Gay Pride: Remembering our History, WWII

WW II ended 70 years ago. Not only were Jews put into concentration camps, but also Gypsies, Political Prisoners, Indigents and Homosexuals. Before the Nazis came to power, Berlin was mostly a free society for Gays and Lesbians. Berlin had many different clubs and social forums for Gays and Lesbians. The movie, "Cabaret" fictitiously depicts this era very well. It is based on the collection "Berlin Stories" by

Christopher Isherwood














When the Nazis came to power, many gay men were rounded up. Some were German gay men and many were Jewish gay men. Many Gay men survived being killed, but far more were murdered. Homosexuals were Identified with the word Homo on their backs or "Paragraph 175". "Paragraph 175" was a section of the German Penal code that held Homosexuality as a crime and then there was the Pink Triangle.

I came across two wonderful videos.

The first is an interview of
Rudolf Brazda,
a Holocaust Survivor before his death in 2011.







"Rudolph Braza, Last of the Pink Triangles Tells His Story"

The second video is the Documentary "Paragraph 175". Director of Research/Associate Producer Klaus Muller and Narrated by Rupert Everett.

Paragraph 175

It is so very important that the LGBTQ community knows their history, especially the young among us. We have come a long way since 1945, 1969 and today, but we must never forget those who came before us. The brave, the proud, the activists and the lost.

To read more about Rudolph Braza and V-E Day, go to the Advocate article V-E Day: Watch a Gay Holocaust Survivor Recount His Experiences