• Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime
During the National Socialist regime, homosexuality was considered a crime and subject to criminal prosecution. Tens of thousands of gay men were convicted and sent to prisons or concentration camps. The memorial on the southern edge of Berlin's Tiergarten honours the victims of homosexual persecution under National Socialism.
Image: Berlin, undated, »Institute for Sexual Research« in the 1920s, Schwules Museum Berlin
Berlin, undated, »Institute for Sexual Research« in the 1920s, Schwules Museum Berlin

Image: Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
The National Socialists' rise to power in 1933 was a severe blow to homosexuals in Germany. Already in the spring of 1933, the authorities shut down most bars which were known to be meeting points for gays and lesbians. On May 6, 1933, National Socialists plundered the library of the »Institute for Sexual Research«, which had been founded by Magnus Hirschfeld, and destroyed the looted books during a book burning session on what is today Bebelplatz four days later.
In 1935, the National Socialists broadened Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code condemning homosexuality and thus made criminal prosecution of gay men possible. The very broad term »lewdness« was now no longer qualified as an »offence« but as a »crime« which could be punished by up to five years of imprisonment. The also newly formulated Paragraph 175a introduced prison sentences of up to ten years for so-called »severe lewdness«. Gay men and supposedly gay men were persecuted by the police mostly in larger cities. Many were denounced by their neighbours at the slightest suspicion. National Socialist courts sentenced about 50,000 men on the basis of Paragraph 175 and 175a. A part of the convicts was incarcerated in prisons, however, between 5,000 and 15,000 men were deported to concentration camps where they were marked as a separate prisoner group with pink triangles. Stigmatised due to their homosexuality, they were mostly avoided by other prisoners.
Paragraph 175 remained unchanged in the postwar Federal Republic of Germany until 1969. Until then, tens of thousands of men were prosecuted on the grounds of homosexuality, while those who had been convicted on the basis of Paragraph 175 under National Socialism still had this on their criminal records. Only in 1994 did the German Bundestag repeal Paragraph 175.
Image: Berlin, undated, »Institute for Sexual Research« in the 1920s, Schwules Museum Berlin
Berlin, undated, »Institute for Sexual Research« in the 1920s, Schwules Museum Berlin

Image: Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Many of the prisoners marked with pink triangles perished in concentration camps due to hunger and abuse or fell victim to targeted killings.
Image: no place given, undated, Paul O'Montis, cabaret star during the 1920s, was convicted according to §175 and murdered in Sachsenhausen in 1940, Schwules Museum Berlin
no place given, undated, Paul O'Montis, cabaret star during the 1920s, was convicted according to §175 and murdered in Sachsenhausen in 1940, Schwules Museum Berlin

Image: Berlin, 2008, The memorial's video installation, Marco Priske
Berlin, 2008, The memorial's video installation, Marco Priske
According to the Bundestag resolution of December 12, 2003, the memorial is to honour those who were persecuted and murdered, keep the memory of injustice alive and act as a lasting symbol against intolerance, resentment and the exclusion of gay men and lesbians. The initiative »Remember the Homosexual Victims of National Socialism« and the »Lesbian and Gay Federation of Germany« jointly initiated this project. The memorial was designed by the artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. The concrete stele adopts the form used in the neighbouring Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Through a small square window in the stele, the visitor can see a film depicting a same-sex kissing scene. It is planned for the film to be changed every two years. The Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe has been entrusted with the supervision of the Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime.
Image: Berlin, 2008, Memorial plaque and Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Berlin, 2008, Memorial plaque and Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske

Image: Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Berlin, 2008, Memorial to the Homosexuals Persecuted under the National Socialist Regime, Marco Priske
Name
Denkmal für die im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Homosexuellen
Address
Ebertstr./Hannah-Arendt-Str.
10117 Berlin
Phone
+49 (0)30 / 263 943 36
Fax
+49 (0)30 / 263 943 21
Web
http://www.stiftung-denkmal.de
E-Mail
besucherservice@stiftung-denkmal.de
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