SOME KEY WEST HISTORY

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Big trees from little acorns grow…..

The Pier House Motel opened this date in 1968. Fifty units. From that modest beginning, the Pier House of today grew. Key West’s premier hotel.

My friend from physiotherapy David Wolkowsky responsible. The 50 unit motel was his brain child. The hotel’s growth guided by his hand.

David is 96. God bless him!

David has been responsible for more than merely the growth of the Pier House. Key West is his baby! He made it what it is today.

Mom’s Tea Room was once a popular place. Always busy. A man’s place. A whore house, house of ill repute, bordello. It is no more.

On this date in 1941, Mom’s Tea Room was raided. Three prostitutes arrested.

Not Mom’s first raid/arrest. The U.S. Navy a thorn in her side. Weighed on local government to close down the place. The Navy believed the place was not healthy for its men.

This is not the first time this blog has reported on Mom’s Tea Room. Twice before. April 9, 2015 and February 8, 2016. More detail in each writing. The blogs are archived on www.keywestlou.com. Right hand side of page, scroll down. Find month and year. Click on. Find date.

The owner of Mom’s Tea Room was Rose Rabin. She ran three places over the years. One off and on Stock Island through 1953. Another on Truman Avenue before World war II. The third a post World War II place known as the Imperial Club. The Navy was on her ass re all her clubs.

Whore houses are a thing of the past. Today are primarily escort services and gentlemen’s clubs (strip clubs). Services the same. Merely obtained via a different method.

Walked Home Depot yesterday. Only 15 minutes and at a slow pace. Exhausted afterwards. Concerns me.

While walking, I heard from Dee. She was calling from somewhere in Michigan.

Dee worked 30 years for AIDS-Help here in Key West. Her boss during those years died this week. She was in Michigan to attend his services. She is scheduled as one of the speakers.

Dee was a wreck. Crying. Understandable.

Stopped at Walgreens. To pick up Nexium generic for my acid reflux.

I am pissed at pharmaceutical houses and insurance companies. I have a drug policy through AARP. Does not pay everything. Always a co-pay. Then there is the donut.

I have been taking two Nexiums a day for years. My co-pay $40 a month. A couple of months ago, the price out of pocket for me became $174. No way! I switched to the generic. The generic costs me $41.50 a month. Slightly more than the for real pill.

Generics are supposed to be cheap.

I talked to Walgreens, the insurance company and the pharmaceutical house at the time. The insurance and pharmacy houses not nice at all. Actually impolite. Basically, the prices can be raised at any time. The judgment that of the pharmaceutical house. Take it or leave it!

F–k ’em!

Excuse my exasperation.

Back Door last night with Mark Watson. David there. Met Tim and Todd. John, who I had met before.

Tim and I talked quite a while. He manages Joe’s Chicken Shack on Duval. Another place for me to try.

Then to Outback’s for dinner. Ran into Doc. I only know him as Doc. Never have known his real name. We played golf weekly 20 years ago. I rarely see him now.

I was thrilled when he told me how much he loved my KONK Life column, reads it every week, etc. Thought I spent all week researching.

Doc made my night. It thrills me whenever someone compliments the column. I take pride in it.

The local hospital problem a real one. Will be ongoing quite a while. There will be some resolution. How much, difficult to determine.

This morning’s Key West Citizen reported the City Commission was having a meeting tonight re the issue. The Citizens’ Committee, hospital representatives and public invited.

Key West’s City Commission is inept. Typical politicians. Want the public to know they are doing something. Generally not the right thing.

Certain Commission members are prepared to sue the company that owns the hospital. I believe it not the time, if ever. A lawsuit is only going to screw things up, delay resolution, etc.

Whatever, the Commission blowhards seem committed to a lawsuit. Then the problem is off their shoulders. Let the City Attorney worry about it. Blame delays and lack of resolution on the lawsuit.

In the mean time, what about patients? Any lawsuit will delay resolution of patient problems for years.

Enjoy your day!

