The Gist Daniel Brook & Brandy Schillace: The Sex Expert Who Scared Hitler
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Dec 2, 2025 Daniel Brook, historian and author of The Einstein of Sex, teams up with Brandy Schillace, a medical historian and author of The Intermediaries, to explore the groundbreaking work of Magnus Hirschfeld. They delve into Hirschfeld's pioneering Institute for Sexual Science and his tragic legacy during Nazi Germany, including the chilling book burnings. Their discussion spans from early queer activism to the intersection of masculinity, antisemitism, and the political manipulation of sexuality in Weimar Germany.
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Hirschfeld's Institute Was Groundbreaking
- Magnus Hirschfeld ran a pioneering Institute for Sexual Science that combined clinic, research, and community for queer people in Weimar Berlin.
- The Nazis targeted his work so visibly they burned his books and even paraded his severed likeness at the 1933 book burning.
A Suicide Letter Sparked Hirschfeld's Crusade
- Brandy Scalace traces queer advocacy back to 19th-century precursors like Karl Ulrichs and links Hirschfeld's activism to patient tragedies.
- A patient's suicide letter galvanized Hirschfeld to treat queer suffering as a public mandate.
Weimar Liberalism Was Urban And Vulnerable
- Weimar sexual openness was mainly metropolitan, centered in Berlin and some cities like Cologne, not nationwide.
- Economic instability let right-wing forces convert class tensions into majoritarian attacks on minorities, including queer people.
