The Pink Triangle

The last known gay Holocaust survivor, Rudolf Brazda, died Wednesday, August 3. He was sent to Buchenwald in 1942 and remained there until its liberation in 1945.

The homosexuals persecuted by the Nazi regime are often overlooked in the remembrances of the Holocaust. It is estimated that between 50,000 and 65,000 men were convicted of homosexuality with an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 gay men deported to concentration camps (lesbians were not widely persecuted under Nazi anti-gay laws, as it was considered easier to persuade or force them to comply with accepted heterosexual behavior). Few survived, as they were subjected to persecution and abuse not only from the guards but from fellow prisoners -- many of the men didn't die from the gas chambers or work camps but were beaten to death. They were also subjected to experiments from Nazi doctors trying to identify and eliminate the "gay gene" in order to prevent homosexuality in Aryan children, and guards used gay prisoners for target practice, aiming for and shooting through the pink triangle worn on their clothing.

After the war, when the camps were liberated, many of the gay prisoners continued to be persecuted and imprisoned, as homosexuality was illegal (the homosexuality law enforced by Nazi Germany wasn't repealed until 1994). Remembrances of homosexual Holocaust survivors weren't explored or acknowledged until the 1970s, though there are now memorials in several countries, in 2002, the German government apologized to the gay community, and in 2005, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Holocaust which included the persecution of homosexuals.

Rudolf Brazda was 98 years old when he passed away in his sleep. He is joining his partner, Edouard Mayer, who passed away in 2003. I hope that he is able to find peace and love to make up for the horrors he faced for simply being himself.