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Kurt Jensen, ca. 1937
© StaH

Kurt Jensen * 1912

Neustädter Straße 31 Pik AS (Hamburg-Mitte, Neustadt)

Verhaftet 1937
KZ Fuhlsbüttel
kastriert 1938
KZ Sachsenhausen
ermordet 20.01.1940

further stumbling stones in Neustädter Straße 31 Pik AS:
Günther Brackemeier, Helmut Büdgen, Walter Cardis, Wilhelm Christen, Karl Drischler, Walter Hoffmann, Johann Kurz, Johannes Lehnau, Walter Makowski, Fritz Marquardt, Karl-Heinz Rothbarth, August Schlösser, Franz Schwarzl, Elmar Wagner, Albert Wölck

Kurt Jensen, born 29.4.1912 in Neumünster, repeatedly imprisoned, protective custody/preventive custody, on 15.2.1939 committed to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, murdered there on 20.1.1940

Neustädter Straße 31 Pik AS (Hamburg-Mitte, Neustadt)

"Slowed down conception. Morally inferior, work-shy, homosexual and criminal." With this verdict of an expert, the decorative painter Kurt Jensen had no chance of survival. Already in 1933, as a minor, he became one of the first Hamburg victims of the "asocial" persecution. Due to repeated arrests, imprisonment in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp, and convictions, he saw only a chance to survive in prostitution and as a petty criminal as a person with a criminal record, no fixed abode, and no prospect of regular work.

Kurt Jensen, born 1912, was born out of wedlock; he spent the first eight years of his life with foster parents. After completing his training as a decorative painter, he worked on a farm for four and a half years. In 1932 he moved to Hamburg, where he was initially unemployed and tried to get by with temporary work. From October 24, 1933 to January 8, 1934, Kurt Jensen was imprisoned in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp "to drive out his work-shyness." From February 2 to April 25, 1934, he was again taken into police "protective custody."

In 1936, he was sentenced for the first time to eight months in prison for homosexual acts, which he served until December 14, 1936. From January 1 to March 16, 1937, he was in the Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp as a "protective prisoner." After his release, he went back to working the streets. On April 8, 1937, a police officer became aware of him and his john at the corner of Admiralitätstraße and Heiligengeistbrücke and arrested the two. In the protocol, the officer made the following remark: "Jensen was released from prison on March 16. Today he is already wearing shaved eyebrows again."

Jensen was again sent to Fuhlsbüttel concentration camp from April 10 to May 20, 1937. During the short time in freedom he had "commercially masturbated" with five men he had met in public toilets or in pubs. For this he had received between 1 and 3 Reichsmarks each. On July 12, 1937, Kurt Jensen was sentenced by the Hamburg Regional Court to 18 months in prison for "commercial fornication" under § 175 a Ziffer 4. On August 9, 1937, he filed an application for "voluntary emasculation." To serve the sentence, he was sent to Fuhlsbüttel penitentiary on August 10, 1937.

A little over a year later, on September 1, 1938, the castration took place in the Central Hospital pf the prison. Since, according to the medical expert's assessment, he was no longer a danger, he was released from prison on October 10, 1938. However, he did not go free, but was transferred to the Hamburg police authority. Despite the successful castration, and despite the fact that the Hamburg Chief Public Prosecutor Dr. August Schuberth had interceded on his behalf, he was taken into "preventive custody".

On February 15, 1939, the Reich Criminal Police Office in Berlin lobbied for Jensen not to be released again: "The order of police preventive detention against Jensen became necessary because of his longstanding antisocial behavior. Since 1933 he has avoided regular work and has constantly engaged in the worst kind of activity as a hustler. He had to be arrested several times for hustling, middle-class and homelessness. [The punishments pronounced against Jensen since 1931 are sufficient proof of his many years of antisocial behavior. Jensen did let himself be emasculated voluntarily on September 1, 1938. The good will that may be expressed by his willingness [...] will, however, hardly be sufficient to prevent him from recidivism in the future. The emasculation does not exclude physically the passive activity as a hustler. [...] Under these circumstances, I am not able to approach a release of Jensen from preventive police custody for the time being. It can be assumed with certainty that in the case of an early release he would soon become completely neglected again as a result of his work-shyness and his poorly developed moral comprehension. In Jensen's case, rather, a long education in a state reformatory and work camp is unavoidably necessary." (Letter from the Reich Criminal Police Office Berlin to the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Hamburg Regional Court, February 15, 1939).

Kurt Jensen was taken to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.

The Oranienburg registry office noted the death of Kurt Jensen, who was only 27 years old, for January 20, 1940.

Kurt Jensen is commemorated by a stumbling stone in front of the Pik As, the overnight shelter for homeless men.

Translation: Beate Meyer

Text taken with kind permission from: Bernhard Rosenkranz; Ulf Bollmann; Gottfried Lorenz, "Homosexual Persecution in Hamburg 1919-1969," Hamburg 2009.

Stand: March 2023
© Bernhard Rosenkranz (†), Gottfried Lorenz und Ulf Bollmann

Quellen u.a.: StaH, Strafakte im Bestand 213-11 Staatsanwaltschaft Landgericht – Strafsachen, 53485; Einzelfallakte der Kriminalbiologischen Sammelstelle, 242-2, 477 Krim-Bio-Akte.