Martinelli is a Seattle-based freelance writer and editor. In this essay, Martinelli examines the relation of love to identity as the main character, Max, struggles to survive Nazi persecution of homosexuals.

Bent begins on an infamous night in gay history: June 29, 1934, also known as "The Night of the Long Knives." On this night, the Nazis purged Germany's old leadership and with it all of Hitler's political opponents. The purge resulted from political quarrellings between Nazi leaders subordinate to Hitler. Most notable to Sherman's play is the struggle between Heinrich Himmler and Ernst Röhm. Röhm was the head of the powerful Sturmabteilung leadership (SA) and, as it was, he was the leader of the only viable threat to Hitler's power. The SA was an enormous armed assault division that functioned as the key paramilitary organization of the German Nazi Party. Himmler was aware of...