private photographs and the `unpolitical' sections of the newspapers of the period reveals elements of love and eroticism which indicate that, even in the Nazi context, the notion of an essential sexuality can be questioned. This article, on the one hand, discusses sexuality in the Nazi era from official and private photographs and, on the other hand, makes observations about the actuality of the Nazi concept even in (post)modern societies. The aim of the article is to look at a specific aspect of normality to obtain a more precise understanding of the Nazi era.