Das Ende des Schweigens

The End of Silence

Docudrama about the Frankfurt homosexual trials in 1950/51. They were the culmination of a wave of persecution against gays in the still young Federal Republic of Germany - supported and pushed by lawyers who had already been active under during the Third Reich. The starting point of the trials was information provided by the 17-year-old hustler Otto Blankenstein. When he was arrested by the Frankfurt police in the summer of 1950, he tried to save himself by denouncing his customers. In the months that followed, more than 200 homosexual and bisexual men were investigated, and about 100 of them were arrested - men from all walks of life whose entire livelihood was thus destroyed. Six of those persecuted committed suicide. Blankenstein himself was charged and convicted despite his extensive collaboration with the lawyers.