This piece of rediscovered trans history will make your day

Dora “Dörchen” Richter isn’t a household name to most people, including those in the trans community. Which is a shame, because she’s one of the most historically significant trans women out there. And we just discovered that she survived Nazi Germany.

Richter is famous for being the first trans woman to get a vaginoplasty. She previously received an orchiectomy and a penectomy at the Magnus Hirschfield Institute of Sex Research, where she worked as a cook and domestic servant in the midst of Weimar Germany, a time where trans people struggled to find work and social acceptance.

Shortly after her penectomy, Richter received the first vaginoplasty surgery conducted on a trans woman in history.

@erininthemorn

Dora Richter Lived!!!! #trans #transgender #lgbtq #transrights

♬ original sound – ErinInTheMorning

It’s been long thought that Richter died when the Nazis stormed Hirschfield’s Institute, killing those inside and burning it to the ground, destroying the many decades of research at the facility.

Recently, however, researcher Clara Hartmann discovered, while investigating historical trans figures, that Richter’s amended birth certificate had a peculiarity to it. The certificate, which was amended to reflect Richter’s true name, was corrected on 28th of January, 1946 – 13 years after Richter was presumed to be killed.

Culture, unfiltered

Twice a week, our newsletter will bring you the pulse of queer culture, from the tastemakers to the groundbreakers.

It turns out that Richter survived the attacks after all, and had moved to Czechoslovakia, where her birth certificate could be changed to reflect her correct name and gender. After Germans were expelled from the country when it joined the Soviet bloc, Richter reentered her home country, residing in Nuremberg for the next 20 years.

Related

Here’s Why Trans Folks are Still Pissed About “The Danish Girl”

It’s not for us, but it’s about us.

She lived to be 74, where she died 26th of April, 1966. According to the German news outlet RBB 24, there are some people alive today that even remember her as a kindly older lady with a handbag who would always feed the birds.

This is good news to the whole trans community, as it’s important to remember those who came before us and those who lived to become queer elders. Against all odds, Dora Richter found a way to survive and live a full life even when her country tried its hardest to destroy her life, and the lives of those like her.