Recognition

the plight of homosexuals in the holocaust became overshadowed by the bigger Jewish losses. Holocaust museums

 ‘I’ve already talked so much about the concentration camps. I’ve spoken about it before. I don’t want to anymore. That’s in the past for me’. 

Unwilling to go quietly into the night, one survivor began writing down his painful memories onto paper. The result was the powerful ‘Männer mit dem rosa Winkel ‘ (‘Man with the Pink Triangle’).  First published in 1972, the German book opened the lid on a part of history that had remained hidden for so long. The Austrian survivor chose to remain anonymous fearing possible repercussions, instead relating his experiences to the German writer Heinz Heger. The book was later translated into English and republished in 1980 as ‘The Men With the Pink Triangle’ in the US and UK.

Other survivor books soon followed, including ‘The Pink Triangle’ by Robert Plant; ‘An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin’ by Gad Beck; ‘Liberation was for Others, Memoirs of a Gay Survivor of the Nazi Holocaust’ by Pierre Seel (Originally published in French as ‘Moi Pierre Seel, déporté Homosexuel’); and ‘Damned Strong Love: The True Story of Willi G. and Stephan K’ by Lutz Van Dijk. (A full list of these titles can be found in the resources section of this site).

Martin Sherman’s 1979 award-winning play ‘Bent’, largely based on Hegers’ book ‘The Men With the Pink triangle’, brought the suffering of gay men in Nazi Europe to the stage and furthered awareness to the subject. A film version followed in 1997. The play was followed by the release of two documentaries featuring survivor testimonies: ‘Desire’ (directed by Stuart Marshall, 1989), and then ‘We Were Marked With A Big ‘A’’ (directed by Elke Jeanrod and Josef Weishaupt, 1990).

Historians began to research the Nazi persecution of homosexuals extensively, among them German-born Dr. Klaus Mueller, who has produced many articles on the subject. In 1995 he helped and encouraged eight survivors to issue a collective declaration demanding judicial and moral recognition of their persecution. The declaration read:

’Declaration of gay survivors 50 years after their liberation’
“50 years ago, Allied troops did liberate us from Nazi concentration camps and prisons. But the world we had hoped for did not happen to come true. We were forced to hide again and faced on-going persecution under the same Nazi-law that was on the books since 1935 and stayed on the books until 1969. Raids were frequent. Some of us - just tasting their new freedom - were even sentenced to long-term prison again. 

Although some of us tried courageously to gain recognition by challenging the courts up to the West German Supreme Court, we were never acknowledged as being persecuted by the Nazi regime. We were excluded from financial compensations for the victims of the Nazi regime. We lacked the moral support and sympathy of the public. No SS-man ever had to face a trial for the murder of a gay man in or outside the camps. But whereas they now enjoy a pension for their 'work' in the camps, our years in the camps are subtracted from our pension. 
Today we are too old and tired to struggle for the recognition of the Nazi injustice we suffered. Many of us never dared to testify. Many of us died alone with their hunting memories. We waited long, but in vain for a clear political and financial gesture of the German government and courts.
We know that still very little is taught in schools and universities about our fate. Even Holocaust museums and memorials many times don't mention the Nazi persecution of homosexuals. 
Today, 50 years later, we turn to the young generation and to all of you who are not guided by hate and homophobia. Please support us in our struggle to memorize and document the Nazi atrocities against homosexual men and lesbian women. Let us never forget the Nazi atrocities against Jews, Gypsies, Jehovah's witnesses, Freemasons, the disabled, Polish and Russian prisoners of war and homosexuals.
and let us learn from the past and let us support the young generation of lesbian women and gay men, girls and boys to lead unlike us a life in dignity and respect, with their loved ones, their friends and their families.”

In 1984 the first monument ever to acknowledge homosexuals as victims of the Nazis was erected.  finally began to 

    Since 1984, memorials to homosexual victims of the Nazi regime have appeared in various cities and memorial sites at former concentration camps, including: "Homomonument," Westermarkt, Amsterdam, 1987; Nollendorfplatz, Berlin–Schöneberg, 1989; Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum, Oranienburg, 1992; "Angel," Platz Schäfergasse/Alte Gasse, Frankfurt, 1994; and on the bank of the Rhine River at the Wallraf–Richarts–Museum, Cologne, 1995.    

In 1999 the groundbreaking documentary ‘Paragraph 175’, directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman brought together the testimonies of eight survivors. Although not the first documentary on the subject, it was largely regarded as the most comprehensive. Winning several awards, including the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for ‘Best Documentary Direction’, the film became instrumental in raising awareness and was cited in the eventual apology and recognition for gay victims by the German government.

Recognition has come too late for many of gay victims and survivors, who lived the rest of their lives as criminals in the eyes of the law. While memorials remember the many other victims of the Holocaust, it was 54 years before one included the gay victims. In January 1999 Germany finally held its first official memorial service for the homosexual victims at the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp. 

It wasn’t until December 2000 that an apology came. The German government issued an apology for the prosecution of homosexuals in Germany after 1949 and agreed to recognise gays as victims of the Third Reich. Survivors were finally encouraged to come forwards and claim compensation for their treatment during the Holocaust (although claims had to be registered before the end of 2001).

The Geneva-based aid agency, International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was responsible for the introducing and handling the claims.

On May 17th 2002, the process was completed as thousands of homosexuals, who suffered under the Reich, were officially pardoned by the German government. About 50, 000 gay men were included. German justice minister Hertha Daeubler-Gmelin told parliament, "We all know that our decisions today are more than 50 years late, they are necessary nonetheless. We owe it to the victims of wrongful Nazi justice."