People without history are dust

Authors

• Victoria Van Orden Martínez Lund University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4491-5520

Keywords:

the Holocaust, queer desire, Holocaust survivors, concentration camp survivors, witness testimony

Abstract

Accounts given by former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps bear witness to the ubiquity of same-sex sexual activity in the camps, both consensual and non-consensual. They also demonstrate that while some witnesses describe this activity as common, few claim to have experienced it themselves due to homophobia and persistent social stigma. Anna Hájková's 2025 book, People without History Are Dust: Queer Desire in the Holocaust, brings queer desire in the Holocaust to light and provides a model for how to approach this topic respectfully and sensitively.