Caricature of a Catholic priest in the Nazi newspaper " Das Schwarze Korps " dated 05/06/1937.
The term "monastic processes" ( German Klosterprozesse ) is understood to mean a series of prosecutions of Catholic priests , monks and lay people on charges of " unnatural fornication between men " in the Third Reich . [one]
The first processes in connection with accusations of homosexual contacts in the Catholic Church began in 1935. After a pause in July 1936, a series of processes continued in April 1937 after the publication of the papal encyclical Mit brennender Sorge . The highest point of repression in the Catholic Church reached in 1938, when several thousand Catholic priests and monks were arrested and convicted in mass show trials.
The Gestapo used these processes, widely covered in the Nazi press, for its propaganda purposes.
Notes
- ↑ Grau, 2004 , p. 172, 177-178.
Literature
- Hans Günter Hockerts: Die Sittlichkeitsprozesse gegen katholische Ordensangehörige und Priester 1936-1937. Eine Studie zur nationalsozialistischen Herrschaftstechnik und zum Kirchenkampf . Matthias-Grünewald-Verlag, Mainz 1971, ISBN 3-7867-0312-4 .
- Günter Grau . Homosexualität in der NS-Zeit: Dokumente einer Diskriminierung und Verfolgung (German) . - Überarb. Neuausg. - Frankfurt am Mein: Fischer Verlag, 2004 .-- 367 S. - (Die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus). - ISBN 3-596-15973-3 .