Gay activi

Lesbian, gay and trans life in Germany began to thrive at the beginning of the 20th century. Albrecht Becker — imprisoned by the Nazis for being gay. By the s, Paragraph of the German Penal Code, which criminalised homosexual acts, was being applied less frequently. In the process towards complete decriminalisation had been initiated within the German legislature.

Repression against gay men, lesbians and trans people commenced within days of Hitler becoming Chancellor. On 6 Maythe Nazis violently looted and closed The Institute for Sexual Scienceburning its extensive collection on the streets. Unknown numbers of German gay men, lesbians and trans people fled abroad, and others entered into marriages in order to appear to conform to Nazi ideological norms, experiencing severe psychological trauma.

The thriving gay culture in Berlin was lost. The police established lists of homosexually active persons. Significant numbers of gay men were arrested, of whom an estimated 50, received severe jail sentences in brutal conditions. Most homosexuals were sent to police prisons, rather than concentration camps, where they were exposed to inhumane treatment.

There they activi be subjected to hard labour and torture, or they were experimented upon or executed. An estimatedmen who were accused of homosexuality were deported to concentration camps. Most died in the camps, activi from exhaustion. Many gay castrated and some subjected to gruesome medical experiments.

Collective murder actions were undertaken against gay detainees, exterminating hundreds at a time. During the redrafting of Paragraph in Germany, there was much debate about whether to include lesbianism, which had not been recognised in the earlier version. Ultimately lesbians and trans people were not included in the legislation and they were subsequently not targeted in the same way as gay men.

In Austria, all same sex relations were criminalised and punishable under the penal code of This part of the penal code, which enabled persecution of gay and lesbian communities, was not amended during the Anschluss the annexation of Austria into greater Germany under the Nazi regime between and After the war, the Allies chose not to remove the Nazi-amended Paragraph Neither they, nor the new German states, nor Austria would recognise homosexual prisoners as victims of the Nazis — a status essential to qualify for reparations.

Indeed, many gay men continued to serve their prison gay. People who had been persecuted by the Nazis for homosexuality had a hard choice: either to bury their experience and pretend it never happened, with all the personal consequences of such an action, activi to try to campaign for recognition in gay environment where the same neighbours, the same law, same police and same judges prevailed.

Unsurprisingly very few victims came forward.

Those who did, even those who had survived death camps, were thwarted at every turn. Few known victims are still alive but research is beginning to reveal the hidden history of Nazi homophobia and post-war discrimination. He was arrested, put on trial and imprisoned for being gay.

He survived the war and died in