SCREW OFF WEDNESDAY

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Wednesday again. Screw off Wednesday for me. Starts my three day weekend.

I do have a bit of work this evening for about an hour, however. Around six. Sloan will stop in. Miscellaneous things to deal with. Will go out when she leaves.

Spent parts of yesterday fine tuning last night’s podcast. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Did the show at 9. Trump and Hillary took up the first half. I could not avoid political talk. Especially after Trump’s comment re the Second Amendment and Hillary.

I was watching live on TV. My immediate reaction was that Trump was espousing doing away with Hillary. My vision was Klu Klux Klanners in the night, guns drawn, riding to attack her.

An early dinner at Roostica. Holly Ann took care of me.

Discovered Holly Ann has had some interesting years. She lived two in Sicily. Said it was outstanding!

Country living. Drank a lot of wine, ate a lot of food, and just enjoyed.

Key West is located in Monroe Country. Monroe County announced its first Zika case. A woman in Marathon. Marathon is a 1.75 hour drive north from Key West.

The report indicated she did not acquire the disease here. She was infected while traveling outside the U.S.

I forgot about the Big Latch On. This past weekend. Women nationwide breast fed their children at the same time. The purpose to encourage breast feeding.

The event was held in Islamorada and Key West. Only 9 mothers and their infants participated. I thought their would be more.

Nationwide, 17,223 mothers breast fed. A record breaking number.

The Big Latch On leads easily into William Hackley’s life this date in 1855. His new born still suffering from a lack of milk. A Spanish woman was to have stepped in to breast feed tree times a day. No mention of her today.

What is mentioned is that Hackley bought a canister of solidified milk. $4.50.

Sounds like a forerunner of some sort of formula. Formula 1855.

The Department of Defense’s budget for fiscal year 2016 is $585.3 billion. Big bucks!

With all the dramatic tax cuts Trump is advocating, I wonder where the money would come from to meet such a Defense budget and all other budgets. Lower taxes require cuts in all budgets.

Enjoy your day!

 

EMOTIONAL

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I read a story in yesterday’s New York Times that touched me. To the point of tears. It may you, also.

Jeni Stephen was 16 when her father was murdered. She and her mother decided to donate his heart. They lived in Pennsylvania.

Arthur Thomas lay in a bed in a New Jersey hospital. Four days from death. He received the heart.

That was ten years ago.

Jeni’s mother and Arthur kept in touch over the years via Christmas cards and an occasional telephone call. They never met face to face. Nor did Jeni with Arthur.

Jeni was being married.

Jeni wanted Arthur to walk her down the aisle. Not in place of her father. As her father in a sense. Her father’s heart lie in Arthur’s chest.

Saturday, Jeni walked down the aisle  on Arthur’s arm. When they reached the point where they were in front of the altar and Arthur was to hand Jeni over to her husband to be, Jeni raised her hand and placed it on Arthur’s chest.

She was touching her father.

The Key West Citizen made an excellent decision when it opted to run William Hackley’s diary. His 1855 Key West life.

Not merely interesting, Hackley’s story is educational. It exposes every day life from another era. One we do not know as much about as we thought.

The little things.

William’s wife Matilda had a baby. Back in those days, the mother’s breast was the source of milk. Sustenance.

Matilda was not producing enough milk. The baby in trouble. William bought a goat from Havana. The goat ran dry. Then a Mrs. Hew breast fed the baby. She ran dry. Baby was then on starch and water.

Today’s entry advises a new source of milk. A Spanish woman. She has agreed to breast feed the baby three times a  day.

Lets hope her milk supply holds out.

My blog talk radio show tonight. Tuesday Talk with Key West Lou. Nine my time. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

Interesting topics. Like a recent study indicating that 81 percent of persons living today are living poorer than their parents, Miami’s attempts to fight Zika, pesticide Nald being used, and FDA gives approval to use GM mosquitoes on a test basis in Key west suburb Key Haven.

Plus, Hillary has physical problems that need to be revealed, a new third party candidate, sex scandals in the Secret Service, a Federal court denying Libertarian and Green Party candidates the right to participate in Presidential debates, Swedish refugees scheduled for deportation disappearing, and more.

