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HOMO HISTORY: Birth of the Pink TriangleFriday, May 06, 2011 05:05 AM
This week marks the 78th year anniversary of the Nazi book burnings. On May 6, 1933, Nazis ransacked the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin. Four days later on May 10th, thousands of books pertaining to homosexuality and the sexual sciences were deemed “un-German” and removed from the Institute and thrown into a huge bonfire as part of a public ceremony. Hitler had condemned homosexuals shortly after taking power. Gay people were viewed as “socially aberrant” and counterproductive to the Nazis’ desired goal of purifying German society and creating an “Aryan master race.” Hitler banned all gay and lesbian organizations and gathering places. Germany had once had a vibrant gay club scene that flourished in many cities such as Berlin and Hamburg during the 1920s. But brown shirted Nazi soldiers began raiding gay institutions and arrested anyone suspected of homosexuality. During 1933-1945, some 50,000 men were arrested and sentenced for the crime of homosexuality in Nazi Germany. Most of the men served their time in regular prisons, but an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps. All prisoners within the camps wore marks of various colors and shapes on their uniforms to allow the guards to identify them by category. Homosexual prisoners bore the mark of a pink triangle (which would later become a symbol of the modern gay rights movement). Conditions in the camp were terrible for all prisoners but were known to be particularly brutal for gay inmates; a large majority of the gay men sentenced to concentration camps would die while in captivity. (Photos: Top Left - Nazi Book Burning May 10, 1933. Top Right - Nazi soldiers close down and guard the gay club, El Dorado, March 5 1933. Bottom Left - Concentration camp prisoners. Bottom Right - Concentration camp prisoner symbols, including the pink triangle)
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