Prisoners wearing the pink triangle (marking them as homosexuals), Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, Germany, December 19, 1938. Photo c/o CORBIS. [TW]
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime oversaw the arrest of an estimated 100,000 men on the basis of suspected homosexuality. Of those arrested, some 50,000 were convicted and between 10,000 and 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. While the precise number of those who died is not known, scholars estimate that at least 60% of homosexuals sent to concentration camps perished in the camps. (Note: the term “homosexual” was applied to LGBTQs beyond gay men and likely applied, for example, to trans women; while lesbians were viewed as a threat to the state, it was relatively rare for cisgender women to face prison under anti-homosexual laws.) The treatment of those marked by the pink triangle was particularly brutal. Under the policy of “Extermination Through Work,” for example, homosexuals prisoners routinely were assigned the most grueling tasks. There also are many reports of SS soldiers using homosexuals for target practice, aiming specifically for the pink triangle over the heart.
On January 27, 1945, seventy-two years ago today, Allied forces liberated Auschwitz, an event commemorated today, and each year, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
For many homosexual prisoners, however, the liberation of the camps did not end the persecution. Homosexual survivors were not acknowledged as victims of Nazi persecution—and therefore were not eligible for reparations or other government assistance—for decades. Moreover, as homosexuality was still a crime in 1945, a substantial number of homosexuals were taken directly from a concentration camp to an Allied prison in order to serve out their terms. For more, see Pierre Seel’s “Liberation Was for Others.”
Rudolf Brazda, believed to be the last surviving person who was sent to a concentration camp under anti-homosexual laws, died in France in August 2011; he was ninety-eight. #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #NeverAgain #NeverForget #InternationalHolocaustRemembranceDay (at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp)
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