Last night began with a manicure at 5 with Tammy. She and husband Ricky do a big business. The place was packed. Fortunately, I had an appointment.

Then to Aqua for the Dueling Bartenders.

Tom Luna behind the bar. Dressed as Tom Luna. The two drag bartenders Goddess Galore and Beatrix Dixie.

I have mentioned previously that Rick Dery is a marvelous Goddess Galore.

Beatrix Dixie new to Aqua. Only a couple of weeks. Wow! He/she could fool me! Tall, thin, an ass, great breasts, lovely face, and a lovely blond wig I could not tell was a wig.

No, I am not jumping the fence. However, Beatrix is a rare beauty.

Sheila was at the other end of the bar. She came over, looked at Beatrix, and said…..Would you believe? First time she had seen Beatrix.

John Nolte was sitting with Sheila. She introduced us. A Key West resident six years. From the Chicago area. Radio stations a big part of his former life.

A nice guy. Look forward to running into him again.

My choices for dinner were crispy duck at La Te Da, a prime rib at Outback, or the Chinese restaurant in the Sears Shopping Center. Chinese won out. I enjoyed egg drop soup,orange chicken, and conversation with a lovely Asian waitress.

I listened to Trump’s economic talk at noon yesterday. He was cutting everyone’s taxes. All I could think was how would we run the government? There would not be enough money.

Enjoy your day!

 

FRUSTRATION SELF INDUCED

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I was 95 percent finished with the rough draft of this week’s KONK Life column yesterday afternoon. Mommy, I’m Hungry. About Venezuela’s starving children. All of a sudden, the screen was blank.

I must have hit a wrong key. Went to retrieve the column. Good luck!
Nowhere to be found.

Called Sloan and had her search. No luck.

Frustrated I was. No question.

It took 3 hours to draft the material lost. It would take me another 3 hours to rewrite. Then edit. Another 1.5 hours. I already had 3 hours in. No way. I did not have it in me to do. I was already tired.

So…..There will be no KONK Life column this week. Mommy, I’m Hungry will appear the following week. My apologies.

I watched the Olympics off and on yesterday. Not long. I could not get into it.

Early evening drove to Walgreens. Out of my acid reflux pills. It was 6:10. Pharmacy closed. Now closes at 6 on saturdays and sundays.

Then to Hogfish. Sat at bar. Watched some Olympic basketball. Enjoyed fish and chips. Hogfish fish and chips.

The Hackley saga for today. Mrs. Hews can no longer breast feed the baby. She is drying up. Matilda cannot. The Havana goat was dry. What to do next? Starch. Hackley reported the baby was taking to it.

Starch mixed with water is what mothers are feeding their babies in Venezuela. Makes for a full stomach. Not healthy, however.

Think how lucky we are. How far we have come. If a mother cannot breast feed, there are all kinds of baby formulas on store shelves.

This weekend’s newspapers uniformly mentioned that the FDA had approved testing for Zika in the Florida keys. The whole world may be thrilled. I am not. My message: Stay out of my back yard!

I forgot all about Battle of the Bars.

Somewhere this weekend, I came across mention of John Keats. Poet supreme! He died at the age of 25 in 1821. In Rome.

Thirty five years ago, I accidentally came across his home/the place where he died. I was walking around Rome. In the area as the Spanish Steps. The first building on one side of the Steps had a small dated bronze sign. Home of John Keats. A two or three story building.

I went inside. Walked to the top floor. Saw Keats’ bedroom. The place where he died. The rest of the floor was a museum of sorts.

Among the observable items were a number of original Keats’ works. His poems handwritten on crumbled paper. Under glass, of course.

I found the experience exciting and moving.

Big talk on TV this morning re a third party candidate with Republican dissident backing. Morning Jo said it’s for real. He received two telephone calls. The announcement supposedly will be made at noon.

During these days in 1975, Vice President Spiro Agnew came under attack. It was claimed that he accepted kick backs from contractors while Maryland governor.

