29 Oct 2024 | In commemoration of LGBTQ+ History Month, Dr. Jake Newsome will share the experiences of this marginalized group, untangling the complex motivations that convinced Nazi leaders that combating homosexuality was vital to the success of the Third Reich.
Dr. Jake Newsome is an award-winning scholar of German and American LGBTQ+ history whose research and resources educate global audiences. He is the Founder and Director of the Pink Triangle Legacies Project, a grassroots initiative that honors the memory of the Nazi’s queer victims and carries on their legacy by fighting homophobia and transphobia today through education, empowerment, and advocacy.
Thank you to our Community Partners: Pink Triangle Legacies Project, Affirmations LGBTQ+ Community Center, and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Pride.
3 Jun 2020 | Before the Nazis came to power, Berlin was home to a vibrant gay community. Within weeks of their rise in March 1933, the Nazis drove this population underground and waged a violent campaign against homosexuality. Over the next 12 years, more than 100,000 men were arrested for violating Germany's law against "unnatural indecency among men.” During this time, proof was often not required to convict an individual. Some were sent to concentration camps and subjected to hard labor, cruelty, and even medical experiments aimed at “curing” them.
6 Jan 2026 | Section 175 was a German criminal statute introduced in 1871 that prohibited sexual relations between men. It remained in force for more than a century, surviving monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, the post-war division of Germany and even reunification before its final abolition in 1994. The law was radically expanded by the Nazis in 1935, leading to tens of thousands of investigations and the deportation of many men to concentration camps under the pink triangle. After 1945, prosecutions continued in both East and West Germany, and men were still being convicted under Section 175 into the early 1990s. Because the law persisted across these political systems, institutionalised homophobia became a structural feature of modern German history.
Following its repeal, the federal government issued a formal apology for the decades of persecution, and in 2008 a national memorial designed by Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset was inaugurated at the eastern edge of the Tiergarten to commemorate homosexual victims of National Socialism. Its meaning has since broadened to include lesbian and trans victims, acknowledging the wider spectrum of people targeted and marginalised under the Nazi regime and in the decades that followed.
This video outlines key moments in the long history of institutionalised homophobia in Germany.
Whitlam’s Berlin Tours can be supported on Patreon here.
Aug 17, 2024 | WARNING: “This documentary is under an educational and historical context. We do NOT tolerate or promote hatred towards any group of people, we do NOT promote violence. We condemn these events so that they do not happen again. NEVER AGAIN. All photos have been censored according to YouTube's advertiser policies.”
Explore the harrowing history of homosexuals during Nazi Germany in this eye-opening video, detailing the persecution, resilience, and untold stories of LGBTQ+ individuals under the Third Reich. Beginning in 1933, when Adolf Hitler rose to power, the Nazi regime intensified its efforts to eradicate homosexuality, which they deemed incompatible with their vision of a racially pure and morally strict society. This dark chapter in history saw the enforcement of Paragraph 175, a law criminalizing homosexual acts, which led to the arrest and conviction of approximately 100,000 men.
The video delves into the infamous raids of gay clubs and bars in Berlin, once a haven for LGBTQ+ individuals during the liberal Weimar Republic. Names like Magnus Hirschfeld, a pioneering sexologist and gay rights advocate, emerge as tragic figures whose work was destroyed in the notorious book burnings of 1933. Hirschfeld's Institut für Sexualwissenschaft was ransacked, and his extensive research on sexuality was lost forever.
Viewers will learn about the brutal conditions in concentration camps like Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald, where an estimated 5,000 to 15,000 homosexual men were imprisoned. The pink triangle, a symbol of shame and stigma, was forcibly worn by these men, marking them for severe mistreatment, forced labor, and often, death. Heart-wrenching personal accounts, like that of Pierre Seel, a Frenchman deported to Schirmeck-Vorbruck concentration camp, highlight the human cost of this persecution. Seel's later memoirs provide a rare, firsthand account of the horrors faced by gay men during this period.
The video also touches on the post-war period, revealing how the suffering of homosexuals was largely ignored or forgotten. Unlike other victims of the Holocaust, gay men were not immediately liberated but often re-imprisoned under the same Paragraph 175. It wasn't until 1969 that homosexuality was decriminalized in East Germany, and 1994 in reunified Germany.
This video is a crucial reminder of the resilience and courage of those who suffered under Nazi tyranny. It underscores the importance of remembering and honoring their stories to ensure that such atrocities are never repeated. Join us as we uncover the forgotten history of homosexuals during Nazi Germany, shedding light on a dark past to educate and inspire future generations.
Oct 4, 2022 | The brutal torture of gay men under Nazi régime in Nazi Germany. Despite the fact that homosexuality was illegal, in the mid- to late-nineteenth century, there were indications of nascent and growing gay communities in Germany…
Premiered Jan 21, 2021 • The vastly ignored history of Germany's war on gay men during World War 2. A special note: Trans women were also persecuted but Germany categorized them as gay men so there's no official records to refer to.
This documentary contains material which some people will find very disturbing. Viewer discretion is therefore strongly advised. It is not suitable for children. – Mark Alexander
Premiered Jan 21, 2021 • The vastly ignored history of Germany's war on gay men during World War 2. A special note: Trans women were also persecuted but Germany categorized them as gay men so there's no official records to refer to.
This documentary contains material which some people will find very disturbing. Viewer discretion is therefore strongly advised. It is not suitable for children. – Mark
