• [ ʜᴏᴍᴏsᴇxᴜᴀʟɪᴛʏ & ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏʟᴏᴄᴀᴜsᴛ ] •

•✾ ʜᴇʟʟᴏ ᴄᴜᴛɪᴇs ✾•

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This post is merely informative; I did my research and wrote about this sensitive topic because I found it "interesting". Prior to researching this subject matter, I had no idea about the fact that Nazis targeted homosexuals, as well as many other groups of people that deviated from who they thought of as worthy and superior individuals. I decided to bring you some background on how homosexuals, specifically in , were treated during this heart wrenching period of time.

《Be warned that there's some graphic and disturbing testimonies and topics.》

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The Holocaust is the name given to the "movement" that persecuted and murdered approximately 6 million jews in Europe.

In 1933, Nazis came to power in . They were motivated by the idea that Germans were the superior race and jews were inferior and a threat to the "ideal race". In their eyes, any threat needed to be eliminated. To achieve this, they had a "movement" called: The final solution, which consisted in locking down jews or other groups of people and murdering them in horrific ways.

By 1945 Nazis had killed 2/3 of the European Jews.

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When we hear the word "Holocaust" we automatically think about how Nazis tried to exterminate people that didn't fit their "norm" like insects infesting a house and conducted inhumane experiments on them without remorse.

Victims of these experiments were used to find out how much the human body could take extreme heat and cold before reaching death, or how long it would take until they drowned...

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ᴛᴇsᴛɪᴍᴏɴʏ ᴏғ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠɪᴄᴛɪᴍs

''But when he saw that there was only one baby and not twins, he tore the baby right out of the mother's uterus, threw it into an oven and walked away,''

she said.

"We saw this"

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The acts that occured in concentration camps are horrifying and should be a topic of knowledge for everyone. We should learn from this a lesson on human cruelty and never repeat it again. We must never feed attitudes of hate.

During this period Nazis where in command of and German authorities were sent to target other groups of people along with Jews, only because they perceived them as racially and biologically inferior. These groups included Gypsies, people with disabilities, black people and homosexuals. The basis for targeting these groups was the racialist elimination of all elements that deviated from what was seen as the norm.

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In the beginning of the 20th century the lesbian and gay communitites in began to thrive. Berlin, in particular, was one of the most liberal cities in Europe with a big number of lesbian and gay organizations, bars and cultural events.

However, in February of 1933 everything changed. The Nazis got rid of homosexual publications, clubs and banned organized gay groups.

The Repression against gay men, lesbians and bisexuals started taking place within days after Hitler took power, in 1933.

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sɪᴅᴇ ɴᴏᴛᴇ

The guy that started this movement, Röhm, was said to be gay, but he presented himseld with a "hard" attitude and despised what he considered to be"soft" homosexuals.

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A climate of fear now hung over the LGBT community. Many in the community gave up on their feelings and identities and stopped being who they truly were. A lot of lesbians, for example, resorted to marrying men in order to avoid being sent to the concentration camps.

Unknown numbers of German gay men and lesbians fled the country and others, as said before, got into marriages in order to try and conform to Nazi ideological norms, experiencing severe psychological trauma.

Lesbians were not widely persecuted during the Nazi period in comparison to gay men. However, there are several recorded cases of lesbians imprisoned in concentration camps.

"ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜʀɪᴠɪɴɢ ɢᴀʏ ᴄᴜʟᴛᴜʀᴇ ɪɴ ʙᴇʀʟɪɴ ᴡᴀs ɴᴏᴡ ʟᴏsᴛ."

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I couldn't find enough research to assume that all the LGBT+ were targeted, but gay men, lesbians and bisexuals where chased down and locked because they were considered inferior.

Homosexuals were considered to be the lowest of the low in the concentration camp hierarchy.

Lists of homosexually active people were established by the Nazi police and over 50,000 were arrested and severely sentenced to jail in brutal conditions. Some homosexuals were sent to prison and others to concentration camps, but they would get the same inhumane treatment regardless of which they were placed in. Both in jail or in the concentration camps, they were subjected to hard labour and torture, or even experimented on or executed; some even died from exhaustion.

The uniform assigned to homosexuals in concentration camps had a pink triangle. Soldiers used to aim their weapons at the pink triangles their human targets were forced to wear and shoot them dead. That pink triangle, once a symbol for inferiority and degredation, has now been transformed into a symbol of pride and strength for the LGBT+ community.

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✾ ɢʀᴀᴘʜɪᴄ ᴛᴇsᴛɪᴍᴏɴʏ ✾

"Many were castrated and some subjected to horrific medical experiments. Collective murder actions were undertaken against gay detainees, exterminating hundreds at a time (...)

"Gay men suffered unusually cruel treatment in the concentration camps. They had their testicles boiled off by water and were constantly raped with objects."

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Gay men were not only the subject of torture and cruelty to german soldiers, but to other prisoners as well, and many gay men were tragically beaten to death.

Expirements to find the cure of several diseases that were conducted on homosexuals and bisexuals essentially turned them to lab rats, regarded as nothing more than animals to be tested repeatedly on. They were castrated and placed under hot lamps that burned their skin. "Expirements" would also include humiliation through beating, because of the ridiculous belief that homosexuality was infectious and could be spread to other inmates and guards.

Although there are no exact statistics regarding these experiments, it is recognized by historians that they caused illness, mutilation, and deaths while bringing no scientific knowledge.

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The pink triangle turned into a gay rights and pride symbol. It was originally part of the clothing of gay men in concentration camps in order to distinguish them from the rest, although lesbians had a black triangle.

One of the most known memorials for these awful times was built in Tel Aviv in honour of gay and lesbian victims of the Nazi Holocaust.

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in the monument is written:

"ɪɴ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴘᴇʀsᴇᴄᴜᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴀᴢɪ ʀᴇɢɪᴍᴇ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ sᴇxᴜᴀʟ ᴏʀɪᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴇɴᴅᴇʀ ɪᴅᴇɴᴛɪᴛʏ."

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ing is a powerful act, that allows minds to transform.

In concentration camps, prisoners were arrested for being gay and different from the norm and forced to wear a pink triangle as if it was a badge of shame.

Nowadays, this same pink triangle has been inverted and taken as a symbol of queer resistance and freedom.

The triangle symbolizes the power of ing the past, reflecting on the injustices that still take place today, and the possibility of a future where people are not demonised for their differences.

More than 70 years have ed from the end of World War Two, we need to those who suffered in Nazi's hands and to give them the amount of dignity they absolutely deserve.

Today, we them and make them immortal through time and space.

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ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ғᴏʀ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ.

ᴛʜᴇɴ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ ɪ sᴛᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜɪs ɪs ᴍᴇʀᴇʟʏ ɪɴғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴠᴇ.

ɪɴ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀʏ ᴏғ ᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴏsᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴛʀᴜᴇ sᴇʟᴠᴇs ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʀᴇғʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ. ᴡᴇ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡᴇ ʟᴏᴠᴇ, ᴡᴇ sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ sᴏ, ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ғʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ ᴡᴇ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ.

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