He subsequently resigned.

Agnew was a hard ass. I think that is why Nixon selected him to run as Vice President. These were the days of campus unrest. Agnew frequently spoke out against the demonstrations. In tough guy fashion.

I never liked Agnew. For two reasons.

He constantly used big words. His vocabulary excellent. Much better than mine. It was as if he was trying to impress people all the time.

The other reason is that out of law school he became an Allstate Insurance adjuster. Allstate was a rotten company back then. Despicable the manner in which they ran their claims department. No respect for anything or anyone.

To this day, I think of Agnew as an Allstate adjuster rather than Vice President or crook.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni had an interesting comment re Trump in a recent column. The thrust of the column was that the GOP was indulging Trump.

Bruni stated in his last paragraph that America “…..needs a grown-up who honors our values, not a brat who shreds them.”

Peggy Noonan wrote a column in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal re whether Trump was crazy. Her last paragraph introduced me to the word kakistocracy. Never had heard it before. From the Greek. Noonan said, “It means government by the worst persons, by the least qualified or most unprincipled.” Suggesting we might be on our way there if Trump were to be elected.

Enjoy your day!

TAVERN ‘n TOWN…..FRIENDS NIGHT

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I spent yesterday afternoon researching this week’s KONK Life column that will publish wednesday. Mommy, I’m Hungry…..

Bad stuff! Starvation in Venezuela. Food supplies down 80-90 percent.

I have mentioned the problem in this blog and on my podcast show several times in recent years. The column is a more in depth study of the problem.

Last night was Tavern ‘n Town. Ran into a ton of people.

Before the friends, there was a disappointment. No Bobby Nesbitt. He is in Rochester with his elderly mother for two weeks.

First came my internest/primary care doctor Jackie Lefferts.
With her charming husband, Michael. Jackie looked terrific. Sexy. Told her so as she hugged and kissed me. We have become friends over the years.

Then a lovely young lady. At first, I did not recognize her. Sarah from Duffy’s. Sometimes a bartender. She was with lady friends. A girl’s night out.

Sarah said it was her first time at Tavern ‘n Town. She said she was there because I mention it so much in this blog.

Then a heart breaker. Dan Reynen stopped by to say hello. Owner/trainer at WeBeFit. I worked out with his staff a couple of years ago. Stopped when I popped two ribs.

He said…..You’ve gained some weight. I have. About 30 pounds since I last saw him. I like to think it doesn’t show. He reminded me it does. He left me feeling guilty.

Finally, Dan Talpasz. Had not seen him in two years.

Dan is a Key Marriott employee. At the top. He was Marriott’s 2014 Restaurateur of the Americas.

At the time, he was general manager of Tavern ‘n Town. A big job in itself.

The Spottswood family own Tavern ‘n Town and several other hotels and restaurants. Dan was promoted to Food and Beverage Director of the Spottswood Companies.

He was in Key West for the day. He has been spending a lot of time in Marathon. The Spottswoods have opened a Marriott there. He is working on the restaurant.

Dan is talented. He will someday be CEO of a major hotel chain.

Zika in a small trendy Miami neighborhood. An area one square mile. Sixteen cases so far. Panic setting in.

The CDC says Miami’s small case cluster is not considered a widespread transmission.

Genetically modified mosquitoes are a problem for me and my neighbors on the tiny island Key Haven we live on. Our local mosquito control board wants to test GM mosquitoes to kill off the mosquito causing Zika.

The GM mosquito is being touted as the end all cure all.

There was another once. DDT. An insecticidal discovered in 1939. By Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Muller. Muller received the Nobel prize for the discovery in 1948.

The United States banned DDT in 1972, except for some extremely limited uses.

Beware. All that glitters is not gold!

On this day in 1942, the United States invaded Guadalcanal. The Japanese were building an airfield. Eleven thousand Marines were landed the first day.

Guadalcanal was a long and bloody battle. The Japanese refused to surrender. Many lives lost on both sides.

Enjoy your Sunday!

