The Last Pink Triangle Holocaust Survivor is dead.

Dr. Baltar

The last surviving victim of homosexual deportation during the holocaust died yesterday.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Brazda


RIP and never forget how far we've come.

Freiheit

Often forgotten was the lgbtq aspect to concentration camps and how they were not freed by the allies.

littlehedgehog

" In the early 1950s, Brazda met Edi at a costume ball, who became his life companion. In the early 1960s they moved into a house they built in the suburbs of Mulhouse, where Brazda resided until his death. He tended to Edi for over 30 years after Edi was crippled by a severe work accident, until his death in 2003."


:(:(

RIP. An amazingly strong person.

nelly1912

RIP dear soul,

G.K.

RIP

Asry

there's a monument to homosexuals murdered during the holocaust in Berlin though, and not for other minorities who were targets like mentally-ill patients and the Romani.

I do know though that they continued to be treatly harshly after the war, especially after the division of Berlin, in East Berlin - but that was more par for the course until the civil rights movement, which wouldn't have even reached East Berlin until 1989.

Locker10a

Asry wrote: »

there's a monument to homosexuals murdered during the holocaust in Berlin though, and not for other minorities who were targets like mentally-ill patients and the Romani.

I do know though that they continued to be treatly harshly after the war, especially after the division of Berlin, in East Berlin - but that was more par for the course until the civil rights movement, which wouldn't have even reached East Berlin until 1989.

I was in Berlin last month, went on walking tours of the city. our guide brought us to the Jewish memorial which is near the Brandenburg Gate, she told us while we were there that there is another relativly new memorial to LGBT victims close to it. She said LGBT victims had been almost forgotton about untill recent years and their suffering along with others was not a commonly known thing.
While in germany i also visited a Concentration camp. Again our tour guide mentioned how LGBT victims were not mentioned at all when it came to the Holocaust untill recent years. Sad really and when i thought about it i dont remember learning anything about about anyone other than the Jews when we did WW2 in school.

Conor30

Freiheit wrote: »

Often forgotten was the lgbtq aspect to concentration camps and how they were not freed by the allies.

Were they not freed by the allies when the camps were liberated?

Freiheit

No actually they weren't freed. They were left to 'serve out their sentences' ,I'm not sure how long this 'sentence ' was or whether it was universal in every camp,but no in general a least the allies didn't release lgbtq inmates on entry.

Apparently East Germany was actually a far more accepting place for lgbtq people than the west. The West created an association between the immoral godless Communist system and lgbtq rights. Thus to increase them was seen as following the morally illiterate communist state and was thus resisted.

allydylan

tbh i never heard of this man until now, but i feel i owe alot to him, RIP to an LGBT hero

L1011

Asry wrote: »

there's a monument to homosexuals murdered during the holocaust in Berlin though, and not for other minorities who were targets like mentally-ill patients and the Romani.

I do know though that they continued to be treatly harshly after the war, especially after the division of Berlin, in East Berlin - but that was more par for the course until the civil rights movement, which wouldn't have even reached East Berlin until 1989.

East Germany/East Berlin had gay rights before West Germany... generally went further and quicker.

They weren't even aware that this lad was still alive due to poor records and a general disinterest in the "pink triangle" camp victims; he made himself known after the opening ceremony for the memorial mentioned there being no living survivors. There could be another one out there but its relatively unlikely at this stage.

Sir Ophiuchus

MYOB wrote: »

East Germany/East Berlin had gay rights before West Germany... generally went further and quicker.

And the pre-war Weimar Republic was actually a worldwide beacon for gay rights. Then the Nazis came to power...

And no, those imprisoned for homosexuality were not freed by the Allies.

Dr. Baltar

Sir Ophiuchus wrote: »

And the pre-war Weimar Republic was actually a worldwide beacon for gay rights. Then the Nazis came to power...

And no, those imprisoned for homosexuality were not freed by the Allies.

LGBT People in the Weimar Republic fascinate me. Does anyone know of any films/books on the subject?
It must have been crazy to live in say, an Ireland of today and then to have your human rights stripped from you. Scary times.

diddlybit

Dr. Baltar wrote: »

LGBT People in the Weimar Republic fascinate me. Does anyone know of any films/books on the subject?
It must have been crazy to live in say, an Ireland of today and then to have your human rights stripped from you. Scary times.

Oddly enough, my ex was from Eastern Germany. His father was gay and was very close friends with his mother. At the time, it wasn't ok to be gay in communist Germany so they set up a "house" at the time. Drinks happened, and the aftermath of said drinks was my ex. Then a marriage and a second kid. Marriage was very unhappy as one would think and they seperated. His last childhood memory of his father was saying goodbye to him before he embarked on a train to try smuggle himself out of the East. He hid himself in the roof of the toilet and was then detained in the West for a number of weeks before being released. He's then met and married his partner in the West and still lives there.

Seriously fascinting subject and fascinating place. My ex's aunt became a Protestent and that was consdiered madly subversive.

diddlybit

Sorry, obviously not Weimar Republic but the evolution (and devolution) of gays rights over the course of the last century and a half is fascinating. The early German sexologists were, in an nutshell, the first gay activists and are a fascinating read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Heinrich_Ulrichs

baby and crumble

diddlybit wrote: »

My ex's aunt became a Protestent and that was consdiered madly subversive.

Ah but sure being protestant is WAY worse than being gay....

There's a great movie, if anyone wants to watch it, called 'Aimee and Jaguar'. It's set in WW2 and is about a Nazi commanders wife who falls in love with a jewish girl. Absolutely brilliant movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130444/