#Repost @lgbt_history (@get_repost) ・・・ Prisoners branded with the pink triangle, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Sachsenhausen, Germany, Dec. 19, 1938. Photo c/o @usnatarchives. [TW] . Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime arrested over 100,000 people who lived—or who were accused of living—beyond “acceptable” boundaries of sexuality and gender. Of those arrested, some 50,000 were convicted and between 10,000 and 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. While the exact number of those who died is not known, it’s estimated that at least 60% of those in concentration camps identified as homosexuals perished. Importantly, the term “homosexual” went beyond gay men, encompassing individuals who identified, or today likely would identify, as transgender women or bisexuals, among others. . While the Nazis viewed lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender men as threats, it was relatively rare for them to face prison under anti-homosexual laws; instead, some bore the black triangle, marking them as “asocial.” . The treatment of those marked by the pink triangle was particularly brutal. Under the policy of “Extermination Through Work,” for example, prisoners routinely were worked to death. There also are many reports of SS soldiers using prisoners for target practice, aiming specifically for the pink triangle over the heart. . On January 27, 1945, seventy-five years ago today, Allied forces liberated Auschwitz, an event commemorated today, and each year, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. . For many queer prisoners, however, liberation didn’t come. These survivors were not acknowledged as victims of Nazi persecution—and therefore were not eligible for reparations or other government assistance—for decades. Moreover, as homosexual acts were still a crime in 1945, a substantial number of queer people were taken directly from a concentration camp to Allied prisons 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. #HavePrideInHistory #HolocaustRememb https://www.instagram.com/p/B73wgIFBAv-s2RhvbiIf4kIcJpQ2gCEF0zQhqo0/?igshid=urifqacx47si