 

ZIKA, OXITEC AND FDA

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The long awaited FDA report concerning Oxitec safety re humans was received yesterday. The FDA said there was no significant impact re Oxitec use as regards an investigative field trial in the Florida Keys.

That means FDA says it is ok to test Oxitec over my little island of Key Haven. Pretty much covered with family homes.

Key Haven residents have opposed the testing. We do not want to be used as guinea pigs for a genetically modified mosquito. The outcry has made the local Mosquito Control Board agree to a vote by Key Haven residents as to whether they want the testing. The vote is in November.

The result is non binding on the Mosquito Control Board. The Board supports the Oxitec testing.

I do not trust the Board.

My sense is that this has become a personal battle for most board members. Their attitude appearing to be they know better than those who elected them.

None of us knows better. However some of us want to be certain we are going to be safe. Remember, DDT was for years considered safe. History repeats itself.

I have a gut feeling that certain Board members will try to engineer a vote by the Board to go ahead and forget the November election.

The Board being bolstered by the recent FDA announcement.

Were you aware? Did you know? Key West was the second largest city in Florida in 1860. Only 44 fewer residents than #1 Pensacola that had 2,876 residents.

I have decided on the subject for this week’s KONK column. Something along the lines…..Mommy, I’m Hungry.  Venezuela’s extreme food shortage.

I have commented briefly on the problem here and on my podcast show. The column will be more detailed. The world should know.

Research today. The column written tomorrow.

Enjoy your day!

A DAY LIKE ALL DAYS

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Busy yesterday. Did nothing out of the ordinary, however.

Started with a noon haircut appointment with Lori. Always a pleasure to spend time with Lori. Fifteen plus years now.

The Cuban Coffee Queen is around the corner from Blown Away. The heat/humidity too heavy to eat outside. Decided to pick up some things at Publix and feed myself at home.

Driving the Publix motivation was the fact that I had been dreaming for a couple of days of a home prepared chicken sandwich.

Bought a lemon pepper chicken.

Lunch was the desired chicken sandwich. A large soft roll. A thick slice of white chicken breast. Covered with a slice of tomato. A bit of salt and pepper. Then mayonnaise.

A dream come true!

Screwed around on the computer in the afternoon searching for a KONK column topic to do. Came up with nothing that excited me.

The Chart Room first last night. John told me Tom and Fran had been in earlier looking for me. Telephoned them. They were at Kermit’s enjoying key lime pie. Told me they would shortly join me.

Spent some time with Tom and Fran enjoying a couple of drinks. Then they were off to do sunset. Knew one of the entertainers and wanted to visit with him. The man with the cats jumping through hoops of fire.

I went across the street to the Hot Tin Roof for dinner. Enjoyed lamb chops again.

Joseph still on the mend. There is a new general manager. JP. We were introduced.

The Noble Group is not screwing Joseph. As I understand, there is an office job awaiting him when he returns.

Joseph has graduated from a walker to two canes. Progress slow.

Hello Jim Wenzel! Close friend of Tom Dixon. Both Buffalo bred. Jim now resides in Tampa. Tom told me he turned Jim on to the blog and he now reads it daily.

Welcome and thank you, Jim!

On the way back to my car, I passed the Chart Room. Ollie was at the bar. One of the heroes of the Zika test spraying fight. I stopped in to congratulate him. He believes Key Haven will defeat the test spraying proposal.

This week’s KONK Life column is German Persecution of Jews. It was carried this morning on E-Blast and also linked to my Key West Lou column. www.keywestlou.com.

My conscience Patrick posted a comment yesterday morning. He wanted to know why I had not commented on the $4 million/Iran/hostage situation. Simple. I only had the first blast of news. Accusatory. Did not make sense. Thought I should wait a day to see how the story played out.

Glad I delayed. Nothing wrong occurred.

Better safe than sorry. I concede I occasionally jump the gun. Rarely however. Sorry when I do.

Trump was terrific. Claimed he saw the whole thing on video. There was no video. He still kept saying he saw it on video.

