In the novelist’s debut, The Lilac People (Counterpoint, Apr.), a group of gay and transgender Berliners survive the Holocaust only to face persecution from the Allies.
How did you become interested in the work of Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld, a world-renowned researcher at the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin in pre-Nazi Germany?
Several years ago, I saw a simple, meme-like post that said something along the lines of, “Did you know that when the Allied forces liberated the concentration camps, they sent all the queer and trans survivors to jail?” My immediate reaction was, “No way.” But I looked it up and found out it was true. That started a multi-year research endeavor that turned into The Lilac People. While the research was exhausting, the book felt like it was writing itself, and Dr. Hirschfeld ended up playing a notable role.
Your fictional character Bertie Durchdenwald is based on a real-life trans man, Berthold Buttgereit. How did you decide which parts to fictionalize?
The characters of Bertie, Karl, and Gert were named in honor of three of the trans masculine and/or intersex individuals known to have survived WWII Germany: Berthold Buttgereit, Karl M. Baer, and Gerd Katter. My characters were heavily influenced by the real-life experiences of the queer and trans communities of the time. I wanted to honor some of the survivors by name while simultaneously recognizing that countless other stories and people are lost to history.
Was it important to show how the war affected different people in different ways—some spend the war in hiding, some don’t survive the camps, and some are liberated?
Absolutely. I attempted to avoid the Oppression Olympics when it comes to the different ways people were impacted. No matter who you are, there are no winners in fascism. If someone disagrees, that just means their turn didn’t or hasn’t come up yet. No matter how high up a person is, fascism will eventually get them if it’s allowed to go on long enough.
Though the Allies imprison gay and trans concentration camp survivors, some of the book’s characters consider fleeing to the U.S., where they believe they might be free. Do you think America’s gay and trans communities will suffer a setback in the rights they’ve gained over the past few decades?
We already have. I believe the mainstream just hasn’t been particularly aware of it until more recently. And while I’m grateful for the rights we’ve gained, anti-queer people sometimes behave as if we’ve taken over the world. In reality, the needle has barely moved for us in the human rights department. All we’ve really gained is some exposure.
The Lilac People is about grief and resilience in the face of fascism, and its biggest themes are community and solidarity. Sometimes when faced with adversity, it’s meaningful to look at those who experienced it before us. The ghosts of history are watching, kissing our foreheads.
