TV premiere on Tuesday, May 21st at 9:05 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – Josef Kohout from Vienna is the first homosexual concentration camp prisoner to make his ordeal public – albeit under a pseudonym. His fate is the focus of the second part of the “Universum History” series about “milestones in queer history” by director Fritz Kalteis. In the 1920s, the lesbian and gay scene in Berlin and Vienna experienced its first heyday. But when the Nazis came to power, everything was over. The Austrian Josef Kohout was interned as a convicted homosexual in the Sachsenhausen and Flossenbürg concentration camps for five years. There Kohout has to wear the infamous pink triangle. Kohout survives – and his life story later becomes a key work of the second gay and lesbian movement under the title “The Men with the Pink Triangle”. ORF 2 is showing the new production “Persecuted Love – The Men with the Pink Angle” on the occasion of “Pride Month 2024” on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 9:05 p.m.
Josef Kohout is portrayed by young star Stefan Gorski, who was recently awarded the Bavarian Film Prize for “A Whole Life” and is currently nominated for the Austrian Film Prize as “Best Male Lead”. Chamber actor Michael Dangl plays the author Hanns Neumann and Markus Freistätter plays the sadistic camp director Karl Fritzsch. Almdudler owner Thomas Klein, who has been one of the most active supporters of the local pride movement for years, makes a surprise appearance as Kohout’s partner Willi Kröpfl.
The ORF, V-Set and Feature Film invited people to the presentation of the film in Vienna’s Admiral Cinema yesterday, Thursday, May 16th. “Universum History” show manager Caroline Haidacher, director Fritz Kalteis and V-Set producer Alex Wieser explained the history of its creation in a conversation with historian Hannes Sulzenbacher from QWIEN, the center for queer history in Vienna, as well as the actors Stefan Gorski and Michael Dangl Importance of documentation. Also among the premiere guests: Armin Luttenberger, Head of Content Sales International at ORF Enterprise, as well as Markus Freistätter and Almdudler owner Thomas Klein.
“Universum History” boss Caroline Haidacher: “Pride Month celebrates diversity, which is also an opportunity for us to remember those queer people who were persecuted, imprisoned or murdered. Josef Kohout had the courage to tell his story. He represents the thousands of queer victims of National Socialism.”
Director Fritz Kalteis: “Kohout’s fate is representative of those tens of thousands of men and women who, like Josef Kohout, were persecuted by the Nazis only because they loved differently than the National Socialists’ population policy intended.”
Alex Wieser, producer and 2024 Franz Grabner Prize winner in the documentary film category: “It was extremely courageous of Josef Kohout to be the first to break the silence. That’s what makes his story so important – also to understand why anti-queer sentiment still exists today.”
Historian Hannes Sulzenbacher, QWIEN: “After the war, the criminal prosecution of homosexual men in particular continued. In this climate, Josef Kohout is the first Pink Angle prisoner to dare to make his story public: The political appeal he is clearly making is: ‘You have to recognize us as victims’.”
Stefan Gorski, Kohout actor: “Josef Kohout’s story touches the heart and makes you shake your head at the absurdity of criminalizing homosexuality. I hope this film helps raise awareness of historical injustices and promotes dialogue about the importance of equality and respect. In the future, there should no longer be a place in the world where a person has to justify their love or sexual orientation or even feel persecuted. It fills me with pride that I have had the honor of portraying such a historically important figure and I would like to thank you very much for it.”
Michael Dangl on his role as Hanns Neumann: “What is special is, on the one hand, the historical significance that this book has and, on the other hand, the explosive nature of the meeting between these two people. It wasn’t a given that there would be a conversation between Kohout and Neumann. If things hadn’t been right between the two, it would probably have ended after the first encounter. Hanns Neumann lived very cautiously; it was very important to him that his homosexuality did not come to light. What it meant for such a person to expose himself to this risk, which it really was at the time, shows that he was passionately obsessed with the fact that this coming to terms with it had to happen.”
More about the content:
Vienna, late 1960s: In strict secrecy, Josef Kohout (played by Stefan Gorski) tells the author Hanns Neumann (Michael Dangl) about his time in hell. Like thousands of other homosexual men, he ended up in a concentration camp in the winter of 1940 after ten months in Gestapo custody. Branded with the “Pink Triangle,” he is humiliated and tormented for five years. Kohout survives – also because he fits into a system of sexual exploitation. Nevertheless, after 1945 the Austrian authorities refused him any compensation as a Nazi victim. The reason: Homosexual men are still considered criminals in Austria, as in Germany. Kohout will fight against this injustice until the end of his life – in vain.
Based on Josef Kohout’s memories, the book “The Men with the Pink Triangle” was finally published in 1972, albeit under a pseudonym. The first account of the experiences of a gay concentration camp inmate was discovered by the second gay and lesbian movement in the late 1970s and 1980s and is now considered a key work in queer history. Through Kohout, the Pink Angle changes from a stigma to a symbol of the early Pride movement.
Details about the “Universum History” production “Persecuted Love – The Men with the Pink Triangle” are available at presse.ORF.at.
„Regenbogenparade 2024 – Pride and Party. Live dabei.“ am 8. Juni in ORF 1; „A Very English Scandal“ am 7. Juni in ORF 1
ORF 1 is once again broadcasting the highlight of Pride Month live from Vienna’s Ringstrasse: the “Rainbow Parade 2024 – Pride and Party. Be there live.” can be seen on Saturday, June 8th, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oliver Polzer and drag queen Grazia Patricia comment on the parade. Fanny Stapf and ORF-1 reporters report from the middle of the action, hold exciting talks, offer insights behind the scenes and provide surprising snapshots. On Friday, June 7th, ORF 1 will show the Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated three-part miniseries “A Very English Scandal” about one of the biggest political scandals in England in the 1970s with Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw from 11:55 p.m.