Ronald Reagan was a tough guy.

On this day in 1981, he fired 11,359 air controllers. None to ever be rehired. When they struck and walked out two days earlier, he gave them 48 hours to return to work.

The union thought it was calling Reagan’s bluff. no way. He called theirs.

Reagan’s action was the beginning of the fall of union dominance in the United States.

Enjoy your day!

GERMAN PERSECUTION OF HOMOSEXUALS

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Jews were not the only ones persecuted by Hitler. Several other groups also. One being homosexuals.

Note that no Hitler inspired destruction of any group equaled in number those of the Jewish religion. Six million a hard number to equal.

Homosexual numbers were significantly less. German record keeping was not as precise as those for Jews. For that reason the specific number of homosexuals killed or otherwise maimed is unknown.

German dislike of homosexuals was first officially recorded in 1871. Kaiser Wilhelm I, under the guiding hand of Chancellor Bismarck, established the German Empire. Paragraph 175 of the new criminal code outlawed acts of unnatural indecency between men.

From a legal perspective, unnatural indecency was vague enough to be unenforceable. Six years later, the German Supreme court defined the crime as an intercourse like act.

The language was still vague and indefinite. Arrests and convictions of homosexuals were infrequent.

Now comes Kaiser Wilhelm II. In 1900 per his direction, the German Regular Police began compiling lists of suspected homosexual men. The lists became known as pink lists. The pink lists were religiously kept. However, no one paid attention to them till 1932. The eve of Hitler’s assumption of power.

Ernst Rohm was one of Hitler’s closest supporters and a friend from the early 1920s.
Rohm was a bully. A tough guy. His followers likewise. He and his followers were also homosexuals. Openly so. Their sexual preference having drawn world wide attention.

Rohm headed up the SA under Hitler. Brownshirters. They carried out Hitler’s directions. However with greater frequency began acting as free agents.

The SA grew to three million members. Rohm the leader.

Rohm and his followers became a threat to Hitler. Directly and indirectly. For political reasons, Hitler needed the support of the Army High Command. Older military types. Generals. They feared Rohm was going to run the military.

The Treaty of Versailles limited the German Army to 100,000 troops. Rohm’s SA was not considered part of the German Army. Rohm had three million troops under his command.

Rohm had to go. One of Hitler’s closet friends and first supporters. The relationship was of no concern to Hitler.
June 30, 1934 to July 2, 1934, is known as The Night of the Long Knives. Hitler had Rohm and his high level officers assassinated. Shot or hung. Without trial. Rohm was one of the first to go.

Heinrich Himmler and Herman Goering became the new power persons supporting Hitler. The SS and Gestapo the significant parts of the power group.

In 1936, Himmler created a special department of the Gestapo to deal with homosexuals.

Paragraph 175 was revised to give its words meat. Minimal involvement between men constituted homosexual behavior. Simple looking and simple touching. Homosexuals became so frightened that they stopped acknowledging fellow homosexuals if they saw them on the street.

During the next several years, nearly 100,000 men were arrested under the revised Paragraph 175. The pink lists started in 1900 were taken out of dusty boxes and back rooms to assist in identifying homosexuals.

Understand that Hitler used homosexuality as an excuse to get rid of Rohm and his followers. Rohm’s death was not the end of his negativity re homosexuality. It was a popular cause. With the military, the people, everyone. Hitler rode its crest.

In a speech given by Hitler on August 4, 1937, Hitler said “…..homosexuality is actually as infectious and as dangerous as the plague.”

Once arrested, conviction was a certainty. The law provided a choice to the guilty party. Castration. Or a long jail sentence. It was felt castration would automatically cure sexual deviance. It guaranteed the victim a shorter sentence.

Some homosexuals never saw a court room. They were immediately hauled off to a concentration camp.

The SS ran the concentration camps. The law empowered the court and camp officials to order castration without the victim’s consent.

Homosexual concentration camp inmates were also subjected to involuntary experimentation, mutilation and death by camp doctors experimenting to find a way to cure homosexuality.

Three reasons were given as to why homosexuality had to be dealt with. In reality, merely excuses for poor treatment of homosexuals. The truth lie deeply in German souls. The eternal fear of homosexuals.

The first reason involved society’s sexual balance. Germany had lost 2 million men in World War I. Two million more were thought to be homosexuals in the 1930s. Four million men not helping to produce babies.

Result: Fewer babies would be born. Resulting further in the death of a nation. So it was thought. Himmler said: “A people of a good race which has too few children has a one way ticket to the grave…..”

The second reason was that homosexuals as a group would be a state within a state. A self serving group. The fear was a come the revolution thing.

Finally, homosexuality was a degeneracy. It threatened the masculinity of Germany. Homosexuals were effeminate and would not be able to fight for the Fatherland.

Homosexuals were poorly treated by guards and other inmates while in concentration camps. It is estimated 60 percent died from brutal treatment.

In 1940, Himmler directed that when homosexuals were released from jail, they were to go directly to a concentration camp. No passing Go.

World War II ended on May 8, 1945. You would assume the Allies would free the homosexuals as they did the Jews and other concentration camp prisoners. No. It was not to be. The Allies transferred the homosexuals to German prisons to serve the balance of their sentences under Paragraph 175.

In June 1956, Germany passed a Reparation Law for Victims of National Socialism. Those who had been in concentration camps were given a certain amount of money. The law clearly disqualified homosexuals from such compensation.

Paragraph 175 remained in force and effect till 1994 when it was abolished following the reunification of East and West Germany.

It was not until 2002 that Germany did something to fully recognize the injustice done to homosexuals. The German Parliament pardoned all homosexuals convicted by the Nazis under Paragraph 175.

The shame of it all is that it took from 1871 to 2002 to correct things. To recognize the wrong done homosexuals. Especially under Hitler. One hundred thirty one years.

I cannot understand how the Allies in 1945 sent homosexuals to prison rather than home. To finish their Paragraph 175 sentences. The good guys at the time, the Americans, English, French and Russians, were blind to the wrong being done.

I suspect intentionally blind.  Homosexuality was abhorred by “normal” people. They didn’t care.

Look how far most societies have come. Same sex marriage. Same sex partners permitted to adopt. Even into transgenderism.

It took a long time.

Germany is not a stable society. Probably never has been. Enjoys ruling with an iron fist. Authoritarian. Think of its leaders. Even today’s. Merkel is a hard ass.

Same sex marriage is still not legal in Germany. They are at the civil partnership stage. Called a Registered Life Partnership.

Interestingly, the German Supreme Court for several years has been suggesting the German Parliament amend the law to permit same sex marriage. Apparently German law does not permit their Supreme Court to rule directly on the issue. The issue has come up. The Parliament has consistently refused to approve same sex marriage.

At the same time, Germany has legalized prostitution. Berlin is the whore house of the world.

I don’t understand.

It is my opinion the German people remain intolerant and non accepting of homosexuals.

One cannot research and write an article of this nature without the issue of whether Hitler was a homosexual arising.

Most historians say no.

The issuv>

< e of whether Hitler and Rohm engaged in homosexual play in the 1920s also comes into question.

Historians suggest a strong perhaps.

Most historians, with few exceptions, believe Hitler was a ladies man. He had many girl friends before Eva Braun. He kept them under cover so as not to affect his political image. A typical politician.

It is claimed Hitler loved Eva Braun. His girl friend/companion for 13 years before their marriage.

Hitler never married till the last day of his life. Recall, he married Eva Braun and 24 hours later killed her and poisoned himself.

Historians tell us Hitler never married prior to the Braun episode because he felt a wife and children would be too much baggage to carry. For a man who was seeking to conquer the world. He could not effectively lead if he had to be concerned with a family.

We have had a first Catholic President, a first black President, and soon perhaps a first woman President. The day will come when we will have our first homosexual President.

Already many lower courts are presided over by homosexual and lesbian judges. I suspect it will be a first United States Supreme Court Justice before a President.